Professor Nollaig Mac Congáil (B.A., ph.D.) has been a professor in the National University of Ireland, Galway since 1974, and he served as the Dean of Arts from 1994 until 2000. He is originally from Derry and obtained his university-level education at Queen’s University, Belfast. He is a widely-published author and has written and edited over twenty books, along with numerous articles.
We were extremely lucky in February 2019 that Professor Mac Congáil could be with us to give a public lecture on Conradh na Gaeilge, or the Gaelic League as it’s formerly known. During the lecture, Professor Mac Congáil covered a broad scope of the organisation’s history, giving an insight into the reason for such an organisation being founded, along with the people who were very much at the forefront of the organisation’s foundation. Professor Mac Congáil also touched on the importance of newspapers at that time in gaining a deeper understanding of the viewpoints of commentators of the era.
The full lecture is available below, and again we would like to thank Professor Nollaig ac Congáil for providing a first-class lecture for us.