Delighted to say that I received a copy of the book Freedom of Speech in the Press in Times of Conflict: Historical Perspectives from Ireland and Europe (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2026), ed. by Richard C. Allen, Felix M. Larkin, Oliver O'Hanlon and Aoife Whelan. Details of this book are available on the publisher's website here.
My chapter (pp. 55-77) examines the work of Art O'Brien, who was the first Dáil's publicity man in London during the Irish War of Independence. He was responsible for disseminating the message of the 1st Dáil (whose term ran from January 1919 to August 1921) to the foreign press corps based in London and the outside world. He was in constant contact with the Dáil's Publicity Department in Dublin and the various heads of that Department.
The 1st Dáil met for the first time in Dublin's Mansion House before it was outlawed in September 1919. It had to meet in secret thereafter. As such, O'Brien had to be extremely careful when carrying out his mission. You can read more about O'Brien in his entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography or if you want to go further, I would recommend the biography by Mary MacDiarmada Art O'Brien and Irish Nationalism in London, 1900-25.
As you can see from the table of contents reproduced above, the book covers a range of subjects in Ireland, France, Spain and Germany at different times of conflict. I am grateful to my fellow editors, Richard Allen, Felix Larkin and Aoife Whelan, and to the other contributors for all their hard work in bringing this volume to fruition
Andreas Strobl
Michael Foley
Claire Dubois
Claire Guerin
Alan McCarthy +
William Burton
Conor Campbell
Karine Deslandes
+ Dr Alan McCarthy - sadly Alan did not live to see this volume in print. There is a tribute to Alan on the UCC School of History website, you can read it here. He was a great scholar and a really nice human being. He will be missed.
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