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Reposted by Tomás Finn

Clodagh Fitzpatrick @clodaghfitz.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

A little mini-me of each child knitted by me to celebrate the graduation😊

Reposted by Tomás Finn

Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

I'm delighted to say we have opened our visiting fellowship scheme in the College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies @uniofgalway.bsky.social. Deadline for applications is 1 May 2026. All visits must take place in the period May to Sept 2026. www.universityofgalway.ie/colleges-and...

universityofgalway.ie

Research Funding - University of Galway

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Delighted to announce the CFP for the fourth series of the Irish History Students' Association podcast. Any questions please email ihsapodcast@gmail.com 1950ihsa.jimdosite.com/podcast/

1950ihsa.jimdosite.com

Podcast | 1950ihsa

The IHSA podcast.

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Wed. 25th February, 4 pm, University of Galway seminar lnkd.in/dCSKcBX6 about the 7:84 Scottish Theatre company. Taking their name from a statistic of the time, 7% of the people own 84% of the wealth, the company took their drama to Ireland in 1974. Speakers include Andrew Newby and Kieran Hoare

Coming up Wed. 25th February, 4 pm, University of Galway. To join online (no need to pre-register):
https://lnkd.in/dCSKcBX6...

The 7:84 (Scotland) Theatre company had a tremendous impact on a generation of Irish actors, directors and writers. For Ollie Jennings, who promoted several of their Galway performances in the 1970s, they had ‘energy, swagger, and a political message … their singing made their shows accessible, and their mix of socialism and entertainment was infectious.’

Taking their name from a statistic of the time (7% of the people own 84% of the wealth), the company took their drama through the highways and lowlands of Scotland, before taking Ireland by storm in 1974, with their radical “ceilidh-play” prompted by the discovery of the North Sea oilfield, The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil.

Speaker, Dr Andrew Newby, is a specialist in Scottish-Irish comparative history.

The second speaker, archivist Kieran Hoare, will introduce one of the University’s major archival collections: that of John Arden and Margaretta D’Arcy, authors of such classic works of Irish theatre as The Non-Stop Connolly Show (1975) and The Ballygombeen Bequest (1972).

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Enjoyed contributing to this documentary on T. k. Whitaker. Broadcast earlier today thanks to Paul Wright and the many historians and scholars who spoke about the modernisation of Ireland youtu.be/G8XfzuWBIiw?...

youtu.be

T.K. Whitaker – Irishman Of The 20th Century [46-mins radio doc]

YouTube video by Paul Wright

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Looking forward to speaking on the influence of intellectuals in modern Ireland at Economic and Social History conference this Friday

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

The Irish Centre for the Histories of Labour and Class Seminar this week marks the launch of Kieran Devenish's 'Factory Life in Industrial Yarns, Bray' (Four Courts, 2025) & the 50th volume of Saothar. Speakers include Kieran Devenish and Laurence Marley. O'Donoghue Centre, Wed 26 Nov. 4.15pm.

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Interested in doing a MA in History? Find out more at University of Galway's Postgraduate Open Day on Tues., 11 Nov. 4-6pm in Bailey Allen www.universityofgalway.ie/postgraduate... For a preview our exciting MA, take a look here youtu.be/SIKBbxm0K1o

youtu.be

MA History | College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies

YouTube video by University of Galway

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Congratulations to our PhD student Kieran Devenish on the successful launch of his book on an important aspect of the economic and social history of Bray and an article in the 50th issue of Saothar @historyatgalway.bsky.social

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Congratulations to our fantastic students, Caden Casey and Aoibhín Ní Gleasáin, on their success at the Global Undergraduate Awards in Dublin last night! Their prize-winning essays are now available to view on the GUA Library: gua.soutron.net/Portal/Defau...

gua.soutron.net

Search Results

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Delighted Caden Casey and Aoibhín Ní Gleasáin received awards at the Global Undergraduate Awards at the Royal Irish Academy undergraduateawards.com/regional-win... Their essays at the @universityofgalway.bsky.social have been recognised as among the very best of those sent from across the world

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Call for participants! Spread the word and get in touch with our PhD researcher, Elliot, if you are interested in being interviewed for his exciting PhD project!

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Reminder that our Research Seminar Series is kicking off tomorrow 🎉

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Aoibhín's essay was entitled 'Ireland's Missed Opportunity; The 1951 Mother and Child Scheme in Comparative Context' and Caden's essay was entitled 'The Transformation of Education in Ireland in the 1950s'. Well done on all your hard work 👏🥳

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Delighted to share our Research Seminar Series for this semester! We're starting off next Wed 10 Sept @ 4pm by welcoming our new colleague, Dr Ciarán McCabe, who will be speaking on 'Privacy, Respectability, and Working-Class Domestic Spaces in Dublin's Tenements, c.1910-c.1960'!

Poster for Dr Ciaran McCabe's seminar paper entitled 'Privacy, respectability and working class domestic spaces in Dublin's tenements, c.1910-60'. Wednesday 10 September at 4pm in Room G010, Hardiman Research Building

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UCD Press @ucdpress.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

The Charlie Byrne's team know how to do bookshops.... #supporttheindies #visit Galway 👌📚🇮🇪 @charliebyrne.bsky.social

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Reposted by Tomás Finn

Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

The @difp-ria.bsky.social is hiring! See the link below for details of an assistant editor position on the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy team - to cover a career break until July 2028. Please spread the word. DIFP is a very exciting project to work on. 🗃️ www.ria.ie/about/career...

ria.ie

Vacancy: Assistant Editor, Documents on Irish Foreign Policy - Royal Irish Academy

Applications are invited for the position of Assistant Editor, Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) at the Royal Irish Academy.

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Reposted by Tomás Finn

UCD Press @ucdpress.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

⭐️ UCD Press recently published titles ⭐️ We may be a bit biased, but we think our recent books look pretty good together. Cover and spine designs by the wonderful and talented Fiachra McCarthy Browse all of our books at www.ucdpress.ie or find them in stores nationwide

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Thanks so much to the Irish Ambassador and Embassy in Prague for hosting my talk. So many fascinating insights from so many people into how modern Ireland has emerged and evolved @historyatgalway.bsky.social @uniofgalwayasc.bsky.social @uniofgalwaylib.bsky.social @uniofgalwaycasscs.bsky.social

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Reposted by Tomás Finn

University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

If you're in Prague this Thursday, catch Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social speaking at the Irish Embassy on his brilliant recent research on the transformation of post-WWII Ireland!

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Thanks to the Irish Ambassador and the Irish embassy in Prague for the opportunity this Thursday 5 June to speak on the transformation of Ireland from WWII to today @historyatgalway.bsky.social @uniofgalwayasc.bsky.social @uniofgalwaycasscs.bsky.social www.eventbrite.com/e/lecture-on...

eventbrite.com

Lecture on Modern Irish Political and Social Transformation by Dr. Finn

Tomás Finn is a Lecturer in History at the University of Galway.

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Powerful account by our colleague @sarahannebuckley.bsky.social and Elaine Feeney of the importance of the decision by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to publish modules addressing the history, legacy and literature of Ireland’s institutions www.thejournal.ie/readme/mothe...

thejournal.ie

Opinion: To learn the lessons of Ireland's institutional past, we must teach it in schools

Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley and Elaine Feeney welcome plans to teach the history, legacy and literature of Ireland’s dark past at Junior Cert level.

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Reposted by Tomás Finn

Elaine Feeney @elainefeeney.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Book Launch Details for Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way 21.5 Foyles Charing Cross Road 23.5 London Irish Centre, Hammersmith 27.5 Kenny’s Bookshop 29.5 Books Upstairs Tickets online via each venue! Love to see you! 🍷

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Returning to Tipperary and this Friday Clonmel to revisit Pawel Paul Strzelecki, the Polish humanitarian and explorer, and how his idea saved more than 200,000 children during the Great Famine in Ireland strzelecki.ie/51194-2/

strzelecki.ie

Workshops | A Forgotten Polish Hero of the Great Irish Famine - Paul Strzelecki

Workshops for school children on Paul Strzelecki and the Great Famine accompany the exhibition in various venues around the country.

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Looking forward to working with Carrick-on-Suir Library and once again with the Polish embassy in highlighting in talks at the library the role of Paul Strzelecki as a humanitarian, explorer and migrant and how ours has been a Global world for a very long time

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Delighted to have presented my books on Tuairim and with Tony Varley that on Rural Ireland to the @president.ie and Mrs Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719095436/ www.ucdpress.ie/page/detail/... @ucdpress.bsky.social @universityofgalway.bsky.social

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Next week Shauna Mulligan will compare “The Plantation and the Concentration Camp: Slave labour and racism during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the Second World War (1941-1945)” in GO10 HRB, 4pm, Wednesday 26 February, and via Zoom webinar at universityofgalway-ie.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

@biblioraphic.bsky.social Hi. My name is Tomás Finn. I am an historian at the university of Galway. Can you please add me to your starter pack?

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Reposted by Tomás Finn

TheBookshop.ie @thebookshopie.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Newly restocked & forthcoming history titles from @ucdpress.bsky.social - Inside Rural Ireland @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social , A Tract for our Times, The Diaries of Kathleen Lynn @drmarymcauliffe.bsky.social & the forthcoming Mary MacSwiney from Leanne Lane. Quality! thebookshop.ie/brands/ucd-p...

n the early decades of native rule rural Ireland – and in particular the new farmer-owners who had emerged as the major winners in the recent agrarian revolution – exerted a considerable influence over the new Free State and over Irish Catholicism. Patriarchal power on the land had been strengthened by the transfer of land ownership from landlord to tenantfarmer and was given further strength by patriarchal Catholicism and patriarchal nationalism. After 1932 the strides protected import-substituting industrialisation was making never went nearly far enough to threaten agriculture’s economic primacy or the countryside’s central position in Irish society. Inspired by the traumatic experience of severe crisis conditions in the 1950s, a transformation that set southern Ireland on the path of urban industrialism commenced in earnest in the 1960s.

What emerges is that the power of the state to promote rural change has at once contracted and expanded in the years since Ireland joined the EEC in 1973. Views are divided as to how urban industrialism has impacted on different rural interests. Throughout much of the period since the 1950s the power of organised farmers to represent Irish farming interests remained high as those working the land continued to dwindle in number. In recent decades the always limited power of clerical activists and intellectuals to restructure rural civil society along Catholic (or even Christian) lines has undergone further decline. Most recently the prospects for farm women increasing their relative power have arguably improved the most in certain respects, even if land ownership still remains stubbornly and overwhelmingly in male hands.

Inside Rural Ireland delves deeply into the evolution of Ireland’s rural history to explore rural Ireland before and after these momentous transitions by examining the power of ruling politicians and state bodies, farmers, clerical and non-clerical civic activists, intellectuals (social commentators as well as …

The diaries of Dr Kathleen Lynn, 1916-1955, cover her involvement in the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, the Civil War, and the formative three and a half decades of the Irish Free State. They demonstrate the revolutionary, socialist and feminist fervour of a radical revolutionary woman, what motivated her and the work she did for women, workers, and Ireland. The diaries, held in the archives of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), reveal the often-difficult road that radical political women forged in the new Irish Free State, which viewed women through the constraining lens of marriage, motherhood, and domesticity. The diaries are also revealing of the supportive networks of political women, who worked together for social and political change. Central to the diaries is Lynn's vital work in St Ultan's Hospital for Sick Infants which she co-founded in 1919. Her diaries demonstrate vividly the number of women who led advances in medical care in the first decades of the State alongside Lynn. The diaries also record her family and personal relationships, especially her lifelong relationship with fellow suffragist, revolutionary and social campaigner, Madeline ffrench-Mullen.

In 1989 renowned historian J. J. Lee published his magnus opus, Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society (Cambridge University Press). Not only had Lee written a classic, but he also managed to transcend the reach of the academy when the book became a highly popular bestseller which went into over a dozen reprints, sold in the multiple thousands and won an array of awards. Such was the reach of the book that Lee, along with Professors Terence Brown and Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, appeared on a segment of over half an hour on The Late Late Show early in 1990.

Three decades on, the purpose of this collection is to honour Lee’s contribution to historical scholarship by gauging the impact of Ireland 1912–1985 as a historical analysis and social commentary through the contributions of a dozen of the leading historians of modern Ireland. Simultaneously, these essays measure the applicability of Ireland 1912–1985’s historiographical and methodological approach to more recent history. Almost all of the contributors trained as historians with this book as a touchstone text and so it is fitting for each author revisit drawing on the tools of their own field of expertise.

Until now, in-depth analysis of key female figures in Irish republicanism in the early twentieth century has been limited. Mary MacSwiney was one of the most single-minded anti-Treaty women, leading Eamon de Valera to describe her as ‘incorrigible’. Rather than just dismiss MacSwiney as one-dimensional in her opposition to the Treaty and in her continued political intractability, this biography seeks to place her political life within the centre of the turn of the twentieth-century republican narrative and understand why she was increasingly viewed as a virago.

To say contemporary gender roles played a part in reducing MacSwiney to a cipher for extreme republicanism limits a fuller understanding of her political life. Her uncompromising stance against the evils of compromise during the Treaty negotiations was indelibly formed by the experience of watching her brother Terence MacSwiney die on hunger strike in Brixton Jail in 1920, and the trauma she experienced. She witnessed an intimate act of selfsacrifice which bound her to a belief that her task was to continue her brother’s fidelity to a separatist republic. Betrayal of the republic, for her, would meant betrayal of a brother she loved and admired.

Mary MacSwiney situates this standout figure in the context of her tightly knit family, tracing her political evolution from suffrage and cultural revival activism to advanced nationalism. While the focus of MacSwiney’s political action was Cork, from 1920 onwards she began to assume a progressively more important role in Irish politics at a national and international level, including American tours, a central role during the Civil War and within Sinn Féin and a close political relationship with de Valera.

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UCD Press @ucdpress.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Authors @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social & Tony Varley @historyatgalway.bsky.social discuss Rural Ireland & housing in @irishtimes.com Future population and climate projections are such that housing needs demand a proactive response which addresses environmental as well as social and economic needs

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

@erinannmcc.bsky.social Please add me to starter pack. Hope you're well thanks

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Mark Hennessy @markhennessy.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

This is a book that merits reading by anyone who grew up in rural Ireland - thought provoking

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UCD Press @ucdpress.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Our thanks to @irishtimes.com and @markhennessy.bsky.social for featuring Inside Rural Ireland (Edited by @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social and Tony Varley) in the recent edition of Ticket, the culture magazine. Pick up a copy of Inside Rural Ireland at bookshops across Ireland or ucdpress.ie!

Title, editors, press and price listed above a short blurb on Inside Rural Ireland, written by Mark Hennessy.

The front cover of Ticket The Irish Times Culture Magazine featuring reddish orange banner and a large image of Franz Ferdinand with the headline "Band on a Run".

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Thanks to @irishtimes.com and @markhennessy.bsky.social for featuring Inside Rural Ireland (Edited by @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social and Tony Varley) in the recent edition of Ticket, the culture magazine. Pick up a copy of Inside Rural Ireland at bookshops across Ireland or ucdpress.ie!

ucdpress.ie

University College Dublin Press Online Bookshop

University College Dublin Press: Publishers of the best contemporary non-fiction writing. Peer-reviewed for academic excellence.

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Niamh Ní Charra @niamhnicharra.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

🎄🧵 Next up is this great read from Tomás Finn and Tony Varley which made use of Muintir na Tíre archive @uniofgalwaylib.bsky.social www.ucdpress.ie/page/detail/... #Christmas #EYAFestives @ucdpress.bsky.social 3/x

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Irish Association of Professional Historians #IAPH #Skystorians @iaphistorians.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

If you follow us then why not consider joining? Benefits include a Directory, Networking Events, Workshops, Bursaries, Discounts & Affiliation. IAPH is open to History PhDs and ancillary disciplines. Full details at #iaphistorians irishhistorians.ie/membership/

irishhistorians.ie

Membership – IRISH ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL HISTORIANS

We provide members with access to professional development training, subsidised by the association. We support members by promoting their work and publications in a public platform.

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

www.theirelandpodcast.com/latest-podca... Enjoyed speaking with Tony Varley about our new Inside Rural Ireland book with Fender Jackson on the Ireland podcast www.ucdpress.ie/page/detail/... @ucdpress.bsky.social @historyatgalway.bsky.social

theirelandpodcast.com

The Ireland Podcast

Celebrate The Island!

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Lovely turn out for the Clonmel Historical & Archaeological Society: December Lecture where Tomás Finn discussed his new publication 'Inside Rural Ireland: Power and Change since Independence'. Thanks to all everyone in Clonmel @historyatgalway.bsky.social @ucdpress.bsky.social

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University of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

'This timely book brings together leading historians and sociologists to uncover the hidden dynamics of rural Ireland's evolution' - nice review of our colleague @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social's new co-edited book, Inside Rural Ireland, from last Friday's Irish Daily Mail.

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Clonmel Historical & Archaeological Society: December Lecture: On Monday 9th December Tomas Finn will speak on his new publication 'Inside Rural Ireland: Power and Change since Independence' Starts at 8.15 pm in the Main Guard, Clonmel @ucdpress.bsky.social

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Tomás Finn @finnuniofgalway.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

ALL WELCOME to the Dublin launch of Inside Rural Ireland tomorrow. Guest Speaker Maurice Manning, and a discussion with Mary Daly and Bryan Fanning. In bookshops nationwide. 3pm, Thurs 5th Dec at NUI, 49 Merrion Sq, D2 @nuimerrionsq.bsky.social @ucdpress.bsky.social @historyatgalway.bsky.social

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