Coogan Emerged as Foremost Expert on 1916 with 1966 Publication of “Ireland Since the Rising”
Pittsburgh, PA, March 1, 2016 – The Pittsburgh 1916 Easter Rising Committee, which was formed to plan the region’s commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising , announced that it will welcome renowned and best-selling Irish author and historian Tim Pat Coogan to serve as keynote speaker for its Commemoration Weekend, scheduled to take place April 15-17, 2016.
Coogan will be the featured speaker for the Sunday afternoon program entitled, “Creating Understanding: Putting it all together,” which will be held at The Priory Grand Hall on Pittsburgh’s North Side, starting at 12 Noon on April 17th . The Sunday afternoon session, which will be moderated by Pittsburgh’s Michael Bartley, is part of the weekend series of events that will take place one week before the official 100th Anniversary of the Easter Rising, an event that will be recognized throughout Ireland, the U.S., and around the world.
The program will feature educational displays, traditional entertainment, social and interactive events over a three-day period. Coogan is expected to discuss is his most recent work, 1916: The Mornings After. Published in 2015, the book focuses on those who avoided the firing squads that followed The Rising and went on to shape their country’s destiny for the century to come. In 2005, he wrote 1916: The Easter Rising, which provided readers a front-row seat to the events of 1916.
About Tim Pat Coogan
Coogan’s first book, Ireland Since The Rising, published in 1966, was a pioneering work, the first history of the 50 years that followed the 1916 Rising. His subsequent work, The IRA, published in 1970, became the definitive work on that subject and has been reissued in several editions and languages.
His biography of Michael Collins, published on Collins’ centenary in 1990, rekindled general interest, on both sides of the Atlantic, of “the General” and his times. The interest in Collins’ story resulted in extensive news coverage, documentaries, and a successful film that starred Liam Neeson.
His 2012 book The Famine Plot offered fresh insights into the Irish famine’s causes and the legacy of the “famine mentality” that followed immigrants to the United States, along with the lasting effects it had on the population left behind in Ireland
Coogan’s other works include: On The Blanket, a study of the dirty protest which preceded the hunger strikes of 1981; a biography of Eamon deValera, Long fellow, long shadow; the first major work on the Irish diaspora, Wherever Green is Worn (2000); and Ireland in the Twentieth Century (2003).
In addition to his books, Coogan’s career as an author and journalist has included service as editor of the Irish Press between 1968 and 1987, and has taken him around the world interviewing figures as diverse as Ronald Reagan and Muammar Ghadafi. His memoir was published in September 2008.
Sunday’s moderator, Michael Bartley is a 14-time Emmy Award winning television producer and a second-generation Pittsburgh Irish Catholic. The Pittsburgh native was most recently a managing editor, producer and host of numerous productions and series at WQED-TV.
Commemoration Weekend
Easter 1916: Pittsburgh Remembers will feature a series of events that will culminate April 15-17, 2016, just prior to the anniversary of The Rising.
Cities around the world that will mark the Centenary of The Rising with special events and programs including: Washington, D.C., New York, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, Brasilia, London, Abu Dhabi, Helsinki, among many others.
About Easter 1916: Pittsburgh Remembers
The Pittsburgh 1916 Easter Rising Committee was formed to plan and conduct the region’s centenary activities of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland that will be part of the global commemoration of the Irish Republic’s 100th anniversary. These activities will follow the theme: Easter 1916: Pittsburgh Remembers. The Rising is largely regarded as the pivotal event that led ultimately, to the establishment of what is now recognized as the Republic of Ireland.
Easter 1916: Pittsburgh Remembers is underwritten in part by the Consulate General of Ireland in New York, the Irish Society for Education and Charity, The men’s and women’s Ancient Order of Hibernians, The Year of Remembrance Committee (TYORC), Trebuchet Consulting, the Irish American Unity Conference and many other individual donors and organizations.
For ticket information, call 412.854.8845 or visit http://www.pittsburghremembers1916.com/commemoration-weekend/.
For additional access to an extensive amount of background on Easter 1916: Pittsburgh Remembers, visit: www.PittsburghRemembers1916.com. Visit Facebook at Easter 1916: Pittsburgh Remembers. And follow on Twitter at @Pittsburgh1916.