Shared history? Remembrance and reconciliation during Ireland`s Decade of Centenaries

Fearghal McGarry, Professor of Modern Irish History, Queen’s University of Belfast

In a recent article on the dangers of bad history, the celebrated British
historian Simon Schama identified Ireland and Germany as the most
successful examples of countries that had managed to liberate themselves
‘from the blood sacrifices demanded by remembrance’. Between 2012 and
2023 Ireland experienced a ‘Decade of Centenaries’ as it marked the
anniversaries of the Home Rule crisis, First World War, War of Independence,
partition and Civil War – a revolutionary decade whose legacy continues to
shape the geography and politics of Ireland. Fearghal McGarry will explore
why Irish commemoration of these contested events largely succeeded in
recasting the Irish story from one of nationalist grievance to pluralist
inclusivity. But his talk will also consider how, in the wake of Brexit, historical
memory, centring on the legacy of British imperialism and the continued
partition of Ireland, returned to haunt Anglo-Irish politics.

Fearghal McGarry is professor of modern Irish History at Queen’s University
Belfast. A member of the Royal Irish Academy, he has written widely on
modern Ireland, particularly revolutionary and independent Ireland. He is the
author of The Abbey Rebels of 1916: A Lost Revolution (2015) and The Rising.
Ireland. Easter 1916 (2016) and is currently writing a book on inter-war Irish
anxieties about modernity. His most recent co-edited publications are Ireland
1922: Independence, Partition and Civil War (2022) and The Irish Revolution: A
Global History (2022). Fearghal is also interested in historical memory and
public history. He advised on the development of the GPO Witness History
interpretive centre and the redevelopment of the Troubles Gallery at the Ulster
Museum. He is currently a member of the expert advisory group for the
National Museum of Ireland’s 20 th Century History Galleries.