An Update!
Where is Ireland and the Age of Revolutions now?
Hello! I just wanted to send out a subscriber update to everybody here. April 2023 was the biggest month of growth for the newsletter so far and I want to welcome all of the new subscribers - I hope you thoroughly enjoy what exists in the archive and much more of what’s to come.
I started this project in August 2022, but it was an idea brewing from as early as March/April. I got started by writing a blog for work - which at the time was Maynooth University, Ireland. Once I had done that I thought I had finally found a way to remain wedded to my love of history and writing while working alongside it. From then on I brainstormed ideas of how I might manage that - from a blog, a website to even a podcast.
The biggest impediment to this decision was a sense of imposter syndrome - a voice in the back of my head telling me ‘who would want to read that?’ I had never been a particularly confident or vocal person so the idea of establishing a blog of any sort was daunting. On top of this, what on earth would I talk about? What period would I decide upon, how would I pick where it began and where it ended - and who was I to claim to be any sort of authority over the literature I would be using.
From the confidence earned by writing that blog for work, followed by the acceptance of a more detailed version for publication in Irelands only history magazine, fittingly named History Ireland, along with my BA & PgDip in history - I took the leap. And here we are, a year on from the inception of an idea. I have never divulged much detail about the behind the scenes as such, so I thought it time enough.
This blog and the community of followers which has developed has grown much further than I had ever anticipated. Compared to others, it is very modest, but I think back to August when I posted my first issue announcing what I would be doing. I wrote in my notes ‘Happy if I get 5 subscribers at least - perhaps 10’.
As of today, 4th May 2023 there are 130 of you subscribed to Ireland and the Age of Revolution - from 16 US states and 15 countries internationally. It extends beyond any boundaries I imagined in my own mind a year ago. I just want to thank you all for being here, and I hope it has lived up to expectations thus far. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming posts about the Duke of Wellington and the Irish College in Paris, among others!
As always I welcome recommendations and suggestions for what people might what to see! Anything relating to Ireland or its diaspora between 1770-1850!
Many thanks,
Ruairí.
P.S. for those with access to JSTOR, you can now view my article online here - https://www.jstor.org/stable/27198565
This blog is unreal! Love seeing the new posts
130 of us already. That's wonderful, Ruairi.