Gerard Keenan and The Honest Ulsterman

You are invited to a public lecture to discuss Belfast writer Gerard Keenan, better known as 'Jude the Obscure', keynote columnist for longstanding Irish literary magazine The Honest Ulsterman and one of the foremost critical voices in 20th century Northern Irish letters. In addition to shaping the tone of Irish arts criticism for some three decades, Keenan pursued a largely hidden passion as a writer of literary fiction, a fact that has recently been brought to light by Dr. James Gallacher in his 2021 book Bohemian Belfast and Dublin: Two Literary and Artistic Worlds in the Work of Gerard Keenan.

Dr. Gallacher will be joined by renowned Derry poet and author Michael Foley, former Ulsterman editor and longtime friend of Keenan, who will offer some literary and personal reminiscences of their time contributing to the magazine.

This event is being held to coincide with the kind donation of Gerard Keenan's significant collection of literary manuscripts and correspondence to the Mac Lua library, by Gerard's son John.

Dr James Gallacher is an alumnus of the Institute of Irish Studies, receiving his Ph.D in 2018. His first book, Bohemian Belfast and Dublin: Two Literary and Artistic Worlds in the Work of Gerard Keenan, was published in 2021 and brought Keenan's literary fiction to scholarly attention for the first time. He has held positions with the European Federation of Associations and Conferences of Irish Studies (EFACIS) at KU Leuven, and most recently a research fellowship at the University of Luxembourg. He lives in Belgium.

For more information about Gerard Kennan, please read this 2024 interview Dr Gallacher gave to Kaitlin Thurlow and which was published in the now online Honest Ulsterman.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher The Institute of Irish Studies