Last week I had the great honour of taking part in a discussion and audience Q&A at the National Archives in Washington D.C. with Dr. Michael Hussey of NARA and Professor David Gleeson of Northumbria University. The event was followed by the American launch of my book The Forgotten Irish: Irish Emigrant Experiences in America, which draws primarily on widows and dependent files housed in NARA’s collections. For a bit more of the backstory behind my work on these files, you can check out the National Archives News article on my visit by clicking here. During the trip I also got to meet Mr. David Ferriero, the 10th Archivist of the United States. Mr. Ferriero has roots in Co. Cork, so I was delighted to present him with a copy of the book I recently wrote for Cork County Council on Cork’s revolutionary past. The Forgotten Irish discussion in the McGowan Theater was very well attended and we had some excellent interaction with the audience. I want to extend my thanks to all the staff at the National Archives who made the event possible, and who took such good care of us on the night.

The full event is now available to view on YouTube, which you can see below- the main discussion begins at the 12.21 mark. I would be keen to hear reader’s thoughts!

It is worth noting that for anyone near D.C., you can get 15% of my book in the Archives shop when you mention the presentation. The book itself dosen’t go on general release in the States until May, so for the next few weeks it is the only place to get it. While in the Archives I took the opportunity to do some archival research into some Irish-related topics, so watch this space in the next few weeks for some posts on that material.

A debt of gratitude is also due to photographer Bruce Guthrie, who took some great shots of the event, some of which are also shared below. You can check out Bruce’s homepage here.