Diarmaid Ferriter

Life
1972- ; historian and author of works on local politics in Ireland incl. Famine, Temperance and Local Government; also a synoptic work; also, with Colm Tóibín, The Irish Famine (2001), and a synoptic work, The Transformation of Ireland, 1900-2000 (2004); his newspaper column has been reprinted as What If? (206); appt. to Chair of Modern Irish History (UCD); acted as presenter of RTÉ TV series “The Limits of Liberty&148;.

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Works

Mothers, Maidens and Myths: A History of the Irish Countrywomen's Association ([Dublin: FÁS] 1995), vii, 63pp, ill.
Cuimhnigh ar Luimneach: A History of Limerick County Council 1898-1998 (Limerick County Council 1998), 232pp., ill., ports.
A Nation of Extremes: Pioneers in Twentieth-century Ireland (Dublin: IAP 1999; rep. 2008), x, 284pp.
“Lovers of liberty?”: Local Government in 20th-century Ireland (Dublin: National Archives of Ireland 2001), 215pp., ill., ports., facsims.
with Colm Tóibin, [comp.,] The Irish Famine: A Documentary (London: Profile Books 2001, 2003), 214pp.
The Transformation of Ireland, 1900-2000 (London: Profile Books 2004), xi, 884pp.
What If?: Alternative Views of Twentieth-century Ireland (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan 2006), xvi, 288pp., ill. [16pp. pls.; ports].
Judging Dev (Dublin: RIA 2007), 396pp., ill.
Occasions of Sin: Sex in Twentieth-century Ireland (London: Profile Books 2009), x 674pp. [refs. pp.619-43].
... Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s (2013), q.pp. [see note].
A Nation Not a Rabble: The Irish Revolution 1913-1923 (Profile Books 2015), Harry N. Abrams 2017), 528pp.
On the Edge: Ireland’s Off-shore Islands: A Modern History (London: Profile Books 2018; pb. 2020), x, 389pp., ill. [16pp. pls.
The Border: The Legacy of a Century of Anglo-Irish Politics (London: Profile Books 2020), 192pp.
Between Two Hells: The Irish Civil War (London: Profile Books 2022), 336pp.

Miscellaneous

Forwards to David O’Donoghue, The Devil’s Deal: The IRA, Nazi Germany, and the Double Life of Jim O’Donovan (New Island, 2010); Anne Lane with Joan McDermott, The Moment and the Day: Archives and Anecdotes (Wordwell 2014); Eoin Swithin Walsh, Kilkenny in Times of Revolution, 1900-23 (Merrion Press 2018).

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Criticism
C. D. C. Armstrong, ‘Looking through green-tinted spectacles’, in The Spectator (30 Oct. 2004), pp.53-54 [written from a N. Ireland standpoint and noting ‘slipshod’ errors.]

Colm Toíbín, notice on Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s, in The Irish Times (4 Jan. 2014): ‘scrupulous ... masterclass in historical writing ... invaluable, fascinating book.’ (Weekend sect., “Paperback of the Week”, p.13)

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Notes
bAmbiguous Republic (2013): Hard-nosed scholarship and moral passion underpin Diarmaid Ferriter’s work. Now he turns to the key years of the 70s, when after half a century of independence, questions were being asked about the old ways of doing things. Ambiguous Republic considers the widespread social, cultural, economic and political upheavals of the decade, a decade when Ireland joined the EEC; when for the first time a majority of the population lived in urban areas; when economic challenges abounded; which saw too an increasingly visible feminist moment, and institutions including the Church began to be subjected to criticism. Diarmaid Ferriter’s earlier books have been described as ‘a landmark’ and ‘an immense contribution’; making ‘brilliant use of new sources’; ‘prodigiously gifted’, and ‘ground-breaking’. All those words apply to this important book based on recently opened archives and unique access to the papers of Jack Lynch and Liam Cosgrave. [Amazon notice; accessed 28.12.2022.]

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