Online Lecture Feb 2022 Tuam and the Treaty

'It is this Treaty or the plunging of the Irish nation into war': Tuam and the Treaty

Its been too long but we are finally dipping our toes into the online lecturing world. We're delighted to welcome Tuam native Dr Martin O'Donoghue as our lecturer for what promising to be a timely and fascinating look at Tuam's connections to the Treaty of 1921.

On 6 December 1921, Irish and British negotiators signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty providing for the establishment of the Irish Free State as a dominion of the British Empire. While the Treaty would lead to a split in the Sinn Féin party, and ultimately, civil war, in the initial days and weeks after 6 December, politicians, public figures and the people of Tuam and north Galway discussed, debated and took positions on the document. Examining the measure of sovereignty offered and the arguments made by both sides from a local perspective, this lecture will examine reactions in Tuam and the views of the TDs for the area like Joseph B. Whelehan and Brian Cusack alongside national leaders to analyze the immediate and longer-term significance of the Treaty and the split.

Dr Martin O’Donoghue is a Teaching Associate in Modern British and Irish History at The University of Sheffield and has previously held appointments at Northumbria University, the University of Limerick and the National Library of Ireland. He received his PhD from NUI Galway in 2017.  His first book, The Legacy of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Independent Ireland, 1922-1949, published by Liverpool University Press, was co-winner of the NUI Publication Prize in Irish History and was highly commended for the British Association of Irish Studies Book Prize.

The lecture will take place on Thursday 10 February at 8 pm. Just follow this link. You don't need a Google account to view. Hope you can join us.