On Thursday 11 November a new edited volume, The Historian as Detective: Uncovering Irish Pasts. Essays in honour of Raymond Gillespie was launched in Pugin Hall.

The volume is co-edited by Prof. Salvador Ryan, Faculty of Theology, St Patrick’s Pontifical University, Prof. Mary Ann Lyons, Department of History, Maynooth University, and Prof. Terence Dooley, Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates, Maynooth University, and was launched by Prof. Peter Marshall of the University of Warwick.

In his address, Prof. Marshall remarked:

“The Historian as Detective delivers within its covers a vast range of themes and topics, running from the fourth century to the twenty-first, and an epic cast of historical characters. St Patrick, Oliver Cromwell, Wolf Tone, Daniel O’Connell and James Joyce all make an appearance, but so do hundreds of ordinary and unheralded folk … The focus is on the history of this island, but readers will come away with an enhanced understanding of how Ireland’s pasts have long been entwined with those of other places. What unites all of the contributions, though, is a sense of the excitement, challenge and open-endedness of dialogue with the people of the past …

The imposing length of the list of contributors (81) is without question a reflection of just how many people wanted to be involved, and to put their admiration for Raymond Gillespie on permanent record. The names of the authors are an A to Z, or at least a B to W, of eminent scholars of Irish history and culture”.

The volume is now available for order from Four Courts Press.

Four Courts Press. 316pp. (245mm x 172mm) Colour Ills. Hardback. 978-1-84682-999-4 €55.00 https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/new-year-folder/the-historian-as-detective/

(Left to right): Prof. Terence Dooley, Prof. Peter Marshall, Prof. Raymond Gillespie, Prof. Mary Ann Lyons, and Prof. Salvador Ryan.

Photo Credit: Bridie Maughan.