Kildare County Council to Host 6th Irish Military Seminar

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, a 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.”

Diarmaid Ferriter

The seminar takes place on Saturday, 4^th 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 the 9th and 10^th of June. James Durney’s talk Adolf Hitler: My part in his downfall, Mickser Mahon based on his recent book, will be on Tuesday, 7^th 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^th June in Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, at 19.30.  Copies of both authors’ books will be on sale.

A varied and interesting programme is on offer in the Town Hall (Old Garrison Church), Newbridge on Saturday, 11^th June from 09.15, with authors, archaeologists and historians including Paul Duffy, Dr. Gerri O’Neill, Dr. Patrick Mulroe, and Dr. Connie Kelleher. Woodbine Books will be offering a wide range of local, national, and international history publications at Newbridge Town Hall. Free event. Book at https://bit.ly/3kIUbXA.

These events are 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.

Source: Kildare County Council