Thomas Duncan: Biographical Details
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WHO ARE THE IRISH? MIXING GAELS, VIKINGS, NORMANS & PLANTERS A SERIES OF FOUR WEBINARS INTRODUCTION This handout supports my recent series of four webinar lectures delivered in early February, 2021. Given the length of period covered, from c. 800 to 1800, a prose introduction is beyond the scope of this document. Those seeking to explore further the history which unites ‘our shared island spaces’ will, I hope, find adequate material in the Reading List below. Lists of images for all four lectures are also included, primarily to aid those who are unfamiliar with Irish place names, or wish to look at the lectures a second time. Please note I am unable to supply OS grid references for each site. READING LIST This reading list is not meant to be comprehensive - Irish historic studies is already an over-populated territory. So, I have confined my suggestions to those areas which reflect the material covered in the lectures, based on my own interests and reading. For the early period of Irish archaeology and history, please refer to the reading list which accompanied the initial pair of lectures on Ancient Ireland. If you have not already received this reading list (it has been sent out ONLY to those who registered for the first series of lectures) copies can be forwarded via email to anyone who is interested. Books mentioned will not always be in print so you may need to resort to a ‘google’ search to track down a particular title. Those marked with an asterisk * are also available in paperback. I am afraid I am not able to supply ISBN details for books included as it would take up too much time. S. Duffy (ed.) Atlas of Irish History*, Gill & Macmillan, 1997 and later editions. This covers all the material I intend to include during my Irish webinars and is invaluable. R. Kee Ireland – A History*, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980 and many later editions via other imprints. J. Lydon The Making of Ireland*, Routledge, 1998. R. F. Foster Modern Ireland 1600 – 1972*, Penguin Books, 1989. R. F. Foster (ed.) The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland*, Oxford University Press, 1991. We should all be aware that the manner in which Irish history has been written about in the past often reflects either a specific ‘nationalist’ or ‘unionist’ viewpoint. A second point is that some of the older books may be hopelessly out of date, given the wealth of archival material to emerge in recent decades, not least material from state archives concerning the recent ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. This is why I have limited my suggestions for overall works on Irish history to the four mentioned above. All reflect a sea-change in Irish historiography which has occurred over the last generation, notably reflected in Robert Kee’s book, written to support his ground-breaking TV series. Jim Lydon was THE great medievalist of his time (from whose lectures I learnt much) and with his general history of 1 Ireland you will be in safe hands. Roy Foster is the most prominent of the younger historians who made waves from the 1980s onwards, and indeed he continues to do so. The second title listed under his name is a series of extended essays written by some of the most stimulating of this ‘revisionist’ generation – it is a marvellous ‘read’. P. Harbison & J. O’Brien Ancient Ireland from Prehistory to the Middle Ages, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996. P. Harbison The Golden Age of Irish Art – The Medieval Achievement 600 – 1200, Thames & Hudson, 1998. These two books are by one of Ireland’s leading archaeologists. Indeed, a high proportion of the images shown in the first two lecture webinars were scanned from photographs in both books. Harbison is ever tactful concerning the often contradictory (not to mention contrary) views on origins and dates which bedevil these subjects. His texts betray his knowledge of sites beyond Ireland and he has read widely in languages other than English – an advantage not enjoyed by some of his contemporary scholars. M Craig The Architecture of Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1800*, Batsford, 2nd edition, 1989. E. McParland Public Architecture in Ireland 1680 – 1760, Yale University Press, 2001. The two titles above represent a continuity of research over many decades. Maurice Craig was in his day, (1919 – 2011), the leading historian of Irish architecture in the classical tradition and inspired the coming generations. Edward McParland, a great friend and admirer of Craig’s, follows in this tradition and through his teaching at TCD, a new generation are taking to the archives, revealing all sorts of fascinating material. The best of these is without doubt Christine Casey, whose book on Dublin is listed below. In style, Maurice Craig is very much a scholar of the ‘old school’, his learning worn lightly, presented with subversive humour, though grounded in a profound knowledge of the material. Above all, he knew both how ‘to look’ at buildings and to situate them within their social and political context. McParland continues this tradition but his scholarship is his trump card – exemplary, based on an unrivalled knowledge of the archival sources, deployed with an unexpected, sly wit. I say ‘unexpected’ as Dr. McParland was one of my tutors at TCD and ‘sly wit’ is not my abiding memory of his exacting tutorial style. J. O’Brien & D. Guinness Great Houses and Castles of Ireland, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992. H. Mongomery-Massingberd & C. S. Sykes Great Houses of Ireland, Laurence King, 1990. P. Somerville-Large The Irish Country House, Sinclair-Stevenson, 1995. Valerie Pakenham The Big House in Ireland, Cassell, 2000. There are a great many books available on the history of the Irish country house. From these I have selected a few personal favourites. The O’Brien and Guinness book continues the series begun with the title at the top of this page, but with Desmond Guinness now replacing Peter Harbison. The companion volume on Dublin is included below. Together the set of three is a magnificent achievement and all involved are to be congratulated. The unifying factor is O’Brien’s photographs which are amongst the best of any ever taken of these remarkable, frequently poignant places. It is sad to relate that both O’Brien and Guinness are no longer with us, Jacqueline dying in March 2016 and Desmond just a few months ago. 2 The Montgomery-Massingberd book is equally splendid with again, wonderful photographs, though these are more ‘moody’ in tone and often frustratingly ‘arty’ in terms of the details chosen. That said, the choice of houses tends to concentrate on many which are very much not open to the public, unless you visit as part of a group with special access. He includes a small few not open under any circumstances, though it should be noted that these are now the homes of the newly rich Irish of ‘Celtic Tiger’ vintage, so to be expected? Of the twenty-six houses included in the book, only nine are regularly open and many of those are in Northern Ireland, a telling fact… The two books by Somerville-Large and Pakenham are rich sources, full of historic descriptions, often hilarious, sometimes full of despair. You may want to laugh and cry in equal measure. The Somerville-Large book is truly annoying in that he never tells you the original manuscript source for his quotes, an unforgivable sin from an established scholar. In contrast, Valerie Pakenham is punctilious in giving her sources, as you would expect from that illustrious literary family. Her illustrations are taken from contemporary engravings and paintings, with lots of photographs of now long gone houses and follies - the latter category including a few of the owners - and are wonderful. This is a true GEM of a book. R. Killeen Historic Atlas of Dublin*, Gill & Macmillan, 2009. M. Craig Dublin 1660 – 1860*, Liberties Press, 2006, plus many earlier editions from a variety of other publishers. J. O’Brien & D. Guinness Dublin - A Grand Tour, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994. P. Somerville-Large Dublin - The Fair City, Sinclair-Stevenson, 1996. C. Casey The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin, Yale University Press, 2005. The Killeen book is a companion to Sean Duffy’s mentioned at the outset of this listing, and is equally valuable. My description of Maurice Craig’s approach to architectural history above, in the previous section on Irish architecture, applies here too. This is a truly ‘magisterial’ account, even if much of his information is now superseded through subsequent research. It is the narrative ‘sweeop’ which makes this a classic of its kind. The final part of the O’Brien and Guinness series needs no further recommendation. The Somerville-Large book is, as with his other title listed above, full of amazing information, but again, NO sources are given. Christine Casey should be on everyone’s ‘to watch’ list. She is the best of the recent generation of post-medieval architectural historians to emerge from the art history departments of University College, Dublin (UCD) where she was an undergraduate, and Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) where she was supervised for her PhD by Dr. Edward McParland. So it is no surprise that when Penguin/Yale launched their Buildings of Ireland series, to complement the three earlier series covering England, Scotland and Wales, Christine was invited to ‘do’ the volume on Dublin. It was a mammoth task and while the result is perforce more that of a ‘gazetteer’ rather than a discursive history in the manner of Maurice Craig, it displays an extraordinary breath of knowledge. It will not fit into your pocket, but if possible, any walk round Dublin (even that of a latter day Leopold Bloom) will profit from reference to its entries.