Journalist to talk on WWI and university
The impact of the first world war (1914-18) on students and graduates of Galway’s university is the subject of an upcoming lecture hosted by the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society.
The speaker is journalist and author Ronan McGreevy and it will be held in the city’s Harbour Hotel at 8pm on Monday next, September 8.
University College Galway (UCG), as it was known then, was profoundly changed by the first world war. Among the students and alumni who enlisted were Arthur Colahan, the eccentric doctor who wrote the song ‘Galway Bay’, as well as a son of the UCG president, who was reported to have died in a flying accident, but survived.
Ronan McGreevy, who graduated from UCG, is an Irish Times journalist and the author of several books, and has told the story of UCG and the First World War in the book The National University of Ireland First World War Centenary Roll of Honour and Essays which he co-edited with Dr Emer Purcell.
The lecture is free of charge, but people are advised to arrive a little early in order be sure of admission.