Available Speakers

List of Available Speakers

The County Kildare Federation of Local History Groups maintains a list of speakers who are available to give talks to local history groups/societies in the County Kildare area. The speakers contact details and the topics of their talks are listed below.

Short Notice Talks

The Kildare County Archives and Local Studies have expressed their willingness to provide local history groups with talks at short notice if a booked speaker becomes unavailable. A wide range of locally specific and county related talks can be availed of from historians Mario Corrigan and James Durney, as well as genealogist and county archivist, Karel Kiely.

Contact:
Kildare County Archives and Local Studies
Kildare Library Services,
Harbour,
Naas,
Co. Kildare

Website: https://kildarecoco.ie/library/KildareCountyArchivesandLocalStudies/
E-mail: localhistorykildarecoco.ie
Telephone: 045 448351
Mobile: 087 9871046
(Office hours Tues-Sat)

The following members of groups affiliated to the federation have indicated that they are available to give talks to other Co. Kildare groups.

James Durney
Subject:	Notes:
Kildare and the Spanish Civil War	Illustrated talk
Irishmen in Korea	Illustrated talk
From Kildare to Korea	Illustrated talk
Irishmen in Vietnam	Illustrated talk
Irish gangsters in America	Illustrated talk
The killing of Lt.Wogan Browne	Illustrated talk
Forgotten Kildare POWs of WWII	Illustrated talk
The Curragh internment camps	Illustrated talk
Social Housing in Naas	Illustrated talk
Social housing in Newbridge	Illustrated talk
Kildare people onboard the Titanic	Illustrated talk
The Quiet Man. NYPD detective Peter Daly	Illustrated talk
The Gauls of Rathasker Road, Naas	Illustrated talk
The Lockout and its effect in Kildare	Illustrated talk
The War of Independence in Kildare	Illustrated talk
The Civil War in Kildare	Illustrated talk
Contact details: Ph: 085-1443998 email: james.durneyyahoo.ie
James Durney & Liam Kenny
Subject:	Notes:
The Sabbath disturbed … Kildare and the Curragh Mutiny 1914	Talk
Contact details: James Durney Ph: 085-1443998  email: james.durneyyahoo.ie Contact details: Liam Kenny Ph: 087-2872704  email: liamkenny99gmail.com
Larry Breen
Subject:	Notes:
The Life and Times of Dan Donnelly – Pugilist Extraordinaire	Illustrated talk
The Rebel’s Wife – Matilda Tone	Illustrated talk
Arbour Hill and the Fighting Irish	Illustrated talk
History of Canal Boats – Recollections & Reflections	Illustrated talk
Contact details: Ph:045 897 445 Mobile: 087 984 1551 email: Larrybreen8outlook.com
A.J. Mullowney
Subject:	Notes:
Kildare Town History	Illustrated talk
Kildare Town	Walking tour of the cathedral and town
Civil War Executions, Kildare 1922	Illustrated talk
The Curragh Plains – Past, Present and Future	Illustrated talk
Curragh Plains	Walking Tour
St. Brigid	Talk
Old Kilcullen, Moone, Castledermot, Mullaghmast	Tour – bus or car. Groups arrange transport
Historic Videos of the Army	Video presentation
Contact details: Ph:045-522140 email: ajmullgmail.com
Liam Kenny
Subject:	Notes:
Wheel & Keel	Transport History of Co. Kildare; Road, Rail, & Canal – Illustrated talk
A genuine Irish row	Kildare’s First Local Elections 1899 – Illustrated talk
Bullets and Ballots	Kildare County Council and the War of Independence 1919-21 -Illustrated talk
Contact details: Ph: 087-2872704 email: liamkenny99gmail.com
Kevin Kenny
Subject:	Notes:
Lillywhites on Ice	An illustrated talk on Polar exploration and the Kildare connections
Get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton	An illustrated talk on Co. Kildare born Polar explorer Earnest Shackleton
Contact details: Ph: 045-895191 email: kevinkennyhotmail.com
Brendan Cullen
Subject:	Notes:
Clongowes Wood College	History of the School
Book of Kells	Illustrated talk
High Crosses of Kildare	Illustrated talk
Contact details: Ph: 045-861159
Gerry McCarthy
Subject:	Notes:
From Balyna to Burton Hall – Country Houses of Co. Kildare	Illustrated talk
The Aerial Chariot – Historic sites and monuments of North Leinster	Illustrated talk
Forgotten Heritage of Kildare	Illustrated talk
Borrowes Family of Gilltown	Illustrated talk
The Heritage of North Kildare	Illustrated talk
In Search of the Mausoleums of Ireland	Illustrated talk
The Eustaces of Co. Kildare	Illustrated talk
Fitzwilliams of Coollattin house and the Kennedy connection	Illustrated talk
The Heritage of South Kildare	Illustrated talk
Contact details: Ph: 045-879108 email: geralddmccarthygmail.com
Brian Mc Cabe
Subject:	Notes:
Surveying and Transcribing in Old Graveyards	Talk
Dublin/Kilcullen Toll Road	Illustrated talk
Palmerstown and its colourful owners	Illustrated talk
Dear Miss B – a collection of Edwardian postcards	Illustrated talk
Links between Ireland and Argentina (and some Kildare connections)	Illustrated talk
Contact details: Ph: 045-894412 email: brianfrancis.mccabegmail.com
Paddy Behan
Subject:	Notes:
History of Naas	Illustrated talk on the town
Naas Canal	Illustrated talk
Naas Town Commission	Talk
Contact details: Ph: 045-876365 email: pccbehaneircom.net
Ronnie Kinane
Subject:	Notes:
The Black Flu (1918)	Talk
Contact details: Ph: 045-876254
Seamus Moore
Subject:	Notes:
Naas Gasworks and its People	Talk
Contact details: Ph: 045-879241
Kay Brophy
Subject:	Notes:
History of Naas Racecourse	Talk
Lyons and the Cloncurrys	Talk
Contact details: Ph: 01-6272967
Liam Kenny & Brian McCabe
Subject:	Notes:
Lilywhites on the Veldt — the Boer War and Kildare	Talk
The Battle of Waterloo	Talk
Contact details: Liam Kenny Ph: 087-2872704  email: liamkenny99gmail.com Contact details: Brian McCabe Ph: 045-894412  email: mccabegmail.com
Collette Jordan
Subject:	Notes:
Servants in the Big House	Talk
The role of Women in the Big House – 150 years of the Duchesses of Leinster	Talk
History of New Abbey, Kilcullen	Talk
Contact details: email: collettejordanireland.com
Jeanne Meldon
Subject:	Notes:
Celbridge, Maynooth and the Palace of Westminster: the legacy of A.W.N. Pugin	Illustrated Talk
Contact details: email: jeanne.meldonwalshgmail.com
Ida Milne
Subject:	Notes:
Using Talk to find History: A User’s Guide to Oral History	An overview of oral history
Stacking the coffins: the 1918-19 influenza pandemic in Ireland.	Co. Kildare features heavily in this talk.
The Quiet corner back: Protestants and the GAA	Talk
Mumps, measles and diarrhoea: Child health in 20th century Ireland	Talk
Contact details: email: milnemtcd.ie
Neil Reid
Subject:	Notes:
A history of old stone and glassware bottles	Talk
Contact details: email: Neilreid76gmail.com
John Malone
Subject:	Notes:
Richard Oulahan: forgotten Kildare Poet & Patriot	Talk
Contact details: email: dubkilwexgmail.com

The following authors and academics not associated with member groups are also available for lectures in Co. Kildare.

Dr Gaye Ashford
Subject:	Notes:
The Letters of Mrs Katherine Conolly, 1707-1747	Illustrated talk exploring the life of Katherine of Castletown House as revealed through her letters.
History of Childhood in Ireland	Wide-ranging illustrated talk touching upon many aspects of children’s lives including medicine, education, and play.
Contact details: email: gayeashfordgmail.com
Dr. Michael Christopher Keane
Subject:	Notes:
The Earl of Castlehaven of Maddenstown: A leader in the Catholic Confederacy uprising and resistance to Cromwell	Illustrated talk based on the book ‘The Earls of Castlehaven’. There is a prominent County Kildare dimension to the story.
Contact details: email: m.keaneucc.ie
Rory O’Farrell
Subject:	Notes:
Fashion and Style at the Time of Jane Austen	Illustrated Talk
Dublin 1760-1820	Illustrated Talk
Mrs Smith, a 19th century local diarist	Illustrated Talk
The 19th Century, gateway to the modern world	Illustrated Talk
Elizabethan Life	Illustrated Talk
Giraldus Cambrensis, a mediaeval visitor to Kildare	Illustrated Talk
The Mediaeval Bestiary	Illustrated Talk
Contact details: Ph: 01 4582532 email: ofarrwrkiol.ie
Elizabeth Prendergast
Subject:	Notes:
Jubilee Nurses – the first community care nurses	Talk
Contact details: email: elizabethprendergastartistgmail.com
Mary Muldowney
Subject:	Notes:
Irish Women and World War II	Talk
Contact details: email: mmuldwnytcd.ie
Ray Bateson
Subject:	Notes:
Burial places of famous Irish people and of 1916 fatalities	Talk
Contact details: email: irishgraveseircom.net
Brian McCarthy
Subject:	Notes:
The Garda Mutiny in Kildare barracks 1922	Talk
Contact details: Ph: 086 8100181
Pádraig Laffan
Subject:	Notes:
	Long talks Approx. Duration 1 hr
My life in Communications – From Morse code to Twitter	Illustrated Talk
Ancient People and their Hilltop Monuments of Wicklow and Dublin	Illustrated Talk
The Military Road in Wicklow	Illustrated Talk
Prints and Pictures of South Co. Dublin	Illustrated Talk
Dublin in the Days of Horses	Illustrated Talk
Forges, Farriers and Smiths	Illustrated Talk
Big Freeze Bad Harvest (The Desperate Fight to save the Harvest of 1946 and the Severe Winter of 1947)	Illustrated Talk
Dublin Bay – From the Ford of the Hurdles to the Kish Light	Illustrated Talk
Lord Anglesea’s Scandal (The true events that inspired R.L. Stevenson’s classic ‘Kidnapped’.	Illustrated Talk
Subject:	Notes:
	Short Talks Approx. Duration half hour
The Pirates of The Muglins	Illustrated Short Talk
The Escape of Red Hugh O’Donnell from Dublin Castle	Illustrated Short Talk
The Celtic Oratory at Dún Laoghaire	Illustrated Short Talk
The finding of the Great Deer Meglaceros Gigantus at Ballybetagh Bog	Illustrated Short Talk
Early Dublin Drainage (Vital Developments to make a modern Capitol City)	Illustrated Short Talk
Aircrash on Djouce Mountain 1946	Illustrated Short Talk
The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918	Illustrated Short Talk
Edward Chambre Hardman Liverpool’s Famous Photographer from Foxrock	Illustrated Short Talk
Ancient Rock Art	Illustrated Short Talk
The Jungfrau Railway	Illustrated Short Talk
The Kilruddery Hunt – (The song and the story)	Illustrated Short Talk
General Vallency (Much More than Military Engineer a Historian and collector)	Illustrated Short Talk
The Bombing of the North Strand in 1941. (I was there) (The North Strand and other places Bombed in WW2.)	Illustrated Short Talk
Contact details: Ph: 01 2895778 email: padraiglaffangmail.com
Dermot Meleady
Subject:	Notes:
The Lost Legacy of John Redmond	Talk focusing on his life and times and the forgotten achievements of the IPP under his leadership
John Redmond and the Third Home Rule Bill 1912-1916	Talk focusing on the IPP’s struggle to have the Home Rule Bill passed through the British House of Commons, and the subsequent obstacles to its implementation
John Redmond and the Great War	Talk examining Redmond’s motives in calling, first, for Irish nationalist support for the Allies in August 1914, and later, for Irish nationalist enlistment with the British forces in the Great War
John Redmond – What If?	Could things have turned out differently for Home Rule and for Ireland in 1914, and, if so, under what conditions?
Contact details: Ph: 087 418 5282 email: dermeleadyyahoo.ie

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