Monthly meetings of the RIYC Military History Group take place in the Drawing Room at 19.30hrs and all Members and their guests are welcome. There is an optional supper €40, in the Dining Room following the talk at 20.45hrs. All members welcome. Book with Catering.

Details of the speakers and topics coming up for 2023

Wednesday 22nd November -  RIYC Member Dr Jane Mahony will give a talk entitled 'The Paris Agreement'

The First World War was thought to be 'the war to end all wars'. Ending it, however, proved to be far more difficult than starting it. RIYC Member Dr Jane Mahony will discuss Margaret Macmillan's award-winning history of the 1919 Paris Peace conference, Peacemakers: Six Months that Changed the World. In 1919 Paris was the capital of the world as the "Peacemakers" carved up bankrupt empires and created new countries. Woodrow Wilson arrived in triumph from the USA with a promise to create a League of Nations. The wily British Prime Minister David Lloyd George brought Winston Churchill and John Maynard Keynes with him. Lawrence of Arabia joined the Arab delegation. Ho Chi Minh, a kitchen assistant at the Ritz Hotel, submitted a petition for an independent Vietnam.

Margaret Macmillan's brilliant book brings to life the personalities, ideals and prejudices of the men and women who shaped the peace treaties. Some of the most intractable problems of the modern world have roots in decisions made in Paris over 100 years ago. The Peacemakers struggled with the 'irrational passions of nationalism and religion' and grappled with the problems - among many - of the Ukrainians, the Kurds, and of a homeland for the Jews in the face of resurging Anti-Semitism. They pushed Russia to the sidelines, alienated China, and dismissed the Arabs including those of Palestine. How does the legacy of the Peacemakers look today at this dangerous juncture of history?

Dr Jane Mahony is a book and publishing historian at the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute, Trinity College Dublin.

The talk is open to RIYC members and their guests and will take place at 19.30hrs in the Drawing Room. These talks are free to members and their guests and will be followed by supper in the Dining Room where discussions with our guest speaker and fellow members will continue. Supper €40, booking is essential. Book with Catering.

For more information about this group contact Winifred Kelliher or on 087 2446004