Consideration of the Gaelic Revival and the Irish Ireland movement in Ulster has concentrated on the small number of protestants who rejected their unionist and evangelical upbringing and embraced various forms of Irish nationalism and separatism. The dominant figure was Francis Joseph Bigger who is often associated with the relaunch in 1894 of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. This paper challenges the binary interpretation of culturally-engaged protestant nationalists versus an undifferentiated and uncultured unionist other by describing the involvement of unionists in antiquarianism and the relaunch of the UJA. Focusing especially on Presbyterians, it shows their commitment to excavating Ulster’s deep past as an expression of Irish patriotism and provincial pride, but also because of their intrinsic interest in the subject. That all of them were unionists underlines the need to move beyond stereotypes and to consider how cultural and antiquarian pursuits could provide common ground in an increasingly factious political environment.

Dr Andrew Holmes is Reader in History at QUB, and a specialist in the history of religion in Ireland from c.1660 to the present day, with particular reference to Presbyterianism and evangelicalism. He is author of The Irish Presbyterian Mind: Conservative Theology, Evangelical Experience, and Modern Criticism, 1830-1930 (OUP 2018) and The Shaping of Ulster Presbyterian Belief and Practice 1770-1840 (OUP 2006). He is co-editor of four edited volumes and has published a series of articles in history journals. Most recently, he was co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Religion in Modern Ireland (OUP, 2024).

This event will be both in-person in the Irish Studies Seminar Room, 27 University Square, and online via MS Teams. All welcome in-person or online – register via Eventbrite.