The next lecture by Dúchas Clonakilty Heritage will be Cork's Greatest Conflict: The Experiences of Cork Men and their Families in the American Civil War by Dr Damian Shiels and will be held on Thursday 27th March at 8pm in Clonakilty GAA Complex, Ahamilla. Entry fee €5. Pay at the door.

We were blown away by a talk Damian did for us over Zoom during lock down and we're very excited to welcome him in person to Clonakilty. 

There is little doubt that the American Civil War witnessed the highest level of military service (and fatalities) among Cork men in modern Irish history. Indeed, of all Irish counties, Cork was the most impacted by the conflict. The archival records that emerged as a result of the American Civil War have also left us with the most detailed and intimate picture available of life for ordinary nineteenth century Cork families. Drawing from a number of ongoing research projects, this talk will explore these records to reveal what they tell us about the experience of Cork (and West Cork) men and women in America's greatest conflict, and in the nineteenth century more generally. 

Dr Damian Shiels is a historian and archaeologist. Formerly a curator at the National Museum of Ireland and a Director of one of Ireland's largest archaeological consultancies, he currently works as a Research Fellow at Northumbria University. His Clonakilty talk will draw on his new book "Green and Blue: Irish Americans in the Union Military, 1861-1865" (LSU Press, April 2025) as well as his ongoing Andersonville Irish and Widows in the Atlantic World research projects.