" Oh What a Lovely War - How Should We Remember the First World War"?

Old Drogheda Society

 

OLD DROGHEDA SOCIETY / DROGHEDA MUSEUM MILLMOUNT 20th ANNUAL John Boyle O'Reilly AUTUMN SCHOOL

 

" Oh What a Lovely War - How Should We Remember the First World War?"

 

Sun 19 Oct 2014 10am-5.30pm  Cost €20 (including light lunch)

 

Venue - The Conference Centre Drogheda Museum

 

The First World War was one of the most appalling events in human history, with over 16 million dead (9 million combatants and 7 million civilians). How should we remember this war? Should we 

commemorate it or look back on it with horror, shame and anger?

 

This year's Annual Old Drogheda Society's John Boyle O'Reilly Autumn School looks at this 

controversial question with fresh eyes and the results of new innovative research, both national and local. With a panel of internationally renowned expert speakers and some fascinating new local information from the Millmount Research Unit, an enthralling day is guaranteed!

 

PAPERS

Brian Hanley: World War One and Ireland: look back in anger.

 

Noted historian Dr. Brian Hanley is the author of The IRA, 1926-1936 (2000), The IRA: A Documentary History, 1919-2005 (2010) and with Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution (2010) He teaches history at University College Dublin.

 

Seán Corcoran: The Dead of Drogheda Arise – local impact of the First World War.

 

Seán Corcoran, Chairperson of the Old Drogheda Society and a Director of Drogheda Museum, looks at the impact of the war on the town and the social background of those who died. 

 

Mary Muldowney: Overcoming barriers of class and gender: The experience of Irish women 

workers during the First World War.

 

Dr. Mary Muldowney is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Contemporary History in Trinity College Dublin and a founding member of the Oral History Network of Ireland. She has also published on the involvement of women workers in the Irish railway industry and other labour history subjects. Mary is a member of the National Consultation Panel on Cultural Heritage and Global Change for the Heritage Council.

 

Philip Orr: The First World War and Unionist memory

 

Historian, writer and playwright, Phillip Orr is widely regarded as the definitive authority on the  development of Unionist identity. His work has been described by Professor Joe Lee as “Masterly and moving ..”. His publications include the bestselling The Road to the Somme: Men of the Ulster Division Tell Their Story (Belfast 1987) and Field of Bones: An Irish Division at Gallipoli (2006).

 

Francis Devine: James Connolly and the Irish Neutrality League

 

Francis Devine is a historian, poet and singer who for many years was Director of Education for the trade union SIPTU. He has written and lectured extensively on the history of the Irish labour movement and his publications include Organising History: A Centenary of SIPTU (2009) and A capital in conflict: Dublin city and the 1913 Lockout (editor 2013). This paper reveals new research on a forgotten moment in the history of 1914 Ireland and throws an interesting light on current debates on Irish neutrality.

 

Brendan Matthews and Liz King: A Local Commercial Scheme to Collect Wild Medicinal Herbs for Use in the War

 

Brendan Matthews is an archivist at Drogheda Museum and a renowned community historian. Liz King is a full time oral historian with the Local Voices Centre in Drogheda Museum. This paper tells the story of a local commercial project to collect wild medicinal herbs to make up for the shortage of medicines on the battlefields. 

 

Advance booking is essential phone 041-9833097 or e-mail info@droghedamuseum.ie . Cost is €20 per person (includes light lunch)

 

Old Drogheda Society - History, Archaeology & Heritage

Millmount, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland. Tel. 041-9833097

Old Drogheda Society - History, Archaeology & Heritage

Millmount, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland. Tel. 041-9833097