September 2022
 September 2022 NOTICE Some email browsers ‘clip’ the newsletter, making it shorter. If you click ‘View entire message‘ it will open the full newsletter News and updates on the programme of commemorations relating to the events in Irish history that took place between 1912 and 1923. If you would like to inform us of any suitable material for future newsletters – anything related to the Decade of Centenaries – please feel free to email [email protected]. 1. Lectures and Events (some require registration) Kildare County Council Commemorative Activities County Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee have a number of events taking place in the coming weeks. New Publication – A Timeline of the Civil War in County Kildare, 1922-1924 The Co. Kildare Decade of Commemorations Programme has produced a new publication detailing many of the events that took place throughout County Kildare during the Civil War period. An event will take place in Kildare Town Community Library at 7.30pm on 1st September to mark the launch this publication, including a presentation from the authors. Complimentary copies for this companion piece to the previously publication Timeline of the War of Independence in County Kildare are available to collect in all branch libraries of Kildare Library Service. It will also be available to download as a pdf from the Local Studies, Genealogy &Archives section of the Kildare Library Service website. TIMELINE OF THE CIVIL WAR IN COUNTY KILDARE 1922-1924 “Where the bodies are buried” – The “Disappeared” of the Irish Revolution 1920 -1923.” – Dr Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc An chaoi ar fhuadaigh, ar mharaigh agus ar chur fórsaí na Breataine agus an IRA sibhialaigh agus trodairí a chur ina n-aghaidh gan leacht ná deis chaointe a bheith ag a muintir.. Tharla an cineál rud céanna sa gCogadh Cathartha nuair a mharaigh agus nuair a chur an IRA spíodóirí. A talk about the IRA’s Intelligence War and the “disappearance” of spies, informers and British soldiers. Padraig even found one of the missing bodies! Venue and Date: Thursday 1st September Maynooth Library Time: 6.30pm – Booking through Ticket Tailor https://www.tickettailor.com/events/maynoothlibrary/737658 “Irish is a foreign language no different to Hebrew!” – Talk on Irish Language During 1912-23 Period by Dr Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc Constáblaí de chuid an RIC a rugadh in Éirinn ag gabháil Sasanach as Gaeilge a labhairt, Giúdaigh Bhaile Átha Cliath agus Protastúnaigh Bhéal Feirste ag foghlaim Gaeilge, Arm na Breataine ag buamáil siopaí de bharr a gcuid fógraí a bheith as Gaeilge agus an Eaglais Chaitliceach ag cur i gcoinne na Gaeilge sna scoileanna. Faigh amach an stair fholaithe nár múineadh duit ar scoil faoi na hiarrachtaí chun an Ghaeilge a mharú agus a shábháil le linn Réabhlóid na hÉireann. Irish born RIC Constables arresting Englishmen for speaking Irish, Dublin Jews and Belfast Protestant’s learning Irish, the British Army bombing the shops of businessmen who advertised “as Gaeilge” and the opposition of the Catholic Church to the Irish language in schools. Discover the hidden history you weren’t taught in school about the attempts to both kill off and save the Irish language during the Irish Revolution. Venue and Date: Friday 2nd September Celbridge Library Time: 3.30pm https://buytickets.at/celbridgecommunitylibrary/738886 V enue and Date: Friday 30th September Leixlip Library Time: 7.00pm https://buytickets.at/leixliplibrary/735935 John Devoy Seminar 2022The Annual John Devoy Seminar is taking place in Lawlor’s Hotel, Naas the morning of Saturday 24th September. This free event will highlight aspects of the life of this great Irish-American Fenian leader from Kill, County Kildare who adopted a pro-Treaty position in 1922. Email [email protected] for further details. DETAILS Lecture: Michael Collins’s diaries: a new source, new perspectives? Monday 5th September 2022 at 8pm at Offaly History Centre and via Zoom. Speakers are Dr Anne Dolan (TCD) & Dr William Murphy (DCU. Email [email protected] for link LAUNCH The Irish Revolution: a global history Thursday 8th Sept @12.45pm Dr Patrick Mannion and Professor Fearghal McGarry in conversation with Dr. Miriam Nyhan Grey about their new edited collection, The Irish Revolution: A Global History, the latest volume in the Glucksman Irish Diaspora Series. DETAILS AND REGISTRATION Kennedy Summer School DETAILS AND REGISTRATION Left in the lurch Irish WW1 ex-service men and women in post-war Ireland. To mark the centenary of the disbandment of the Irish regiments of the British Army in June 1922 at Windsor Castle (pictured above), the National Library of Ireland will present a one-day seminar in Pearse Street Library, Pearse Street, Dublin 2 on Saturday 17 September, beginning at 11am. The seminar will present the story of the Irish regiments in their twilight years after the ending of WW1 to their disbandment in 1922: – the transfer of allegiance and service from the British to the Irish Army – the challenges such as identity, commemoration and remembrance Irish WW1 ex-service personnel faced in the post-war independent Ireland – the plight attributed to, or aggravated by, the wartime experiences of thousands of WW1 Irish ex-service men and women and their quest for charitable help – the challenges Irish women faced in the post-war Ireland such as employment and stigmatisation on being the wife of a British soldier. Speakers Dr Patrick McCarthy, Research Associate, School of History and Geography, Dublin City University Mr Arthur Cagney, NUI Maynooth Dr Emmanuel Destenay, Sorbonne UniversityMr Tom Burke, MBEDr Fionnuala Walsh, University College Dublin The seminar will be chaired by Lieut.-Col. (Retd) Andy Hart, OBE, MA, The Royal Irish Regiment and Brigadier-General Gerard Buckley, Irish Military Representative to the European Union. REGISTRATION HERE Locating the “fag-smoking, jazz-dancing, lipsticking flappers” in post-independence Ireland Conference 23rd to 24th September, UCC This symposium seeks explore the relationship between identity, recreation, and culture in Irish society in the 1920s and 1930s. Leisurely pursuits in Ireland during this period were commonly overshadowed by the Catholic Church’s influence and the nation-building project. An article in the Kilkenny People in 1927, for example, bemoaned the influence of (American and British) popular culture and feared that females were rejecting the identity of the good, proud, Catholic, Irish woman and becoming “fag-smoking, jazz-dancing, lipsticking flappers”. This symposium is motivated to find these women (and like-minded others) and curious about an alternative Ireland to the one more commonly reported, where people enjoyed dancing, singing, listening to music, shopping, glamour, reading magazines, and going to the cinema. DETAILS & REGISTRATION HERE Dublin Festival of History The Dublin Festival of History is an annual free festival, brought to you by Dublin City Council, and organised by Dublin City Libraries, in partnership with the Dublin City Council Culture Company. FULL DETAILS HERE Exploring the Civil War in Sligo ‘Exploring the Civil War in Sligo’ on Thursday 22nd September at 8pm in the Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo is a journey with four local historians, whose published works deal with the period. It gives an overview of the Civil War in Sligo and deals with specific aspects of it. Speakers include Dr Michael Farry, Cian Harte, Dr Padraig Deignan and Dr Marion Dowd. Dr Michael Farry, author of “The Irish Revolution Sligo 1912-1923” will deliver an overview of the events of 1922: the onset of the Civil War and how it impacted the county. Cian Harte, author of “The Lost Tales: Riverstown’s Troubles 1919-1923” will examine the impact of the Civil War on the IRA brigades from the area who had fought during the War of Independence. How did these forces divide and why? Dr Padraig Deignan, author of “The Protestant Community in Sligo, 1914-1949”,examines how the Protestant community were impacted with the county in turmoil.Having been overwhelmingly Unionist in outlook they were now in a position where no matter who won they were sundered from the certainties of their past. Dr Marion Dowd, author of The Archaeology of Caves in Ireland which won Book of the Year at the 2016 Archaeology Awards will talk on Tomour Cave a Civil War time capsule. The cave was used by anti-treaty forces living off the land during the guerrilla fighting that characterised the later part of the military activities of the anti-treaty forces in Sligo. Tickets for this event are free but limited to two per person from the Hawk’s Well Theatre Box Office from the 29th August 2022 MORE DETAILS HERE Cumann Le Seandacht Átha CliathThe Old Dublin Society Wednesday September 14th‘The Battle for Dublin, 1922’–Liz Gillis. Wednesday September 28th‘Sarah Cecilia Harrison, Dublin’s First Female Councillor’ – Thomas Burke. Wednesday October 12th‘Thomas Early, manufacturer of ecclesiastical furniture and stained-glass windows, Upper Camden Street, Dublin – Max Cannon. Wednesday October 19th ‘Incident in Skerries, Co. Dublin, 1922: The Life and Times of Harry Boland – Eugene Coyle Zoom presentation Register with [email protected] to receive a link. Wednesday October 26th ‘The Famine in Dublin’ – Professor Cormac Ó Gráda. Wednesday November 9th ‘Dublin’s Tramways – The First Generation’ – Clifton Flewitt. Wednesday November 23rd ‘A Visit to Dalkey Island’ – Peadar Curran, followed by the AGM MORE DETAILS 2. Exhibitions/Projects By a Treaty Divided – the Civil War in Cork Tues – Fri 10am – 4pm Sat – 11am – 4pm Admission Free MORE DETAILS HERE Royal Irish Academy Decade of Centenaries Bursary scheme The Decade of Centenaries bursary scheme which was established this year thanks to funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media aims to encourage and support new local research and local history studies in meaningful examination of local, regional, and national events during the Struggle for Independence and Civil War period.In this, its first year funding has been awarded to fourteen projects which address these themes and aspirations such as a study of The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) in the Central Border Area: From Treaty to Civil War by Patrick Mulroe and The Jackie Clarke Collection Autograph Books: Pages of our Past by Sinéad Brennan. MORE DETAILS HERE 3. Podcasts KCLR’s New History Programme KCLR and Kilkenny County Council have announced details of a new 10 part weekly history series with the first edition being aired on KCLR on Tuesday 23 August at 6:10 pm. The programme which is known simply as “The History Show” is being presented and produced by John Moynihan and it will focus on Kilkenny in 1922. This was a turbulent time in Irish history when following the signing of the Anglo Irish Treaty in December 1921, the country descended into a Civil War in which approximately 3,000 people died. The series will look at 1922 from the perspective of local historians, academics and artists. It will explore the lives of ordinary people in Kilkenny at that time, aswell as the people that shaped Kilkenny’s and Irelands history, and the key events took place in the county. The series is sponsored by the Heritage Office of Kilkenny County Council, under the Council’s Decade of Centenaries Programme, funded by the National Commemorations Unit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The new programme will cover a wide variety of historic events which gripped Kilkenny one hundred years ago, including the infamous executions of John Murphy and John Phelan in James Stephens Barracks in Kilkenny by the newly established Free State Army; the burning of Woodstock and the experience of the Church of Ireland community at the time, the interment of Kilkenny men in Ballykinlar, and how Civil War wounds were healed through the playing of Gaelic Games. As well as historical events the programme will also explore a range of important themes and topics such as the role of women during the tumultuous revolutionary period in Ireland from 1916 onwards, the importance of an understanding of history for contemporary society and how Ireland has changed over the ensuing 100 years. The series will also feature of a number of local creative projects including the “Common Thread” collaborative embroidery project about Cumann na mBan, women and memory; “Dear Mother” a film by Kevin Hughes about the executions in James Stephens Barracks; as well as a specially written radio drama on the Burning of Woodstock written by local writer Gillian Grattan. Presenter/Producer John Moynihan who is a journalism graduate of Griffith College, Dublin and who works as a Primary School Teacher is already well known to listeners of KCLR as a part-time member of the KCLR’s News Team. Speaking at the launch of the new programme, John said “I’m so excited to bring this series of programmes to the listeners of KCLR. Kilkenny has such a rich historical tapestry, and over the course of the series, I hope that the contributors and I can bring some of that history to life.” Commenting of the new programme, John Purcell, Chief Executive of KCLR said: “We’re delighted to be producing this new programme as part of the commemorations of the events locally one hundred years ago. We are grateful to Kilkenny County Council for their support of this initiative and we are sure that the subject matter which will bring the events of 100 years ago to life on the airwaves will resonate with our listeners.” Dearbhala Ledwidge, Heritage Officer with Kilkenny County Council said: “What makes this new series, which is being launched during Heritage Week, so special is that it draws on the excellent research and tireless work of local historians, heritage groups and local creatives. In the capable hands of the team at KCLR, the series will shine a fresh light on our heritage and the many initiatives being undertaken throughout the county to tell the story of Kilkenny in 1922.” MORE DETAILS HERE Michael Collins—man and myth Michael Collins—man and myth Born in West Cork in 1890, Michael Collins joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) as a teenager while working as a clerk in London. He fought in the GPO in 1916, and rose to prominence by the War of Independence, combining the positions of Dáil minister for finance and IRA director of intelligence. How can his meteoric rise be explained? Why did he sign the Treaty? Did he intend to tear it up and invade the North? Was he by the outbreak of the Civil War effectively a military dictator? Why are the circumstances of his death at Béal na Bláth, exactly a century ago, still disputed? To address these and related questions, join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion with John Borgonovo, Gemma Clark, Dominic Price and John Regan. This Hedge School is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 programme. LISTEN HERE Arthur Griffith, ‘father of us all’ Arthur Griffith, ‘father of us all’ So said Michael Collins, yet despite his central role in the development of the Irish nationalism from which the Irish State would emerge, Arthur Griffith has had to settle for a side-line role in the national historical memory.How fair or accurate are accusations of anti-Semitism, misogyny or ‘selling the pass’ at the Treaty negotiations?How stands his reputation today a century on from his untimely death, aged 51, on 12 August 1922?To address these and related questions join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion with Frank Barry, Brian Hanley, Colum Kenny and Margaret Ward. This Hedge School is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative. LISTEN HERE Dublin’s Housing Crisis in Troubled Times Cathy Scuffil discusses the response to Dublin’s housing crisis after the collapse of tenements in Dublin’s Church Street in 1913. Pembroke Library in association with the Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and Sandymount Historical Society presented a talk by Cathy Scuffil, Historian in Residence, Dublin South City Dublin’s Housing Crisis in Troubled Times. (This online event took place on 18 May 2022) The collapse of tenements in Dublin’s Church Street in 1913 with fatal consequences, increased pressure on authorities to address Dublin’s chronic housing conditions described as the worst in the British Empire at that time. Provision of new and refurbished housing had almost halted by the beginning of World War 1, with any available housing funds later redirected to rebuild the destroyed city centre following the 1916 Rising. Despite this turbulent time in Irish history, Dublin Corporation established a Housing Committee for the provision of new, well-designed housing for low-income citizens. This talk discusses four new estates built at that time, against a backdrop of war, revolution and the emerging Free State. LISTEN HERE The Civil War in Kilkenny Author and Historian Eoin Swithin Walsh in this podcast examines the start of the Civil War in Kilkenny. This podcast examines the first two months of the Civil War in County Kilkenny. Things were happening on a daily, if not hourly basis. Nearly every corner of the county was affected in some way or other. On 2 July 1922, Anti-Treaty leader Dinny Lacey attacked and captured Urlingford Barracks after a fierce battle. A shootout followed at nearby Mary Willies pub. The Pro-Treaty forces also captured Mullinavat and Thomastown barracks from the anti-Treaty side. Graiguenamanagh and Inistioge witnessed the arrival of a huge column of anti-Treaty soldiers arriving down from the fighting in Dublin and Wicklow. Free States forces eventually took control of Callan, following which the bridge in the town was blown up. In the middle of all of this, the Free State commander in Kilkenny, John Thomas Prout, found time to get married (pictured above).Then all eyes turned to the big set piece battles in Waterford and afterwards Carrick on Suir, where Prout faced off against his nemesis, Lacey. Ferrybank and Piltown were at the frontline of the ‘Munster Republic’ and so Kilkenny led the Free State charge in the early days of the Civil War. LISTEN HERE Talking History with Patrick Geoghegan Four Courts Fire Joining Patrick Geoghegan for this episode of Talking History to discuss the newly unveiled Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland and the history of Ireland and the history of the Four Courts is Zoë Reid, Ciarán Wallace, Lynn Kilgannon and Brian Gurrin. LISTEN HERE The life and times of Harry Boland One of the most engaging figures of the revolutionary period, Harry Boland, along with his brother Gerry, joined the IRB in 1904 and participated in the 1916 Rising. He was centrally involved in the subsequent reorganization of Sinn Féin and the Volunteers and was uniquely close to the two dominant figures of the period, Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins. Having taken the anti-Treaty side, he was killed in controversial circumstances exactly a century ago on 1 August 1922.To discuss his life and times join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in conversation with Tim Crowley, Donnacha DeLong, Liz Gillis and Éamon Ó Cuiv.(Recorded at Glasnevin Cemetery Museum on Mon 1 August 2022)This Hedge School is supported by the Harry Boland Centenary Committee. LISTEN HERE |