COMING SOON: The biography of the pioneering Irish historian, Robert Dudley Edwards, written by his grand-daughter, the journalist Neasa MacErlean.
How Robert Dudley Edwards changed Irish history forever
The intellectual revolution that spread internationally after World War II in the study of history manifested early in Ireland: two young historians had begun switching direction in 1938, moving from a history brewed of myth and legend into one based on fact and analysis. Robert Dudley Edwards — later Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin for 35 years, iconoclast and controversial public figure — was one of them, and this book tells his story.
Dudley’s grand-daughter, Neasa MacErlean, has written one of the first ever biographies of an Irish historian, linking the famous wild figure to the scarred and reflective man behind.
Publication: 23 June 2025
Dudley was like no other professor I had ever met. He didn’t want agreement. He wanted people to disagree. Naturally he divided opinion both during his lifetime and after his death.
Professor Art Cosgrove, UCD President
Interview with Neasa
As a ten minute taster, here is historian Dr Pádraig Lenihan from the University of Galway interviewing Neasa on her YouTube channel:
Media, launch and events
Video and audio
Fake History
Are we becoming a non-literate society? How fast will AI take us there? Do we end up with fake history, as well as fake facts? Neasa chats to Dublin playwright Susan Lynch.
Journalism and biography
Neasa chats to fellow journalist and biographer Michael Smith (biographer of polar explorer Tom Crean) about the way their biographical works are influenced by their experiences on the Observer newspaper where they first met.
Robert Dudley Edwards and Galway
How does a state historian in the capital stay in touch with the community on the other side of the country? Neasa gives a short talk on Robert Dudley Edwards and his contact with Galway and the hidden Ireland, given as part of the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society (22 March 2025).
Friday, 27 June 2025, 6pm, Charlie Byrne’s bookshop, Galway Launch of Telling The Truth is Dangerous More information to follow.
Refreshments will be served afterwards.
Thursday, 26 June 2025, 6pm, Hodges Figgis bookshop, Dublin Launch of Telling The Truth is Dangerous More information to follow.
Refreshments will be served afterwards.
Saturday 22 March 2025, 2–5pm, Hardiman Library, University of Galway Galway and the hidden Ireland — the conversation that went on between a state historian from the capital and a community on the other side of the country
Neasa’s presentation on Robert Dudley Edwards’s career-long relationship with the Galway area, and the way he interpreted and encouraged some of the distinctive approaches to history that developed there. (Part of the commemoration event for the 125th founding of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society.) Video in Video and audio section above.
Telling The Truth Is Dangerous will be available through all good bookshops from 23 June 2025. Watch this space. Click below for updates.
