Christopher Doughan is the author of The Voice of the Provinces, one of the first books examining the history of Ireland’s regional newspapers. Ireland’s regional and provincial newspapers have played a largely unrecognised role in Irish history: this book charts their experiences in the dramatic and sometimes violent years leading up to independence. In this … Continue reading
Ireland, Migration and Return Migration – In Conversation with Sinéad Moynihan
Drawing on literary, historical and cultural studies perspectives, Sinéad Moynihan's Ireland, Migration and Return Migration examines the phenomenon of the “Returned Yank” in the cultural imagination. Taking as its point of departure The Quiet Man (1952), it provides a cultural history that charts the ways in which the Returned Yank indexes a set of recurring anxieties in … Continue reading
Artistic works inspired by the Great Famine struggle to do it justice, but they keep the memory alive
This piece was originally published on The Conversation. How do you represent in film an experience as keen and painful as hunger? Director Lance Daly’s recently released film Black ‘47 – a revenge epic set during the 1840s Irish famine – is the latest attempt to depict the devastating catastrophe which left more than a million dead … Continue reading
Women of the Country House in Ireland – Five minutes with Maeve O’Riordan
Ahead of the launch of Women of the Country House in Ireland, 1860-1914, author Maeve O'Riordan discusses the various experiences of women among the Irish Ascendancy, from financial freedom to their own observations of motherhood. Women of the Country House in Ireland 1860-1914 reveals the lives of the women among the Irish Ascendancy. How did you go about … Continue reading
Strangling Angel: Diphtheria and Childhood Immunization in Ireland
Michael Dwyer, author of Strangling Angel, discusses Diphtheria, cover-ups and the childhood immunization programme in Ireland. Strangling Angel was inspired by the work of Dr Jack Saunders, Chief Medical Officer to Cork City, Ireland, from 1929 to 1956. Saunders’ annual reports give a unique insight into the challenges faced by a new cohort of public health doctors on … Continue reading