About the speaker
Dr. Darragh Gannon is Associate Director of Global Irish Studies at Georgetown University.
He has published widely in Irish and Global History. His books include Proclaiming a Republic: Ireland, 1916 and the National Collection (Irish Academic Press, 2016), Ireland 1922: independence, partition, civil war, edited with Fearghal McGarry (Royal Irish Academy, 2021), and Conflict, Diaspora, and Empire: Irish nationalism in Britain, 1912-1922 (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
Dr. Gannon previously served as Curatorial Researcher at the National Museum of Ireland, and is a regular commentator on culture and current affairs for international media outlets, including Le Monde, ABC Australia, the Irish Times, BBC, RTÉ, and TIME Magazine.
The lecture on 16th October 2024 is supported by:
The Ireland Funds Monaco generously funds the Bursary programme at the library, of which Dr. Darragh Gannon is the recipient in autumn 2024.
The Ireland Funds Monaco Bursaries were established to enable literary and academic writers born or living on the island of Ireland to pursue a current project during a one-month residency at the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco. The Bursaries are aimed at writers who are currently engaged in a work-in-progress which would benefit in some regard from time spent working at the library and access to its collections.
Under the High Patronage of HSH Prince Albert II, The Ireland Funds are organising a weekend celebration, 11-13 October 2024 and fundraising gala on Saturday 12th, with special guest Dermot Desmond to be honoured with the Princess Grace Humanitarian Award. Details below.
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The Princess Grace Irish Library is not involved
in the organisation of The Ireland Funds Monaco Weekend
For more information or to confirm your attendance,
please contact:
Europe: Sile Jackson at +33.6.7863.5540
or email sile.jackson@irelandfunds.org
U.S.A.: Carla Capone at +1.212.213.1166
or email events@carlacapone.com
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Or reserve by email: info@pgil.mc
or Tel: + 377 93 50 12 25
(Pay €10 cash/cheque at the door - no credit cards)
Lecture titled: The Republic of Letters, 1919-1923
Count Gerald O’Kelly and the Irish Revolutionary World
Proclaimed by Irish nationalists in January 1919, and the British government in August 1919, the metaphysical Irish Republic became the cause of both the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War. It has been subject to extensive study, to date, in terms of political conflict.
This talk reconceptualises the Irish Republic as an ‘imagined community’ of individuals, ideas, and identities, created-in-writing, between Irish nationalists and the world. Writing from the post-war Paris Peace Conference, Seán T. O’Kelly developed a network of correspondents with Breton, Egyptian, and Italian nationalists, while public intellectuals in the Francophone world, such as Pierre Benoît, published novels on the Irish Republic: La Chausée des Géants. Exploring the rich literary collections of Count Gerald O’Kelly de Gallagh at the Princess Grace Irish Library, this talk will re-interpret the international significance of the Irish Revolution as a ‘Republic of Letters’.
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Dr. Gannon will speak partly about the book collection from Count O'Kelly's estate, which was acquired in the 1970s by Princess Grace. Born in 1890, in North Tipperary, Count O'Kelly was an Irish diplomat, serving as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to France for the Irish Free State government. He was the sole Irish diplomat to remain in Paris throughout World War II, securing the safety of Irish trapped in France in the years of occupation, as well as giving Irish passports to needy British applicants. Thanks to Count O'Kelly's mother, who had Wild Geese ancestry, he spoke fluent French.
The trustees of the Princess Grace Irish Library would like to express their deepest gratitude to The Ireland Funds Monaco. It is one of the chapters of The Ireland Funds, a global philanthropic network established in 1976 to promote and support peace, culture, education and community development throughout the island of Ireland, and Irish-related causes around the world. It has benefited the work of thousands of different organisations, with both financial and non-financial support. Today, The Ireland Funds is one of the largest private grant makers for the non-profit sector in Ireland.