Category: Previous Lectures

River-Ford at Clarinbridge River-fords are a common but half-forgotten feature of the Irish countryside, their positions recalled only by ‘áth’ placenames, historic maps and local memory. Being gifts of nature, they are distinctly un-monumental and liminal locations. As a result, river-fords have featured only intermittently in academic research: their existence often overlooked by archaeologists; their presence a mere backdrop for historians; their orthographies a mere sidebar for philologists. Yet fords offer great potential for historic geography and landscape archaeology. As places where topography and geology intersect, river-fords offer key insights into travel, community interaction, and settlement patterns. In this lecture, Paul Gosling will explore the characteristics of historic fords and offer a methodology for their identification. Paul Gosling is a former lecturer in Built Heritage in the Department of Heritage and Tourism at the Atlantic Technological University. He is a professional archaeologist and a member of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland. His research interests are focused on archaeological survey and his published work includes reports and papers on the field monuments of Co. Galway and Clare Island, Co. Mayo, as well as the topography of a number of towns. He is also a member of the Committee of the Galway Archaeological & Historical Society. Date: Monday 12 February 2024Time:… Read the rest
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‘Keeping your head down’: Border Protestant experiences during the Troubles The Northern Irish ‘Troubles’, which claimed almost 4,000 lives, was the longest-running ethnic conflict in post-War Europe. Histories of the Troubles tend to focus on political elites or political groupings – in particular, nationalist and loyalist paramilitaries. One under-researched and under-appreciated dimension of the conflict has been the experiences of the border Protestant community.   Whilst infamous incidents, such as the murder of Senator Billy Fox in 1973 or the Remembrance Day bombing of 1987, remain well-known (in parts of the public consciousness at least), other experiences have perhaps been less considered. For many border Protestants in geographically isolated areas, daily life remained one of threat, vigilance, and ‘keeping your head down’.In this talk, Dr. Cillian McGrattan will draw primarily on interview and newspaper material, and shall posit that the case study of border Protestants is not only worthy of greater attention in its own right as an under-studied dimension of the Troubles, but also that it acts as a lens through which to view the changing collective memory of the conflict as living memory passes to received wisdoms. Dr Cillian McGrattan lectures in politics at Ulster University. Among other books,… Read the rest
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In the last 30 years excellent progress has been made in analysing the royal and ritual sites of Ireland: Newgrange and the Boyne Valley, the hill of Uisneach – known as the navel of Ireland, Emain Macha in Armagh, and Tara, among others. The westernmost royal and ritual site is considered to be Cruachan in County Roscommon, which nonetheless lies by the Shannon River along the centre of the island. In the most ancient records, however, another site is named further west, that of the hill of Knockma in County Galway, which bears all the hallmarks of a royal and ritual landscape: literary, genealogical, archaeological and archaeo-astronomical. This talk will discuss Knockma as a prehistoric landscape, an early Christian cult centre, and as the forgotten birthplace of the ancestors of the Uí Briúin medieval kings of Connacht. Dr. Jessica Cooke is a graduate of the University of Dublin and the University of Cambridge. She is an affiliate member of the Centre of Ancient, Medieval and Pre-modern Studies at the Moore Institute in the University of Galway. Her current research interests include an examination of Knockma’s significance in West Connacht from prehistory up until the middle ages, an area which has… Read the rest
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The Commission for the Sale of Encumbered Estates, often referred to as “the Encumbered Estates Court” was established in 1849. It’s purpose was to expedite the sale of landed estates “encumbered” by debt. In a parallel with our more recent history it has sometimes been likened to a “19th century NAMA”!  This talk will briefly look at the origins and development of this major player in the history of Irish landed estates between the Famine and the Land War. It will then focus on some of the physical evidence of the courts’ activities, namely the actual Sale Notices, sometimes, though slightly erroneously, referred to as “rentals”. Examples of Sale Notices for some Galway estates will be examined in order to highlight the usefulness of these documents in providing information for economic history, genealogical and topographical research. Finally we will discover various routes of access to the actual documents. Marie Boran has been Special Collections Librarian at the James Hardiman Library, University of Galway for over 20 years. Her research interests include Irish family and local studies and the history of landed estates in Ireland. Marie is one of the researchers who developed the Irish Landed Estates database, www.landedestates.ie She holds an MA in History… Read the rest
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‘Terrible things were done by both sides…I’d prefer not to talk about it’. Uttered in 1969, Séan Lemass’ words on the Irish Civil War encapsulated views of the conflict half a century later. This bitter ‘War of the Brothers’ had lasted eleven months, ended with a cessation of hostilities but no negotiated settlement, and provided a legacy that poisoned Irish political life for decades. And yet, within twelve weeks of the ceasefire, both warring parties contested an open general election, and the basis of democratic governance was strengthened. In this lecture, Dr. Mel Farrell offered a centenary reflection on the immediate post-Civil War period, and the new Irish state’s emergence as a stable democracy. A graduate of Maynooth University, where he undertook doctoral and post-doctoral studies in Irish political history, Dr. Farrell currently lectures in history at Carlow College St. Patricks. Widely published on topics relating to Irish political history, he is the author of Party Politics in a New Democracy: The Irish Free State, 1922-37, and is the co-editor of A Formative Decade: Ireland in the 1920s.… Read the rest
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Where to start with 1982? A cursory glance would show that Garret FitzGerald was Taoiseach on January 1st that year, and held the same office on December 31st. But what an abundance of incident in between! Two general elections; a government falling unexpectedly on a budget vote, and another losing a vote of confidence; two separate heaves against the leader of the country’s largest party; political scandals involving personation and interference with the Gardaí; alleged ‘collusion’ with police in another state to falsely imprison a witness; the arrest of a murderer in the Attorney-General’s flat; a post-election deal that worked, a by-election stroke that did not; and a general feeling that political life was being ‘scripted by a satirist of genius.’ In this lecture Dr. Séan Ó Duibhir will outline the background, and address a number of the key features, of what has been described as the ‘most dysfunctional government in Ireland’s history’.  Available to view on YouTube: https://youtu.be/F3gdGcd5j-0… Read the rest
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I measc scéalta béaloidis na Gaillimhe, tá cáil ar leith ar scéalta stairiúla a bhaineann leis na Loingsigh. Ba theaghlach iad a raibh an-tábhacht ag baint leo mar cheannaithe agus mar cheannairí na cathrach sa 15ú agus sa 16ú haois. Ceann de na scéalta sin ná eachtra inar shábháil moncaí, a bhí mar pheata ag an teaghlach, leanbh ó thine a réab trí Chaisleán na Loingseach ar Shráid na Siopaí. Insíodh an scéal céanna, a bheag nó a mhór, faoi oidhrí de chuid Iarlaí Chill Dara agus Iarlaí Dheasmhumhan, an dá phríomhchraobh de mhuintir Mhic Gearailt, a bhí ar na mórtheaghlaigh shean-Ghallda ba chumhachtaí in Éirinn sna meánaoiseanna. Baineann na leaganacha sin den scéal leis an 13ú agus an 14ú haois. Fiosrófar leaganacha éagsúla agus bunús an scéil sin, mar aon leis na cúiseanna go bhfuil sé le cloisteáil sa Ghaillimh, i bhfad ó thailte na nGearaltach. Is as Corcaigh ó dhúchas do An Dr. Dónal Ó Catháin. Tá BA sa Ghearmáinis agus sa Ghaeilge aige ó Ollscoil na Gaillimhe, MA sa Nua-Ghaeilge ó Choláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh, agus PhD sa Nua-Ghaeilge ó Ollscoil na Gaillimhe. An tráchtas a bhí aige ná ‘Gearaltaigh Dheasmhumhan mar phátrúin agus mar údair i… Read the rest
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Rural Ireland was transformed across the twentieth century. Moving from an agricultural backwater in Western European terms to playing host to one of the world’s leading agri-food sectors. This transformation necessitated concerted efforts and interventions, chiefly on the part of progressive farmersthemselves. They were abetted largely in turn, however, by the public agricultural advisory service (operated today by Teagasc). This joint approach to the development of rural Ireland was pursued for most of the twentieth century at a county level. For the first time, this paper will bring tolight the formative endeavours in agricultural development that were conducted in County Galway. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Dr. Ó Fathartaigh is a lecturer and historian based in the Social Sciences Research Centre, University of Galway; the Archives of Rural History, Bern; and Dublin Business School. He is the author of Developing Rural Ireland and Irish Agriculture Nationalised, co-author of Birth of a State: The Anglo-Irish Treaty and co-editor of The Treaty: Debating and Establishing the Irish State. His broad-ranging research and commentary on the origins of the Irish state and the development of rural Ireland has been published and broadcast widely. County Galway is one of twelve county case studies that feature in… Read the rest
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In the middle of the nineteenth century thousands of Irish children were imprisoned or transported to penal colonies. In Galway, children as young as two years old were arrested for begging, and sent to jail. In 1858, a new law was passed which facilitated the opening of reformatory schools for the incarceration of young offenders. The only reformatory to open in Connacht was at Ballinasloe, and was managed by the Sisters of Mercy. In this lecture, Dr. Geraldine Curtin outlined the background to the Ballinasloe reformatory’s establishment, discussed the circumstances of the children detained there and of the staff who ran it. Considered in its time to be the best reformatory in Ireland, the day-to-day lives of its residents were examined. A graduate of the University of Galway, Dr. Curtin holds a Ph.D in Modern Irish History, with a particular focus on juvenile crime in Connacht in the nineteenth century. In 2001 she published The Women of Galway Jail. Dr. Curtin works in the Special Collections and Archives Reading Room at the University of Galway.… Read the rest
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The Caherconnell Cashel in the Burren, Co. Clare, a settlement built in the late 10th century AD and used continuously through to the start of the 17th century, was home to prosperous local rulers. Their wealth was built on successful farming, allowing them to engage in fine craftworking, military pursuits, external trade, games, music, and literacy (as evident in, amongst other things, the discovery of the earliest ink pen in Ireland). In this lecture, Dr. Michelle Comber of the School of Geography, Archaeology, and Irish Studies at the University of Galway will discuss recent archaeological excavations at the site. As those who constructed Caherconnell likely had familial connections with Brian Boru, the evidence unearthed  provides us with a fine example of how native nobility negotiated the turbulent years of Viking and Anglo-Norman activity in western Ireland. Dr. Michelle Comber is a native Galwegian and a lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Galway, where she has been teaching since the mid-90s. Her research interests lie primarily in the archaeology of Ireland’s Early Medieval period (approx. 5th to 12th century AD), especially its fine metalwork, economy and settlement, and in tracing social and economic change over broad spans of time. Dr.… Read the rest
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