Language English, Irish Role Author Died June 25, 2013 | Name James Lydon | |
Subject History of IrelandMedieval studies Books The Making of Ireland: From Ancient Times to the Present | ||
Alma mater Trinity College Dublin | ||
James Francis Lydon, (1928 - 25 June 2013), was an Irish educator and historian. He served as the Lecky Professor of History at Trinity College, Dublin, from 1980 to 1993, and authored numerous works, particularly on the medieval history of Ireland.
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Early life and education
Lydon was born to a large Catholic family in Connemara in 1928, the son of a local baker. His mother raised him to be fluent in Irish language.
Lydon studied both English and History at University College Galway (NUI), graduating in 1950 and staying on to undertake research for a master's degree. His teacher, history department professor Mary Donovan O'Sullivan, suggested to him that "Ireland's contribution to the military activities of the English crown in the thirteenth century might be a subject that would repay investigation." Lydon moved to England to attend the University of London and studied under the influential medievalist Sir Maurice Powicke.
Career
In 1955, he completed his thesis, Ireland's participation in the military activities of English kings in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and it became the first of many published writings about the era. Having a full year left on his Travelling Fellowship, he was advised by his mentor Powicke to "use the residue of the funding to travel on the continent, ... stay clear of archives ... read, visit galleries, listen to music, meet people and generally lift his eyes beyond the confines of the Record Office in Chancery lane." This experience "gave him an appreciation of European 'culture' in its broadest sense..." and enabled "... Lydon to bring the historiography of late medieval Ireland to maturity." Returning to Galway in 1956 he taught history via Irish and English and in 1959 moved to Dublin to lecture at Trinity College. He became a full lecturer in 1962, a fellow in 1965, and an associate professor in 1969.
He served as an educator for thirty-three years, and was Lecky Professor of History at Trinity from 1980 until his retirement in 1993.
He was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1967 and president of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland from 1981 to 1984.
Works
Primarily an Irish medievalist, Lydon published his first major work, The lordship of Ireland in the Middle Ages, in 1972. In the 1980s, he served as a contributor to the Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland. Lydon's other works include: