In 1600, Dublin was a walled, medieval town. Housing was basic, of wattle and daub, with cage-work on the main streets. Anglo-Norman Catholics ran the city. By 1700, the gates were gone and the walls crumbling. Government posts were for Protestants only. Fine houses of brick and stone proliferated.

In this illustrated talk, we will follow one Dublin family, the recently converted Kennedys, whose rise and fall helps us to understand the forces that transformed Dublin in this pivotal century. We will explore the political and economic realities that left many of the first, last, and the latest arrivals thriving.

Therese Hicks is the author of No Mere Irish: The Kennedys of Mount Kennedy (Wordwell, 2022)

No booking required.