'Fake News' - NPHFI 2017 Conference, Newcastle

The 2017 conference of the Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland (NPHFI) took place in Newcastle University on 10 and 11 November 2017. The theme of the conference was 'Fake News! An Historical Perspective'. A timely theme given how much it has featured in the international media in the last 12 months. 'Fake News has even been voted 'word of the year' by the Collins Dictionary. More information.

'Fake news' is Collins Dictionary's word of the year for 2017.

Although, as we found out at the conference - fake news is nothing new. Prof Aled Gruffydd Jones of Panteion University, Athens gave a brilliant keynote address on the historical perspective. Apparently, the earliest recorded newspaper reference to 'fake news' or 'false news' and truth dates from at least 1731 when the integrity of news was discussed in the UK House of Commons. 

Newcastle University building.

Sixteen speakers from universities in Ireland, UK, Canada, USA, France, and Greece addressed the theme of fake news through conference papers based on French, Irish, Russian, British, and American journalists, editors and newspapers. I gave paper based on one of the French journalists that I have been researching as part of my post graduate studies.

2017 Conference Poster, designed by Joe Breen.

Well done to the NPHFI secretary, Dr James O'Donnell (Moore Institute, NUI Galway), the local organiser Dr Joan Allen (School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University), Dr Richard Allen, and the rest of the NPHFI committee members who helped to make it such a success.

Résidence de France in Dublin - Open House Dublin 2017

On 14 October the French Ambassador to Ireland kindly opened his home on Ailesbury Road, the Résidence de France, to visitors for Open House Dublin 2017. I acted as a guide at the Résidence during the afternoon.

Photograph of the Résidence de France, 53 Ailesbury Road in 1930.

Originally known as Mytilene, 53 Ailesbury Road was built for the Bustard family in 1885. It was designed by Alfred Gresham Jones, who designed other buildings around Dublin city including the buildings that now contain the Davenport Hotel and the National Concert Hall. It sits on a plot of land about 2 acres in size. You can read more about the history of the house here.

The Bustard family put Mytilene up for sale in the 1920s. It was described in a newspaper advertisement as "a house built regardless of expense" and "a choice residence, leaving little to be desired, either in function, condition, or surroundings".

53 Ailesbury Road was acquired by the French government in 1930 for the Légation de France to the Irish Free State. It also housed the residence of the first French Minister to the Irish Free State, M. Charles Alphand. A chancery was located nearby for many years but was sold in recent years and a new Embassy was opened in Merrion Square in 2015. 53 Ailesbury Road continues to be the official residence of the French Ambassador to Ireland.

Richmond Barracks - Dublin

I was in Richmond Barracks in Inchicore, Dublin recently when I attended the Connexions 2017 forum on culture, education and digital technology (29 Sept. - 1 Oct. 2017). The forum brought together people involved with education, the arts, and business to discuss how they currently use digital technology and how they could get more benefit from digital technology. Big data, smart cities and e-education were some of the main themes discussed.

The venue, Richmond Barracks, was very interesting to me because of all the history it contains. I had not known anything about it before my visit, which made it all the more interesting as I learned little bits of information through the artifacts on display and the posters on the walls. As you can see below, I took a few photos to show some of the history of the place and the material on display.

The above photo explains that the barracks was built in response to 'A Threat from France'. The barracks welcomed its first British army troops in 1814. It was a British military barracks for 108 years and because Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom at the time, Richmond Barracks is important from the perspective of Irish history, British history, and also world history. Troops left from here to fight in the Crimean War, Boer War and the First World War.

As you can see from the photo of the plaque below (which is written in Irish), it was to Richmond Barracks that many of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, including Patrick Pearse, Eamon de Valera, WT Cosgrave and Constance Markeivicz, were taken after the Rising.

The building was taken over by the Free State government in 1922 and renamed Keogh Barracks. It was subsequently used as housing - Keogh Square and St. Michael's Estate (both now demolished). There was also a school on the site, which is now closed. Richmond Barracks was taken over by Dublin City Council and refurbished. It was opened in May 2016. Below are photos of a scale model of how it looked in 1916 and photos of how it looks today.

The restoration work is very impressive and I hope the "new" Richmond Barracks receives the attention it deserves.

Irish Examiner article - Atlas of the Irish Revolution

I wrote an article for the Irish Examiner newspaper about my contribution to the Atlas of the Irish Revolution. Read it here.

My article in the Irish Examiner.

The Atlas, priced at €59, is on sale now in all good bookshops and online from Cork University Press: http://www.corkuniversitypress.com/Atlas-of-the-Irish-Revolution-p/9781782051176.htm

The John Bowman programme on RTÉ Radio 1 will also devote some programmes to the Atlas, find out more on their website: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/bowman-sunday-830/

'Atlas of the Irish Revolution' - my contribution

I am delighted to see this new book on the Irish Revolution - Atlas of the Irish Revolution (Cork: Cork University Press, 2017) in print. I contributed a case study to the book entitled, 'Press Coverage from Abroad'.

Front cover of Atlas of the Irish Revolution.

The book offers a comprehensive analysis of an important period in modern Irish history. My piece deals with how the events of the period were reported in the foreign press. Thank you to the editors for asking me to contribute to the book.

Due to the amount of fascinating material (984 pages, 364 maps,707 illustrations and 14 tables) contained in the book, I'm sure it will become a standard feature in homes and libraries around the world for many years to come.

Link to publisher's website: http://www.corkuniversitypress.com/Atlas-of-the-Irish-Revolution-p/9781782051176.htm

More information: http://atlasirishrevolution.ie/ and it's even on Youtube

Book Review - Irish Studies Review

I have just reviewed the book, Models for Movers: Irish Women's Emigration to America (Cork: Attic Press, 2015) for the academic journal Irish Studies Review. Read it here.

Front cover of 'Models for Movers'.

The words Ireland and emigration have become synonymous due to successive waves of people leaving the relatively small island on the edge of Europe. On a presidential visit to Ireland in June 1963, John F. Kennedy, himself a product of Irish emigration, famously said that “Ireland has only one export and that is its people”. 

America became one of the favoured destinations for Irish people seeking a better life for themselves and their families. It is estimated that some 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930. Numbers fell dramatically as the twentieth century progressed. In 2015, 10.2% of Americans claimed Irish ancestry. 

Fake news! Newspaper history conference. Nov. 2017.

The theme of the 2017 Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland (NPHFI) is: 'Fake News!: An Historical Perspective'.

The conference will take place in Newcastle University, UK on Friday 10th and Saturday 11th of November 2017. It promises to be a really interesting conference with papers on a wide range of newspapers from different time periods from all over the world.

See the poster below for more information and follow NPHFI on Twitter, Facebook for updates.

2017 NPHFI conference poster.