An Update!
Where I've been, and where we're going
Hello! I feel like some time has passed since we broke away from our regularly scheduled programming here at Ireland and the Age of Revolutions so I wanted to provide a bit of an update on the state of the newsletter and about life in general.
Recently I moved, not house or apartment but across the globe from Ireland to Canada. It has for the most part, being an enjoyable and new experience but has come with its challenges also. Ultimately this newsletter suffered as a result, but I had a number of posts lined up before I made the move and was able to keep things ticking over. Finding both the time and the motivation to research and write has proven difficult.
As things have now settled though, I’m excited to be getting back to it and continuing to do something I loved doing. This newsletter serves as a hobby of mine, and an outlet through which I get to continue to engage with the historical record in a meaningful way and to create a resource that I hope others enjoy, and get use from. Throughout university I continuously wished I had a dedicated 18th-19th century Irish history podcast I could listen to and/or blog to read and follow. Once I graduated and spent some time figuring out what it is I wanted to do, I decided to do it myself, nothing was stopping me, but myself.
Over the years this community has grown far beyond anything I had anticipated or expected. As of today, 15th September 2024, Ireland and the Age of Revolution has 292 subscribers from 31 countries across the world, something which will always remain mind-blowing to me, and for that I thank you all for being here. It also thanks to this newsletter and the community behind it that I have been able to continue writing about history beyond this platform, and this year has been the most productive so far. I have published 4 articles this year and have the opportunity to speak at a symposium later this year about Revd. William Jackson, so exciting times ahead! I’ll list all publications below - some are online and free, others require a subscription to view, though the current issue of History Ireland carries my most recent one, so one in Ireland could walk into a newsagents and read it very quickly if they had access!
'These wild woods', Lord Edward Fitzgerald's Grand Tour of the North American Frontier, 1789-90' in History Ireland (2024), vol 32, issue 1: January/February.
‘The Irish Volunteers Of The Eighteenth Century: Successfully Importing The Gun Into Irish Politics’ online at The Irish Story (16th April 2024): https://www.theirishstory.com/2024/04/16/the-irish-volunteers-of-the-eighteenth-century-successfully-importing-the-gun-into-irish-politics/
‘The Bravest of the Brave' at the Battle of Waterloo: Corporal James Graham, 1791-1845’ online at The Historians Magazine (24th June 2024): https://thehistoriansmagazine.com/the-bravest-of-the-brave-at-the-battle-of-waterloo-corporal-james-graham-1791-1845/
‘A murder on the G.A. Thompson? Thomas Francis Meagher and the Montana Territory, 1865–7A murder on the G.A. Thompson? Thomas Francis Meagher and the Montana Territory, 1865–7’ in History Ireland (2024), vol 32, issue 5: September/October.
Now, moving forward - I may have fallen behind on research and writing but I have been working on some stuff in the background to try and shake things up a bit. You will begin to see content here from other writers and historians of Irish history about various aspects of the same period I’ve been covering. At this point I am unsure of just how many but soon enough you will see the first one come through and will notice a name that is not mine attached to it. I want to continue to use this newsletter as an outlet for my own work, but also one which can serve as a tool to introduce other scholarship to a new audience. I have always done this by relying on other scholarship and expertise, but now it will be much more direct!
I hope many of you are eager and excited for some new material, I know I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and continuing to provide some insightful, and interesting stories about Ireland, and its history during the Atlantic Age of Revolutions. For now I thank you again, and see you all soon!
Thanks,
Ruairí.