Irish historian to give Feb. 21 lecture on violence
Dr. Sean Farrell, associate professor of history at Northern Illinois University, will deliver a free, public lecture, "Looking Beyond Orange and Green in Irish History: Sectarian Violence in the 19th Century," at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in Room 251 of Owens Science Hall.
The lecture is co-sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and the History Department at St. Thomas. No reservations are needed, and light refreshments will be served.
"When most people think about Northern Ireland or Ulster, they start by assuming a historic Catholic-Protestant antagonism," Farrell said. "But even the most sectarian events involve a host of complex issues and factors. This has clear implications for how we view so-called divided societies around the world – in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Iraq, for instance."
Farrell's lecture will examine closely two "classically sectarian" events – a 1791 murder in South Armagh and a riot in 1849 – as a way of examining easy assumptions.
Farrell is the author of numerous articles on Irish history and is the author of the award-winning study, Rituals and riots: Sectarian Violence and Political Culture in Ireland, 1784-1886 (University Press of Kentucky, 2000). He co-edited Shadows of Gunmen: Violence, History and Art in Modern Ireland(Cork University Press, 2007). He was elected history representative of the American Conference for Irish Studies in 2007 and serves as an advisory editor for New Hibernia Review, published by St. Thomas' Center for Irish Studies.
While visiting St. Thomas, Farrell also will give a guest lecture in Dr. Patricia Howe's seminar, Ireland in the 18 th Century, and will meet with history faculty.
For more information, contact Jim Rogers in the Center for Irish Studies, (651) 962-5662.
