Author: Daniel Gallen

The Gaelic-Irish Ó Cellaig (O’Kelly) lordship of Uí Maine and Tír Maine is both a subject and territorial unit that many Irish archaeologists, historians and historical geographers have hazily encountered at times during the course of their research, possibly without ever obtaining a familiarity. A later medieval lordship which straddled the River Suck in the modern counties of Roscommon and Galway, it has, up until recently, received very little historical or archaeological research. This talk will first set about placing the Ó Cellaig in their territory. Thereafter, utilising a multidisciplinary approach with archaeological inspection at its core, a select number of case study Uí Chellaig lordly centres (cenn áiteanna) and associated cultural landscapes will be interrogated. We will examine questions about the form of elite settlement espoused by the Gaelic Irish through the period, and consider how and where in their lordship they derived, and demonstrated, their wealth and authority. The talk will conclude by highlighting the recurrent themes which have emerged over the course of the research, and their potential implications for our understanding of later medieval Gaelic Ireland more generally. Daniel Patrick Curley is a native of Taughmaconnell, Co. Roscommon. He is a graduate of the University of… Read the rest

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland: University College Galway (UCG), as it was known then, was profoundly changed by the First World War. Many students and alumni rushed to enlist. They included an eccentric doctor Arthur Colahan who wrote the song Galway Bay and the son of the College president, who was thought to have died in a flying accident, but returned only to change his name and disappear. Journalist and First World War historian Ronan McGreevy has told the story of UCG and the First World War in the book The National University of Ireland First World War Centenary Roll of Honour and Essays which he co-edited with Dr Emer Purcell. Ronan McGreevy is an Irish Times journalist and the author of several books including Wherever the Firing Line Extends: Ireland and the Western Front and Great Hatred: The Assassination of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson MP. He recently appeared as a guest on ‘The Rest is History’ podcast. He is a First World War tour guide with GTI Travel and was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2018. He is a graduate of the University of Galway. Date: Monday 8 September 2025Time: 20:00/8pmVenue: Harbour Hotel, Galway… Read the rest

the project will be discussed, including the use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to enhance text discoverability. Since its launch in 2023, the collection has served as a valuable resource for scholars, genealogists, and the public, offering insights into the Irish diaspora’s experiences. The collection’s continued development, as well as recent artistic interpretations and prominent media features, highlight the collection’s cultural resonance and promising future. Marie-Louise Rouget is a project digital archivist at the University of Galway Library. From Johannesburg originally, Marie-Louise has a special interest in death culture, cemeteries and the visual arts in South Africa. In 2023, she became a network scholar of the Cemetery Research Group (University of York), and published the research article ‘Grave Concerns: the state of public cemetery records management in South Africa’ (Archives and Records, 44:1, 73-94). She also releases a Substack newsletter titled ‘Morbid Musings’ to publish her ongoing research around these themes. Since 2023, she has been leading the digital-first project to make historian Kerby A. Miller’s collection of Irish emigrant letters and memoirs accessible to the public through the online portal, Imirce, which means emigration. Date: Monday 10 February 2025Time: 20:00/8pmVenue: Harbour Hotel, Galway… Read the rest

Menlo castle sits in one of Galway’s most scenic locations upon the banks of the river Corrib, some four miles upriver from Galway city centre. It was constructed as a defensive and well-fortified alien English outpost in a Gaelic world, gradually morphing over time to become a comfortable home worthy of its wealthy aristocratic owners. These were one of the merchant Tribes of Galway, the baronets Blake, ennobled for their services to the state. The castle grew, was extended, developed and was modernised over a period of some three and a half centuries, until a tragic accidental fire brought an end to the iconic building and the way of life it had supported. This illustrated talk will cover some details of the family involved, from their arrival in Ireland until their ultimate departure whence they came. Patrick Larkin is a Galway native and a chartered chemist who graduated from University College Galway with a B.Sc. degree in chemistry. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland and of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has completed post-graduate diplomas in Applied Finance, Systems Analysis, Quality Management and Archaeology. He was formerly President of the GAHS. He is an… Read the rest

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the adjacent south Connacht lordships of Clanrickard and Hy Many lay beyond the effective control of the Tudor government. Both possessed similar cultural and socio-political structures in the Gaelic Irish tradition, but were inhabited by population groups of different ethnic origins: Clanrickard was ruled by the Burke dynasty, descendants of the thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman conquerors and colonists of Connacht, while Hy Many was governed by the indigenous Gaelic Irish O’Kelly lords. This talk will chart the intermittent expansion of English rule into the lordships during the course of the sixteenth century, while examining major government initiatives such as the surrender and regrant programme of Sir Anthony St Leger in the early 1540s; the establishment of the Connacht presidency and the formation of Co. Galway in 1569; and the drafting and implementation of the second composition of Connacht in 1585 and after. The difficulties experienced by the historically hostile political communities of Clanrickard and Hy Many, as they endeavoured to accommodate the ever-increasing demands of the Tudor state, will be analysed and discussed, as will the consequent changes in the political, social and economic fabric of the province of Connacht. Dr Joe Mannion is a… Read the rest

This lecture will introduce the seminal monthly bilingual Irish-English newspaper An Gaodhal, the first serial dedicated to providing content to an Irish-language readership. An Gaodhal was established, edited, and printed from 1881 to 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, by Micheál Ó Lócháin (c.1836-1899) from Milltown, Co. Galway, who came to be regarded as the father of the Irish-language movement in America, a movement that inspired the emergence of the Gaelic League at home in Ireland. The contents of An Gaodhal reflect the cultural interests of Irish speakers in New York, Ireland, and the wider diaspora; Irish American life; New York history; and the development of the Irish language during the Celtic Revival period. A partnership between University of Galway and New York University is currently working to create a fully searchable digital edition of An Gaodhal by training artificial intelligence how to read the Cló Gaelach script printed in the newspaper. Deirdre Ní Chonghaile is a writer, musician, broadcaster, and curator from the Aran Islands. Her 2021 book Collecting Music in the Aran Islands: A Century of History and Practice, published by the University of Wisconsin Press, has been described as “one of the most important and fascinating books about… Read the rest

This talk will discuss the development of the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireannin the 1950s, with particular emphasis on when the Fleadh came to Loughrea, CountyGalway in 1955 and the subsequent year 1956, when it was hosted in neighbouringCounty Clare, in Ennis. The Fleadh was first established by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann(CCÉ) in 1951, when the inaugural festival was held in Mullingar. That first Fleadh wasthe initial action of CCÉ, the nascent music revival organisation, itself as yet unnamed.Over the course of the 1950s, the annual Fleadh (and the developing structures ofcounty and provincial Fleadh) became the most important calendar event for the Irishtraditional music community of practice. In the 1950s, Loughrea and Ennis as locationswere key building blocks in Fleadh growth, but were not without tensions which spilledover into the performance space.  The Fleadh remains central to Irish traditional musicculture, now attracting over half a million people annually, however, it is these earlyfestivals which created many of the structures and patterns of festivalisation that arecentral the contemporary Fleadh model. Dr Méabh Ní Fhuartháin (Head of Irish Studies, Centre for Irish Studies, University ofGalway) lectures and researches in the field of Irish music and dance studies. Widelypublished, Méabh’s current research projects… Read the rest

Cover of “Queen of Codes: The Secret Life of Emily Anderson, Britain’s Greatest Female Code Breaker” Galway woman Emily Anderson may have appeared to the world as the epitome of ordinary,yet was in truth anything but. Born in 1891 as the daughter of the President of Queen’sCollege Galway, during World War I she was recruited to British intelligence to work as acodebreaker. So exceptional were her skills that she was one of the few women retained towork in intelligence during the interwar period, and subsequently served as a codebreaker atBletchley Park and later Cairo, winning an OBE in the process. Though widelyacknowledged as an exceptional musicologist – her translations of the Letters of Mozart andthe Letters of Beethoven are classics to this day – her professional life as Britain’s greatestfemale codebreaker remained secret until the recent publication of her biography by JackieUí Chionna. In this lecture Dr. Uí Chionna will recall the remarkable life of the woman whoearned herself the title “Queen of Codes”. Dr. Jackie Uí Chionna teaches History at the University of Galway. Her biography of EmilyAnderson, Queen of Codes: The Secret Life of Emily Anderson, Britain’s Greatest FemaleCodebreaker, was published by Headline UK in 2023. Her previous… Read the rest