Wednesday, 3rd December 2014, 8pm, The Prince of Wales Hotel

– talk by Dr. Mark Phelan

Summary – During the revolutionary period, the Irish College Rome effectively acted as an interface between Sinn Féin and the Vatican. Keen political strategists, the College authorities also provided republican diplomats with an expert reading of secular affairs in Italy, and involved themselves in a wide variety of propaganda initiatives designed to elicit support for the Dáil government. Addressing each of these topics in turn, this paper will highlight the important role played by expatriate Irish clergy during the crisis period of the Anglo-Irish conflict.

Speaker – Dr Mark Phelan. A graduate of the National University of Ireland, Dr Mark Phelan is an early career historian. His work to date has focused on the Irish experience of the First World War, and on the Irish Revolution and its aftermath in an international context.