History Events at DBF23

Dublin City is built upon layers and layers of history, in every brick, alley and street we walk upon. History is fused into the very foundations of Dublin, which is why we at the Dublin Book Festival have once again created a fascinating collection of history events running throughout the festival for all the history lovers out there!

We will be in partnership with the National Library of Ireland for two wonderful history events. Come along to celebrate and discuss The Diaries of Kathleen Lynch – Revealing History Through Personal Writing on Saturday 11th of November at 1pm, with Mary McAuliffe, Harriet Wheelock, Martina Devlin and Margaret Ward. This book, containing many insightful entries from the personal diaries of Dr. Kathleen Lynch, showcases her political ideas, feminist ideas and medical work, along with discovering aspects of her own personal life also. TICKETS HERE

As well as this, if you enjoy historical fiction make sure to pop along to the National Library of Ireland for our Writing History event where authors Hazel Gaynor, Liz McManus and Mary Morrissy will be in conversation with Niall MacMonagle about their newest novels and the topic of historical fiction itself. TICKETS HERE

Join us for a very special event at Farmleigh in Dublin’s historic Phoenix Park on Saturday the 11th of November at 2pm, to discuss the lives of The Lamplighters of the Phoenix Park, a job and tradition passed down from the Victorian Age through one family, The Flanagans. James and Frank Flanagan speak with broadcaster and historian Donal Fallon about their new book, detailing their lives working in the Phoenix Park and carrying on this family tradition. TICKETS HERE

If you want to carry on discovering the more hidden stories of the people of Dublin, why not check out Asylum: Inside Grangegorman on Sunday the 12th of November. Professor of Psychiatry Brendan Kelly and writer and journalist Caelainn Hogan discuss Brendan’s new book which reveals the lives of those who lived in the Richmond Lunatic Asylum at Grangegorman in 1814 through letters, doctors’ notes and medical records. TICKETS HERE

Writer and award-winning journalist Stephen Walker will be out in the RDS Library on Sunday November 12th in conversation with Miriam O’Callaghan about his latest book on titan of Irish political history, John Hume. TICKETS HERE

In Shifting Sentiment: Media Influence on the Public Opinion, also over in the RDS Library, our expert panel made up of Dermot Meleady author of Shifting Sentiment, Eileen Culloty  from the DCU School of Communications and Irish Times reporter Jade Wilson will be in discussion with History Ireland editor Tommy Graham to explore the question ‘Is public opinion reflected or led by media coverage?’, looking to the past and the present to find answers. TICKETS HERE

And this is only a tiny tasting of the many amazing history-themed events we have lined up throughout the Dublin Book Festival Week! Make sure to check out our full programme here for more so you don’t miss out.