7th Annual Irish Military Seminar at Riverbank Arts Centre
Riverbank Arts Centre are delighted to once again welcome the Irish Military Seminar. Now in it’s seventh year the Irish Military Seminar, hosted by Kildare County Council and the County Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee, is a series of free talks which take place over two days. This year the events will take place on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May. Please see below for full event details and booking links.
Friday 19 May
Book Launch: Stand you now for Ireland’s Cause. A biographical dictionary of County Kildare republican activists 1913-23 by James Durney
Friday, 19 May at 19.00 – Riverbank Arts Centre Foyer – no need to book.
Stand you now for Ireland’s cause is a unique biographical dictionary of Co. Kildare men, women and children who took part in the fight for Ireland’s freedom in three revolutionary periods: the 1916 Easter Rising, War of Independence (1919-21) and Civil War (1922-23). Over 1,200 names are included of activists in the Irish Volunteers/Irish Republican Army, Sinn Féin, Cumann na mBan, Fianna Éireann, Irish Citizen Army and the National Army.
The Peacemakers of Niemba
Friday, 19 May at 20.00 – Riverbank Arts Centre Auditorium – BOOK HERE
Tom McCaughren was Defence Correspondent of The Irish Times when he wrote The Peacemakers of Niemba, a detailed account of the ambush in the Congo in 1960 in which nine Irish-UN soldiers were killed by Baluba warriors. He was ŔTE Security Correspondent during the Troubles, and also reported on the Irish-UN mission in Lebanon for many years. He is the author of several books for young people and adults, many of which have been translated into foreign languages.
Saturday 20 May
The Irish Brigade at Monte Cassino
Saturday, 20 May at 10.10 – Riverbank Arts Centre Auditorium
Richard Doherty is recognised as Ireland’s leading military history author. His most recent publication Monte Cassino: Opening the Road to Rome is one of Richard’s thirty books about British and Irish military history ranging from the Williamite Wars through to operations in Afghanistan.
BOOK HERE – for The Irish Brigade at Monte Cassino
Dual Talk
Ireland as the ‘ever-simmering cauldron of unrest’. An assessment of the challenges faced by the Commanders of the British Army in Ireland, 1796 -1922.
Saturday, 20 May at 11.35 – Riverbank Arts Centre Auditorium
Dr. Tony Gaynor taught history for twenty years in Dublin City University and was the CEO of the Royal Irish Academy. His most recent publication, Commanders of the British Forces in Ireland, 1796-1922, adopts a thematic approach to analysing the role of the British commanders in Ireland during a formative period in Irish history.
AND
The Scariff Martyrs, War, Murder and Memory in East Clare
Saturday, 20 May at 12.20 – Riverbank Arts Centre Auditorium
Dr. Tomás Mac Conmara an oral historian, author, and lecturer has published six books including his 20-year collection work: The Time of the Tans and in 2021, The Scariff Martyrs, War, Murder and Memory in East Clare. Tomás runs a heritage consultancy, leading cultural projects for national clients and local authorities.
BOOK HERE for Ireland as the ‘ever-simmering cauldron of unrest AND The Scariff Martyrs, War, Murder and Memory in East Clare
Dual Talk
Captain Francisco de Cuéllar: the Armada, Ireland, and the wars of the Spanish Monarchy, 1578-1606.
Saturday, 20 May at 14.30 – Riverbank Arts Centre Auditorium
Dr. Francis Kelly is a graduate of NUI Galway and University College Cork and has written extensively about the Spanish Armada in Ireland. He is the author of the biography Captain Francisco de Cuéllar: the Armada, Ireland, and the wars of the Spanish Monarchy, 1578-1606.
AND
Breaking the Silence: Writing the Irish Civil War
Saturday, 20 May at 15.15 – Riverbank Arts Centre Auditorium
Dr. Síobhra Aiken is a lecturer in the Department of Irish and Celtic Studies at Queen’s University Belfast and has published widely on the social and cultural history of twentieth-century Ireland. A former Fulbright Scholar, her publications include the monograph Spiritual Wounds: Trauma, Testimony and the Irish Civil War and the edited volumes The Men Will Talk to Me: Ernie O’Malley’s Interviews with the Northern Divisions and An Chuid Eile Díom Féin: Aistí le Máirtín Ó Direáin. Her current research project, funded by the Royal Irish Academy, considers multilingual responses to Ireland’s revolutionary period.
BOOK HERE for Captain Francisco de Cuéllar AND Breaking the Silence: Writing the Irish Civil War
Admission to all events is free but booking is essential as these events often book out quickly!
