Over the past decade the completion of the Dictionary of Irish Biography, the opening up of the Bureau of Military History’s archive of witness statements and the sometimes controversial role of personal testimony in post-Belfast agreement Northern Ireland, have all underlined the significance of life stories and life narratives to Irish history. From nationalist hagiographies to more recent confessional memoirs, the conflation of the individual and the nation has been an oft-noted tendency in Irish autobiography and biography, while the ‘Irishness’ of particular lives remains a preoccupation of historical and literary scholarship.
Taking the theme ‘Irish life stories’, the 18th Conference of Irish historians in Britain will be held at the University of York on 14-16 September, 2012.
Confirmed speakers include:
Catherine Badley (York); Michael Brown (Aberdeen); Enda Delaney (Edinburgh); Erika Hanna (Leicester); Liam Harte (Manchester); Claire Lynch (Brunel); Daithí O Corrain (DCU).
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