Mapping the Irish World: From Washington-Ireland to London-Ireland with Dr. Darragh Gannon

‘Mapping the Irish World’ charts the geographical movement of Irish political power and influence beyond the island, in response to evolving political contexts in the post-war world. Framing ‘territory’ as a conceptual space subject to contemporary nationalist re-imagination, this paper examines Irish revolutionaries’ strategic transfer of political sovereignty to Paris, New York, Rome, and London to capitalise on geo-political events. From the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 to the Anglo-Irish Treaty conference in 1921, Irish revolutionaries devolved the power to negotiate international recognition of Irish independence to diaspora activists in ‘global cities’. Metropolitan centers beyond the island were established as Irish ‘identity spaces’ and ‘decision spaces’ – Paris-Ireland, New York-Ireland, Rome-Ireland, London-Ireland – with the view to securing international recognition of Irish sovereignty. As we approach the end of the Decade of Centenaries (2012-23), this paper explores the lieux de memoire of ‘global Ireland’, advancing new directions for commemoration beyond the state.

Dr. Darragh Gannon is Fulbright Irish Scholar in the Department of History at Georgetown University. He currently serves as Head of Irish Studies at University College Dublin and Vice President of the Global Irish Diaspora Congress.

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"Mapping the Irish World"
How come Australia isn't even on the map?

Fail.