In his book "Defending Trinity College, Easter 1916: Anzacs and The Rising", Dr. Rory Sweetman tells a hitherto unknown story of how a handful of New Zealanders led the defence of Ireland’s oldest university from rebel attack.
Using letters written home by the Kiwi soldiers helps to answer questions left unasked by previous studies: how close Trinity came to be a central battleground in the week of mayhem and destruction that left 3000 people dead or seriously injured and led to the destruction of 200 buildings. His talk will help put this neglected episode into an imperial context.
About the speaker:
Dr. Rory Sweetman is a Kildare-born New Zealander who holds history degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Cambridge University. He has published extensively on aspects of the Irish abroad and is the author of "Bishop in The Dock: The Sedition Trial of James Liston" (Auckland 1997 & Dublin 2007), which won the Sir Keith Sinclair prize for history.