Tomás Ó Fiaich and Maynooth/Má Nuad, 1940s-1970s

Maynooth University Library

by Prof Vincent Comerford  
as part of the Maynooth Through the Ages  Lecture Series

John Paul II Library, Maynooth University

Department of History in Association with Maynooth University Library, and St Patrick’s College, Maynooth presentsMaynooth Through the Ages Lecture SeriesThis event is free to the public. Booking for each talk is essential. See booking link after each title. 25 March 202419:00-20:30Tomás Ó Fiaich and Maynooth/Má Nuad, 1940s-1970sProf Vincent ComerfordTomás Ó Fiaich was one of the most charismatic figures of the second half of the twentieth century in Ireland. He studied at Maynooth from 1940 to 1944 and returned in 1953 as lecturer, charged with introducing Modern History as a subject in the NUI degree program. From the late 1950s he began to make an impression outside the walls. He was chair of a government commission on the Irish language, editor of several journals, and in 1964 was elected to the senate of the NUI. When Dr Jeremiah Newman was appointed president of Maynooth in 1968, Fr. Ó Fiaich was made registrar. He was a key figure in the expansion and transformation of the College under Newman. As president from 1974 Tomás prevailed upon the trustees to look for independent university status for Maynooth. Advanced discussions with the department of Education took place, but before any conclusion Monsignor Ó Fiaich was appointed archbishop of Armagh in the summer of 1977. At the same time the college was sliding into a traumatic internal dispute that changed its immediate prospects. Independence, would have to wait for twenty years.Chair: Cathal McCauley Other events in the lecture series19 Februrary 202419:00-20:30Garret Oge FitzGerald, ninth earl of Kildare (1487-1534) and the cult of Kildare nobility.Prof Marian LyonsBy the early 1500s, the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, enjoyed the status of Ireland's leading aristocratic family on the basis of their exceptional political, military, social and economic dominance. In addition to exercising authority from their seat at Maynooth, successive earls invested considerable energy and resources in projecting an image of their dynasty and supporters as powerful modern magnates. In doing so, they subscribed to the trend in Renaissance statecraft which prized the cult of the ruler. Gerald/Garret Oge, ninth Earl of Kildare, played a particularly important role in the process. This paper explores the ways in which he contributed to the curation of the 'cult of Kildare nobility'.Chair: Ciarán Reilly<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/825413372617?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/825413372617?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking link</a> 26 Februrary 202419:00-20:30Revolution in Maynooth, 1912-1923Seamus CullenThis illustrated presentation will outline the impact of the Irish Revolution, 1912-1923, on the town of Maynooth. The critical role of Maynooth College, together with details of the ambush of Crown Forces, the re-establishment of an RIC/Black and Tan barrack, and the recapture of the town by the National Army following the fall of Dublin will be described. The aftermath of the conflict – the fatalities, and the effect on the town – will also be examined.Chair: Prof Terence Dooley<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828355673117?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828355673117?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking link</a> 4 March 202419:00-20:30Beyond the gates: Untold stories of family life in the Historic Irish HouseColette JordanBeyond the gates: Untold stories of family life in the Historic Irish House This talk by Colette Jordan encapsulates a family and social history, with some new sources casting fresh light on the FitzGerald family, including periods of joyous celebration and love, tinged with heartbreaking trauma and lossChair: Alex Caccamo<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828366024077?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828366024077?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking link</a> 11 March 202419:00-20:30From Ballot Box to Council Chamber: Kildare's first County Council elections of 1898Liam KennyThe 1899 elections achieved notable ‘firsts’ under a number of headings – not least being the first time that women were granted the franchise on the island of Ireland. ‘From Ballot Box to Council Chamber’ focuses on the inaugural Kildare County Council elections of spring 1899 as a case study which was reasonably representative of the elections which took place across Ireland. There is also a contemporary topical note in that local elections are due in June 2024, 125 years after the first local elections in 1899.Chair: Susan Durack<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828368952837?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828368952837?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking link</a> 8 April 202419:00-20:30The Science &amp; Ecclesiastical Museum at St Patrick's College, MaynoothDr Neil TrappeA talk about the Science &amp; Ecclesiastical Museum at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, highlighting the history of the museum and some of interesting items held in the museum, followed by a tour.Chair: Ciarán Reilly<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828537326447?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828537326447?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking Link</a> 15 April 2024Campus tour 19:00-19:45Chapel tour 20:00-21:00St Patrick's College Campus tour and College Chapel TourPat WatsonThe tour takes you through the history of the campus from its Georgian beginnings in Stoyte House in 1795 through to Pugin's imposing Gothic building of St Patrick's. The College Chapel forms part of the tour with a chance to see the beautiful interior with arguably the largest choir stalls on the world. No tour would be complete without a word about some of the colourful characters and traditions associated with the College. Please note: due to numbers there are two separate booking links, and if you wish to attend both you will need to book for each event.<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828548550017?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828548550017?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking link for the Campus tour</a><a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828669551937?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/828669551937?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking link for the College Chapel tour</a> 15 April 202419:00-20:30Tour of Maynooth College Chapel by Dr John-Paul SeridanDr John-Paul SeridanDr. John-Paul Sheridan, a lecturer at Maynooth College will take you on a tour of the iconic nineteenth College Chapel from the history of its foundation to the architecture and the decoration.<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/836050719207?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/836050719207?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking Link</a> 22 April 202419:00-20:00Tour of the John Paul II LibraryElaine BeanOpened in 1984, the John Paul II Library is the heart of the Maynooth Campus. Since its extension in 2013 the library foyer has been a popular welcoming space for the local community. Some of the highlights will include seeing our collection of over 400,000 print items on over 10km of shelving and learn about our different study spaces, the foundation stone, blessed by Pope John Paul II on his visit to Maynooth in 1979, our Energy Pods, designed to revive you with a power nap, the power of 3D printing, and the 1916 Proclamation - one of a few in public hands.<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/825028631847?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/825028631847?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Booking link</a> <h2>Our speakers</h2>Marian LyonsMarian (Mary Ann) Lyons has published extensively on Franco-Irish relations and on Irish migration to continental Europe in the early modern period, and is particularly interested in jacobite migrants in Paris, c.1690-c.1730.She has also published on various aspects of Irish history including the Kildare dynasty, religion in late medieval and early modern Ireland, women, and the emergence of professional medicine from the early 1600s onwards. She has co-edited several essay collections on Irish migration to Europe in the early modern period, jointly curated the ‘Strangers to Citizens: the Irish in Europe, 1600-1800’ exhibition at the National Library of Ireland (2007-09) and co-authored Strangers to citizens: the Irish in Europe, 1600-1800 (2008). She is currently working on a biography of Thomas Arthur, M.D., of Limerick. Arising from her interest in local history, she is General Editor of the Maynooth Research Guides for Irish Local History series (Four Courts Press), and joint editor, together with Daithí Ó Corráin of The Irish Revolution 1912-23 series (Four Courts Press).Dr Seamus CullenDr Seamus Cullen is a historian based in North Kildare. His broad research interests include all aspects of local history in Kildare with a particular interest in military history between 1795 and 1923. He has published extensively on 1798 and 1803 in Kildare. In recent years, he has focused on the history of the Irish Revolution and is the author of Kildare: The Irish Revolution, 1912-23 (2020) which is the Kildare volume of the Irish Revolution series.Colette JordanColette Jordan was formerly a Research Officer in the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates. During that time she was given unrivalled access to the family papers of the FitzGerald family, Dukes of Leinster in their home in Oxfordshire. There she was entrusted with many of their, previously unseen, family diaries, letters, recipe books, rent books, etc. and permitted to bring them to Maynooth University to have them copied and recorded. Similarly she travelled to Boston to meet with members of the Laughlin family who had owned Castlehyde, now the home of Michael and Niamh Flatley. Again the family very kindly gave her letters, diaries, visitor books, etc which were invaluable in compiling the social history of Castlehyde. Since then she has been commissioned by the late Prince Khalid AbDullah, legendary owner of Frankel, to research and produce a history of his stud farm near Kilcullen - the New Abbey Estate. Similarly, she produced a history of his stud farm in Tetbury in Gloucestershire - the Estcourt Estate. She is currently working with Jay and Christy Cashman, owners of Kilkea Castle near Athy. Colette speaks regularly to local history societies on life in the Big House - upstairs and downstairs.Liam KennyLiam Kenny is Director of the Association of Irish Local Government and a former staff member of both Kildare County Council and the "Leinster Leader" newspaper. He has a long association as a student with Maynooth University graduating with an MA from the History Department in 2011. His interest in the 1899 local elections stems their role in ushering a change in Irish politics from the landed elite to the middle-class farmers and merchants or from unionism to home rule.Dr Neil TrappeDr Neil Trappe is a senior lecturer in the Experimental Physics Department at Maynooth University. His research interests are in the field of optical design and analysis especially for astronomical instrumentation. He became curator of the Science &amp; Ecclesiastical Museum in 2023.Pat WatsonPat Watson taught History and Geography for many years at St Wolstan's Seconday School, Celbridge. Since retirement she has developed her interest in local history and is now involved in providing guided tours of St Patrick's College, Chapel and campus. She is also author of a booklet on the College Chapel. As a member of Tidy Towns, Pat is currently working on story boards of the town's history as part of a Heritage Trail around Maynooth. To date the Heritage group has given several tours of the town to pupils of local National Schools as well as giving guided tours to the public during Heritage week over the last two years.Elaine BeanElaine Bean is senior library assistant, facilities and events at Maynooth University Library. Elaine facilites and coordinates both virtual and in person events which support both the university and local communities and has designed and delivered numerous information literacy programmes both within the university and to transition year students in local schools. Elaine was awarded the Maynooth University President’s Individual Award for Service Excellence and team award for Services Innovation and Service Excellence.

Tomás Ó Fiaich and Maynooth/Má Nuad, 1940s-1970s

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Tomás Ó Fiaich and Maynooth/Má Nuad, 1940s-1970s

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