O’CONNELL AND HIS LEGACY

O’CONNELL AND HIS LEGACY

Catholic Historical Society of Ireland Annual Conference

Join us for the Catholic Historical Society of Ireland’s 2025 annual conference, marking the 250th anniversary of Daniel O’Connell’s birth. This one-day event brings together leading historians and scholars to reflect on the life, career, and enduring significance of ‘The Liberator’.

The programme explores O’Connell’s legacy from multiple perspectives – political, cultural, religious, and social. Topics include Catholic Emancipation, O’Connell’s representation in portraiture, the architecture of Catholic Dublin, Irish engagements with abolitionism, and how O’Connell’s life has been remembered into the twentieth century and beyond. The conference concludes with reflections on O’Connell’s continuing relevance today.

Date & Time: Saturday, 22 November 2025, 10am - 4pmVenue: Seamus Heaney Lecture Theatre (G114), St Patrick’s Campus, Dublin City University, Drumcondra, Dublin 9

Speakers include:

• Prof. Patrick Geoghegan (Trinity College Dublin)
• Dr Niamh NicGhabhann Coleman (University of Limerick)
• Ben Casey (Maynooth University)
• Dr Fionnghuala Sweeney (Newcastle University)
• Dr Daniel Carey (Dublin City University)
• Maria Watson (The Bar of Ireland Liberator Scholar)

Advance registration is essential via Eventbrite. Registration fee (payable on the day - cash payment, exact amount preferable): €30 waged / €25 unwaged (includes light lunch).

We look forward to welcoming you to the conference.

Enquiries:

Programme

Registration from 10am

10.30am The Liberator’s legacy: questions and challenges around the life of Daniel O’Connell

Patrick Geoghegan (Trinity College Dublin)

11.20am “I went to catch part of a Mass this morning at the new chapel – church I

should say – in Westland Row”: towards an architectural history of Daniel O’Connell

Dr. Niamh NicGhabhann Coleman (University of Limerick)

12.10pm A reluctant sitter? Daniel O'Connell and the power of portraiture, 1810-47

Ben Casey (Maynooth University)

12.45pm Lunch

1.30pm Black abolitionists and the moral imperative of emancipation in Irish antislavery

Dr Fionnghuala Sweeney (Newcastle University)

2.20pm O’Connell in the twentieth century: The Standard on the man and his legacy

Dr Daniel Carey (Dublin City University)

3.10pm The current day relevance of Daniel O’Connell’s life and legacy and lessons

for the future

Maria Watson (The Bar of Ireland Liberator Scholar)

4.00pm Concluding remarks

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Host or Publisher Catholic Historical Society of Ireland