President Higgins will host the third seminar in the Machnamh 100 series. 

The President has invited prominent scholars to discuss issues of social class, land and the role of women as they relate to the events of 100 years ago. 

The principal address at the seminar will be given by Dr Margaret O’Callaghan of Queen's University Belfast.

Her paper on 'Recovering Imagined Futures' will be responded to by a panel consisting of Dr Caitríona Clear (NUI Galway), Professor Linda Connolly (NUI Maynooth), Ms Catríona Crowe, Archivist, and Dr John Cunningham (NUI Galway). President Higgins, too, will provide a response, focusing on ‘Land, Social Class, Gender and the Sources of Violence’.

This seminar will focus on issues of social class, land and the role of women, subjects that are all tangibly and profoundly interlinked in the context of early 20th-century Ireland, and how particular gradations of violence emerged and became deeply interwoven across these subjects with consequences that would shape the Ireland of today.

Issues for discussion will include, inter alia, how the Land Question shaped the figure of Irish nationalism and the shape of the society which emerged from the nationalist struggle with consequences for society and culturally; the impacts of the independence struggle on women, as well as their role in activism and participation; and possible futures will be considered in the context of  settlement talks between Britain and Dáil representatives following the first meeting of the parliament of Northern Ireland (June 1921) and the military Truce (July 1921).

To register for this seminar, click here. 

The President of Ireland Machnamh 100 series. 

Profile of Margaret O'Callaghan