Aftermath of 1918 explored in radio lecture
THE life of one of Wexford’s most interesting historical figures will be celebrated with a live broadcast on South East Radio as part of this year’s Festival Opera.
Dr George Hadden was a Wexford man who lived in China, he was also a medical missionary of the Methodist faith, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1891-1918, and a husband who apparently trekked 10,000 miles to find his lost family.
On his retirement he returned to Wexford and established The Old Wexford Society now known as The Wexford Historical Society.
And it is the Historical Society who host this lecture.
Entitled ‘ The wisest and most patriotic course? The Irish Parliamentary Party and the War of Independence’, it will be given by Dr. Martin O’Donoghue and broadcast on Monday, October 26 at 8 p.m.
The lecture will explore Dr Hadden’s time as leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) and, in particular, the aftermath of Sinn Féin’s victory at the 1918 election.
In the wake of that election the first Dáil met and, with the IPP retaining support around the country, shots were fired at Solohedbeg. This lecture will examine the views of the IPP and its supporters as violence escalated in the years which followed.
Dr Martin O’Donoghue teaches modern British and Irish history at the University of Sheffield. He has previously lectured at Northumbria University, and the University of Limerick.
He is also a former Academic Director of the Parnell Summer School and a frequent visitor to Wexford, having spoken at the 2017 Willie Redmond seminar and the 2018 centenary seminar on John Redmond. His first book, The Legacy of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Independent Ireland, 1922-1949, was published by Liverpool University Press last year.