GAA President Aogán Ó Fearghail will join a group of leading historians to deliver a special series of lectures on Revolutionary Ireland that will take place in the GAA Museum at Croke Park in the coming weeks.

The GAA Museum is delighted to launch this new Spring Lecture Series, which commences on 8th February.

Distinguished historians will present a series of engaging lectures over six consecutive weeks, looking at various facets of the revolutionary period in Ireland. These lectures, taking place in Croke Park, are sure to appeal to anybody with an interest in Irish history.

All lectures will take place in the GAA Museum auditorium and will commence at 7pm. Tickets for each lecture are €10 or a package for all six lectures can be purchased for €50 from www.crokepark.ie.  

**8 February 2016: Aogán Ó Fearghail, ‘Gaelic Sunday 1918’. **

15 February 2016: Tim Pat Coogan, ‘The 1916 Rising’.

**22 February 2016: Paul O’Brien, ‘The 1916 Rising Battlefields’. **

29 February 2016: Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, ‘A Nation and Not a Rabble: The Irish Revolution, 1913-1923’

7 March 2016: Dr. William Murphy, ‘Repression and Resistance: the uses of prison during the Irish revolution, 1915-1923’.

14 March 2016: Liz Gillis, ‘What Did the Women Do Anyway?’

Notes on the Lecturers 

Aogán Ó Fearghail, ‘Gaelic Sunday 1918’.

Aogán Ó Fearghail, Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, will give a talk on the fascinating events of Gaelic Sunday 1918 when GAA clubs throughout Ireland played a series of co-ordinated games in defiance of the British government’s attempts to interfere in the running of the GAA. Ó Fearghail, from Maudabawn in Cavan, is the current GAA President. 

15 February 2016: Tim Pat Coogan, ‘The 1916 Rising’.

Noted historian Tim Pat Coogan will give an account of the events, personalities and repercussions of the 1916 Rising. Tim Pat will highlight the impact the utilisation of the Orange Card by the English Conservatives had on setting the scene for the Rising, while also introducing the major players, themes and outcomes of a drama that would profoundly affect twentieth-century Irish history. 

Tim Pat Coogan is Ireland's best known historical writer. His first book, Ireland Since The Rising (1966) was a pioneering work, the first history of the fifty years that followed the 1916 Rising. Subsequent publications include biographies of both Michael Collins (1990) and Eamon de Valera (1993); a study of the Irish diaspora Wherever Green is Worn (2012) and 1916: The Mornings After (2015). 

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**22 February 2016: Paul O’Brien, ‘The 1916 Rising Battlefields’ **

Military historian Paul O’Brien will engage his audience with a detailed history of the various engagements that took place during Easter Week, 1916. 

Paul O’Brien holds an M.A. in Irish History and has conducted detailed research for a number of projects. Paul’s publications include Battleground, The Battle for the General Post Office, 1916 (2015), A Question of Duty – The Curragh Incident, 1914 (2014) and Shootout, The Battle for St. Stephens Green, 1916 (2013). 

29 February 2016: Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, ‘A Nation and Not a Rabble: The Irish Revolution, 1913-1923’

Professor Diarmaid Ferriter explore new perspectives on and new sources for the key historical events that took place in Ireland during the period 1913 – 1923. Diarmaid will talk about the emergence of the Ulster Volunteers, the Irish Volunteers, the rise of Sinn Féin and the Irish War of Independence.

Diarmaid Ferriter is Professor of Modern Irish History at University College, Dublin. His published works include The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000 (2004), Judging Dev (2007), Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s (2012) and A Nation and Not A Rabble: The Irish Revolutions, 1913-1923 (2015).** **

7 March 2016: Dr. William Murphy, ‘Repression and Resistance: the uses of prison during the Irish revolution, 1915-1923’.

Dr. William Murphy will explore the use of imprisonment as a weapon during the period 1915-1923. 

Dr William Murphy lectures in Irish Studies at the Mater Dei Institute of Education, Dublin City University. He is co-editor of The Gaelic Athletic Association 1884-2009 (2009) and the author of Political Imprisonment and the Irish, 1912-1921 (2014).

14 March 2016: Liz Gillis, ‘What Did the Women Do Anyway?’

Liz will discuss the role that women played in the Irish Revolution. Although often overlooked, the women were indeed the invisible army of the Revolutionary movement and without their dedication, resolve and often their ingenuity, the Revolution simply would not have succeeded. Focusing on many of the lesser known women the talk will show that the women were vital Revolutionaries who gave their all in the hope of a better future for their country.

Liz Gillis has a Degree in Irish History and worked as a guide in Kilmainham Gaol. She now works as a Curatorial Assistant in RTÉ. Liz’s previous works include The Fall of Dublin (2011), Revolution in Dublin (2013) and Women of the Irish Revolution (2014) with two books due to be published in 2016 - We Were There: 77 Women of the Easter Rising and The Hales Brothers and The Irish Revolution.