For the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society will host a public talk interrogating aspects of connexion between Ireland and revolutionary America.
These connections will be outlined by eminent historian, Nicholas Canny, at a free lecture in the Harbour Hotel, on Thursday, September 17, at 8 pm.
In his presentation, Professor Canny will consider the Irish nationalist grand narrative, as constructed by Young Ireland authors of the 1840s, that a ‘colonial nationalism’ formulated by Irish Protestant ‘patriots’ in the eighteenth century influenced the thinking of American ‘patriots’ who challenged the authority of the British government after 1763.
He will also examine the proposition that the revolutionary stance taken by America’s ‘patriots’ in 1776 inspired the creation of the Irish Volunteers who, acting in consort with some members of Grattan’s parliament, supposedly wrested ‘The Constitution of 1782’ from a reluctant British government.
Canny is a former president of the Royal Irish Academy, and was Professor of History at the University of Galway between 1979 and 2009. He served on the Scientific Council of the European Research Council, and his major books include Making Ireland British (2001 ) and Imagining Ireland’s Pasts (2021 ).
Admission to the lecture is free, but attendees are advised to arrive in good time in order to secure a seat.
