OUTSIDE OF Dublin, Galway saw the most significant action of the 1916 Rising, but this took place in the county. Galway city by contrast was hostile to the rebellion and firmly supported the British.
The factors, motivations, and reasons why the city adopted this stance will be explored in a public lecture, Galway Town and the 1916 Rising, by Conor McNamara, in the Galway Mechanics Institute, Middle Street.
Conor McNamara is the 1916 Scholar in Residence at the Moore Institute at NUI Galway. He has written extensively about the history of the Irish revolution, food shortage, and minor famine, and the interaction between criminality and political violence in 20th century Ireland. He is the joint editor of The West of Ireland: New Perspectives on the Nineteenth Century (History Press, 2011 ) and Easter 1916: A New Illustrated History (Collins Press, 2015 ).
The institute will also be hosting other 1916 Rising related talks. This evening, NUIG's John Cunningham will give a talk entitled Co Galway in war and revolution: life stories, 1914-21. Dr Cunningham is a lecturer in history at NUIG, and a former editor of Saothar: Journal of Irish Labour History Society. He has written extensively on Galway's social and political history.
On Thursday February 18, the Mechanics Institute will host a public debate entitled James Connolly: life, death and legacy. All are welcome to the above events.
