Dr Darren McGettigan ~ Historian and Author

May 10, 2024

Giving a lecture at 8th Irish Military Seminar ~Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare Saturday 11th May 2024

On Saturday 11th May I am due to give a lecture on Art MacMurchadha Caomhánach at war with Richard II, 1394 and 1399 ‘Nothing venture nothing have’. This talk will be based on my book Richard II and the Irish kings that I published in 2016. The talk will form part of the 8th Irish Military Seminar which is being held in the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge in Co. Kildare. The seminar should be an interesting one with lectures on The Nine Years War, The Spanish Civil War, World War I and II and the Irish Revolution.

I am looking forward to giving this talk as it has been a while since I undertook any historical activity. Hopefully it will go well.

October 10, 2022October 10, 2022

Sincere Condolences

I would like to express my sincere condolences to the people of Creeslough in Co. Donegal were 10 people very sadly lost their lives in a tragic explosion at the local petrol station. These were people who were just going about their ordinary every day activities which makes the accident all the more tragic. My relatives in Co. Donegal live only a few miles away and in 2007 I was asked to speak about the Flight of the Earls to students at Mulroy College, where a number of those who died went to school. My thoughts and prayers are with you at this very sad time.

April 16, 2022April 16, 2022

Talk to Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society, 8 pm 20 April 2022

Later this week on Wednesday 20th April I am due to give a talk to the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society at 8pm at the Community Centre in Leighlinbridge. The lecture will be about my latest book The Kings of Aileach and the Vikings, AD 800 -1060. This will be my first in person talk to promote my new book since the Covid Pandemic hit in March 2020, so I am eagerly looking forward to the opportunity.

While the majority of my lecture will deal with personalities and events in the north of Ireland, there will be a section of interest to Carlow locals, when I will discuss the activities in the south of Ireland of Niall Glúndub, a high-king of Ireland from the Cenél nEógain, in the early tenth century and in particular the Battle of Cenn Fúait, which was probably fought near St Mullins in 917 AD. In this battle Augaire, the king of Leinster, suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Viking invaders known as the Grandsons of Ívarr.

My talk should be of interest to anyone who would like to know more about Viking activity in the north of Ireland during the early Viking Age, as this is an area that is often overlooked by historians who concentrate on Viking activity in Dublin and the south of Ireland. The talk will shed some light on why no Hiberno-Norse towns developed in the north of Ireland. It will also discuss how the expulsion of the Scandinavians from the northern part of the island may later inadvertently led to the end of the old-style high-kingship of Ireland.

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022

The Importance of Peace in a Troubled World

As a historian who has studied many violent periods in the World’s history the current war in the Ukraine is very troubling. Russia, the aggressor is a nuclear power and this has made most world leaders take a step back from the conflict to view the wider picture. The civilian casualties and physical damage inflicted in the war so far has been awful and one can only hope that a ceasefire and then a peace agreement can be arrived at very soon. In the meantime Ireland has already accepted thousands of Ukrainian refugees who are most welcome during this perilous time for their country.

My books deal with violent periods of time in Ireland’s early modern and medieval history. However, these took place perhaps 500 or 1000 years ago and as such I hope that my readers approach my books with the detachment they deserve. My books are only factual entertainment, telling the stories of Irish men and Irish women who did well in trying circumstances. They don’t have a modern or present day message and indeed my own politics and viewpoint are very moderate and peaceful.

My intention is that this post will clear up any misunderstanding or misinterpretation and hopefully there will be a ceasefire soon in the Ukrainian conflict and a lasting peace agreement as such a war is far too dangerous for the world to contemplate.

November 10, 2021November 10, 2021

Upcoming Talk 9 December to the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

On 9th December I am due to give a talk based on my new(ish) book The Kings of Aileach and the Vikings to the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. I am not sure yet if the lecture will be via Zoom or in person. Many Irish historical societies are having online lectures for the remainder of 2021 and hope to resume in person talks next year in 2022. It seems a long time ago now at the start of 2020 when my new book was published. I have not had a launch for the book yet. Thankfully online sales of the book have been good.

In my talk to the RSAI I hope to focus on Viking activity in the north of Ireland in both the archaeological and literary records, showing how both disciplines compliment each other. Having read a critical review of my book I realise that I have to tighten up my use of the Annals of the Four Masters, but I think my book stands up well to historical scrutiny and I am still very happy with it. Historians can differ with their opinions of the usefulness of literary sources such as the Icelandic sagas and this is fine. My books are honest efforts to provide a well researched historical narrative that informs and also entertains the reader.

So please join me on 9th December at 7.30 pm when we will discuss Viking activity in the north of Ireland as seen through archaeological and literary sources.

March 19, 2021May 18, 2021

Sad Passing of my cousin Fr Dermot Kavanagh

My grandmother Agnes Hennessy’s first cousin Fr Dermot Kavanagh sadly passed away on 8th January 2021, at the great age of 90. Fr Dermot as we always knew him was from Ballybeg, just outside the Co. Wicklow village of Rathnew, where his parents Thomas Kavanagh and Elizabeth Kinsella had a farm. Fr Dermot was away serving as a priest in California when I was growing up but I knew his sister May who visited my grandmother often and his brother John, who I would see at Rathnew Gaelic football matches, quite well. Fr Dermot was a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and was famous locally for serving as a priest in Nigeria during the Biafran civil war in the 1960s where he was captured and imprisoned for a time by the Nigerian authorities. During his imprisonment he served mass with a chalice given to him upon his ordination by his parents and he apparently also saved the diocesan archives before he was captured by hiding them safely. In an immense humanitarian gesture Fr Dermot saved a large group of Biafran child refugees from the war torn region, bringing them all to live in a caravan on his siblings farm, an episode in his life still fondly remembered today in the Rathnew, Glenealy and Wicklow Town areas.

After his time spent as a priest in Africa Fr Dermot’s career took him to the USA where he spent most of his time in California. Highly regarded in his work there he often visited Ireland and Rathnew where he would pay us grandchildren a whole pound to score twenty goals against the door of our grandparents’ shed, probably because he wanted to speak in peace to granny for a few minutes. During the last few years of his life Fr Dermot returned to live at the family place in Rathnew where he was highly regarded by the villagers for the time he always had available for them when needed. Sadly Fr Dermot took ill with cancer during the last few years of his life and eventually he moved to the Knockrobin Care Home where he passed away earlier this year.

A capable, kind and family orientated man, Fr Dermot Kavanagh will be sadly missed by all who had the privilege to know him.

December 30, 2020

Good News ~ More Tutoring in 2021

All going well I should be doing some more tutoring (online!) in the School of History in UCD in early 2021. This time I will be a tutor on Professor Elva Johnston’s second year module Celts, Romans and Vikings. This era in history, particularly the Viking Age, has been a major interest of mine in recent years and it will be good to be able to keep up-to-date with these topics. I really enjoyed my tutoring in 2020 on Dr Marc Caball’s Environment and Migration in early modern Ireland module. I think as lecturer, tutor and students, we all made a big effort to do our best in a difficult and challenging environment.

Taking place right after the summer-time archaeological dig for the remains of Red Hugh O’Donnell in Spain, tutoring again in early modern Irish history (1500s to 1700s) has re-kindled my interest in my first major area of historical expertise. I used my time tutoring to research aspects of the history of wolves, wolfdogs and some other animals in early modern Ireland, as well as some of the major forested areas in which these creatures lived. The research went really well and I hope to publish a journal article of this work soon. I still have some references to chase up in libraries and archives which I have been unable to visit due to Covid 19 lockdowns.

It is hard to believe now that the world had not even heard of this virus a year ago and yet it has dominated our lives throughout 2020. Thankfully family and friends have gotten through this trying time safely and hopefully with the rollout of the Covid vaccines next year we can put this crisis behind us. Indeed it appears that it is the rapid development of the vaccines which is the real miracle of 2020. Hopefully my next blog will be written in a post-Covid world when I might be able to finally have that postponed book-launch! All the best, Darren

September 18, 2020September 18, 2020

Back Tutoring at UCD

Next week I am due back at UCD to do some tutoring in the School of History. I will be tutoring students on Dr Marc Caball’s Environment and Migration second year module which focuses on early modern Ireland (1500s-1700s). It is great to be back tutoring in UCD again and it is also great to be back working in early modern Irish history. This was my first area of specialisation when I began to study history seriously as a researcher and writer. The past few years have seen me focus on medieval Irish history. However, the surprising dig in search of the remains of Red Hugh O’Donnell which took place over the summer in Valladolid in Spain has sparked my renewed interest in my PhD research which led to my first book on Red Hugh O’Donnell which was published way back in 2005. Since then my research interests have changed a little. Although I am still very interested in early modern Co. Donegal, I find that my most recent research takes me to early modern Leinster and Munster, although I am still very much focused on the 1500s. Hopefully my renewed interest in early modern Irish history will contribute to making my forthcoming tutorials interesting and beneficial for my students. With the ongoing Covid 19 emergency tutoring for this semester anyway will be online but hopefully when the pandemic crisis has passed both students and staff will be able to look back on this strange time and say that we all tried our best and did a good job!

July 21, 2020

Some Good News ~ Radio Interview

Thankfully I have some good book-related news to report. On Sunday I did a short interview with Patrick Geoghegan host of the Talking History program on NewsTalk FM. Patrick asked me about the major themes of the Kings of Aileach and the Vikings book and the interview is due to be broadcast on 16th August during the usual Sunday evening show (7pm).

According to my publishers the Kings of Aileach and the Vikings book is selling well online and they are very happy with how it is progressing. Things appear to be slow in normal bookshops due to the ongoing Covid 19 crisis, but the wonderful benefits of modern technology have saved my new book from what in earlier times would have been a bad situation.

In other good news I will be returning to the School of History in UCD next semester to work again for a while as a tutor. While returning to teach during Covid times is a worry, UCD is a very spacious campus, with large airy rooms and plenty of space to maintain social distancing. If any university world-wide can make a return to teaching UCD must be one of the more fortunate with plenty of natural and built advantages. So fingers crossed for September and after.

Finally for a few days during the archaeological dig in what had once been the chapter area of the lost Franciscan monastery in the city of Valladolid in Spain, I felt that the archaeologists were indeed very close to finding the long-lost remains of Red Hugh O’Donnell. So I was disappointed to hear that there did not appear to be any likely candidates in the fifteen or sixteen or so skeletal remains that were indeed unearthed. The existence of these remains does suggest that the Franciscan friars were leaving the remains of illustrious people buried within their chapter in situ rather than transferring the bones to the municipal ossuary after a small number of years as appears to have occurred in the case of Red Hugh’s great ally, Hugh O’Neill, in Rome. O’Neill’s remains were moved after only seven years. The fact that another of Red Hugh’s contemporaries, the Duke of Lerma’s tomb survives in one of the churches in Valladolid, highlights that O’Donnell was unlucky in his choice of resting place. Now the search for Red Hugh’s grave goes on with the Spanish archaeologists suggesting that he lies under the foundations of a newly constructed bank building beside the recent dig. Maybe it is time now to let Red Hugh rest in peace.

May 28, 2020May 28, 2020

Spanish archaeologists dig for Red Hugh O’Donnell in Valladolid

With the launch and promotion of my new book postponed for the time-being due to the Covid 19 emergency, last Friday began for me with the welcome news that Spanish archaeologists have begun a dig in the city of Valladolid which they state has a very good chance of finding the long-lost remains of Red Hugh O’Donnell. Red Hugh’s career formed the basis of my PhD thesis way back in the early 2000s and this research allowed me to write my first book, Red Hugh O’Donnell and the Nine Years War, which was published in 2005. (It does not seem like 15 years ago!) Enthusiasts have been looking for Red Hugh’s grave for many years. The difficulty has been that the Franciscan monastery, which apparently was large and impressive, where O’Donnell was buried in the chapter area, was torn down during the nineteenth century and the entire area redeveloped. I myself remember meeting one of the enthusiasts many years ago in Dublin who was armed with impressive maps of the utilities in the streets where the monastery used to be. Unfortunately I could not assist with the search as I personally was in favour of leaving Red Hugh undisturbed where he was. This was just how I felt about it and we are all entitled to our personal opinions. I also feared that the friars may have removed Red Hugh’s skeletal remains to the municipal ossuary a few years after his death in 1602. This practice continued until surprisingly recent times in many European countries. However, photos already released by the dig archaeologists suggest that skeletal remains in the chapter were left in place.

Now that the dig is on it is actually quite exciting and I wish the Spanish archaeologists well. The search for Red Hugh appears to be much like the finding of Richard III in Leicester, who had also been buried in a prestigious abbey that had vanished long ago. I am not sure if new information about the location of Red Hugh O’Donnell’s grave emerged recently, but possibly a ground-plan of the old monastery was found. From photos uploaded online the dig looks like it is taking place in one of the small streets just off the Plaza Mayor in the city. The archaeologists have stated that they have discovered the chapter area of the old monastery where Red Hugh was buried which they are calling the Chapel of Marvels. Skeletal remains and two wooden coffins have already been uncovered and the archaeologists state that they are confident that Red Hugh’s grave will be located and his remains identified. May they enjoy every success!