IRISH ACADEMIC PRESS RELOCATES TO KILDARE

Irish Academic Press relocates to Kildare

Following the acquisition of Irish Academic Press in 2012 by local Kildare resident, Conor Graham, the long-established and respected history publisher has fully relocated to the county with new offices on Chapel Lane, Sallins. Ever since the foundation of the company in 1974, which emerged from the dissolution of the now legendary Irish University Press in the same year, the company has been based at various locations in central Dublin, but with the new owner and publisher being a full time resident in the canal village of Robertstown, it made sense to him to move his new business a little closer to home.
“I moved to north Kildare in January 2000 to take up a position in the publishing industry in Dublin, and never dreamt of running my own publishing company from a Kildare base. Having spent 10 years commuting into Dublin, it’s a pleasure to work from a local office and to run the business in what is now my home county.” The strategic direction of the company has also changed slightly since Graham’s takeover, with a much greater focus on local history publishing to complement the large national subjects. “I’ve a great personal interest in local history myself, and since moving to the county I’ve had a strong ambition to uncover some of the rich and vibrant local history that must be under the surface in Kildare, and to translate that into the publishing output for IAP, and for my more popular history imprint, Merrion. This year [2012] we’ll see new local history titles on the impact of the First World War on life in Co Tipperary; the effect on Co Donegal of the work of the Congested District’s Board at the end of the 19th century; the devastation of the Famine in Co Leitrim; and further First World War county histories planned for Kilkenny, and hopefully Co. Kildare too.”
Irish Academic Press was founded by Frank Cass in 1974 and, following his death in 2007, his son Stewart continued and expanded the business while remaining true to the core values of the company – integrity, scholarly research and accessible, insightful writing. Key titles such as Reflections on the Irish State by Garrett Fitzerald and The Surnames of Ireland by Edward MacLysaght exemplify how IAP brought to the fore many important and revealing aspects of Irish history, society and current affairs.
Conor Graham is well known throughout the Irish book trade from his role as the commercial director of New Island Books from 2009, working under Edwin Higel and Dermot Bolger, and also as the sales and marketing manager of Brookside Publishing Services from 2002. It was in this latter role that Conor represented Irish Academic Press to the book trade and grew very familiar and enthusiastic about its highly respected titles, authors and tradition. The keen rapport and mutual understanding between Stewart, the Cass Family and Conor Graham meant that he was clearly the ideal successor, and well placed to take Irish Academic Press into the future. Speaking about the acquisition, Conor said: “This is a really unique opportunity to run a publishing house of such great reputation and influence, to base it in Ireland, and to marry its tradition with my own experience and vision. I’m thrilled.”
As the new owner of Irish Academic Press, Conor is committed to continuing the work of the company and reinforcing its brand, and through the creation of a new general imprint, Merrion Press, to develop IAP’s publishing in the coming years. The range of titles span general Irish history and literary studies, specialising in modern Irish history, 20th century military and political history, as well as books in the areas of arts, media, women’s studies and genealogy. With between 25-30 titles in 2013, the company’s publishing programme has never been so vibrant. Graham is especially looking for new publishing submissions on all aspects of life in Co Kildare, whether social, political, or military, and can be contacted at the IAP offices 8 Chapel Lane, Sallins on 895562 or by email conor.graham@iap.ie

Major publisher, Irish Academic Press, under the helm of Conor Graham, has relocated to Sallins, Co. Kildare