6th Irish Military Seminar 

6th Irish Military Seminar

4-11 June 2022

The Irish Military Seminar returns with an exciting full programme of lectures this year in venues across the county, including Castletown House, Celbridge, Naas and Newbridge Libraries and Newbridge Town Hall, featuring renowned historians and authors, including Stella Tillyard (Aristocrats and Citizen Lord) and Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, our keynote speaker who will give a talk based on his most recent book, Between Two Hells: The Irish Civil War.

"It is not the duty of the historian to lecture the people of the past... on how they should have done better. The quest should be to understand and contextualise their positions, the lights that guided them and to humanise their dilemmas and the deadly consequences of their decisions."
Prof. Diarmaid Ferriter

Join us on Saturday, 4 June at 15.00 in the Long Gallery, one of the most celebrated rooms in Castletown House, for Stella Tillyard's talk on 'The World Turned Upside Down: Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the British Army, and the battle for Irish Freedom'. Bring a picnic and take some time to enjoy the grounds of Castletown. Book at www.castletown.ie, cost €10.00.

Naas and Newbridge Libraries will host Dr. Tomás Mac Conmara's bi-lingual talk, The Irish Civil War, and the Memory of a Divided Landscape, on 9 and 10 June. James Durney's talk Adolf Hitler: My part in his downfall, Mickser Mahon based on his recent book, will be on Tuesday, 7 June in Newbridge Library.

One of the highlights of the annual Seminar is the Friday night talk for retired and serving Defence Forces personnel. This year Ranger 22, Ray Goggins, will be in conversation with Declan Power on Friday, 10 June in Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, at 19.30. Copies of both authors' books will be on sale. All welcome to join us before the event for refreshments.

A varied and interesting programme is on offer in the Town Hall (Old Garrison Church), Newbridge on Saturday, 11 June from 09.15, with authors, archaeologists and historians including Paul Duffy (From Carrickfergus to Carcassonne: The Crusade against the Cathars); Dr. Gerri O'Neill (Sex for Secrets? The IRA's 'honey-trap' operation, 1920-21); Dr. Patrick Mulroe (From Confusion to Counter Insurgency: The Irish Security Response to the Outbreak of Violence in Northern Ireland 1969-1972), and Dr. Connie Kelleher (Military and naval tactics and the suppression of historic piracy in Ireland - where it all went wrong). Woodbine Books will be offering a wide range of local, national, and international history publications at Newbridge Town Hall. Free event. Book via https://bit.ly/3kIUbXA

Seminar admission: booking is essential for all events; please see https://kildare.ie/ehistory/index.php/6th-irish-military-seminar for details.
Facebook: Kildare Decade of Commemorations
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Part of Kildare County Council's Decade of Commemorations Committee programme, in association with the OPW, Castletown House, Kildare Library & Arts Service, June Fest, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media.

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