The biography of the pioneering Irish historian, Robert Dudley Edwards, written by his grand-daughter, the journalist Neasa MacErlean.
How Robert Dudley Edwards changed Irish history forever
The intellectual revolution that spread internationally after World War II in the study of history manifested early in Ireland: two young historians had begun switching direction in 1938, moving from a history brewed of myth and legend into one based on fact and analysis. Robert Dudley Edwards — later Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin for 35 years, iconoclast and controversial public figure — was one of them, and this book tells his story.
Dudley’s grand-daughter, Neasa MacErlean, has written one of the first ever biographies of an Irish historian, linking the famous wild figure to the scarred and reflective man behind.
This is an essential book for anybody interested in history, historiography, or independent Ireland’s first century.
Ray Burke, Irish Times
Dudley was like no other professor I had ever met. He didn’t want agreement. He wanted people to disagree. Naturally he divided opinion both during his lifetime and after his death.
Professor Art Cosgrove, UCD President
An excellent book which captures the man in his majesty and frailty — and also the age
Professor Declan Kiberd, University of Notre Dame Dublin
By adroit use of extensive personal interviews, the author builds a fascinating collage that captures the charismatic, complex and mercurial character of her subject
Professor Ciaran Brady, Trinity
A compelling and riveting biography and description of the way the study of Irish history was transformed.
Stephen Collins,Irish Times
Interview with Neasa
As a ten minute taster, here is historian Dr Pádraig Lenihan from the University of Galway interviewing Neasa on her YouTube channel:
Media, launch and events
Video and audio
Dublin Launch
Launch of Telling The Truth is Dangerous at Hodges Figgis bookshop, Dublin with John MacMenamin, Susan Lynch and Neasa (26 June 2025)
Galway launch
Launch of Telling The Truth is Dangerous at Charlie Byrne’s bookshop, Galway — excerpt of Neasa’s speech (27 June 2025). Many thanks to Paul Campbell who managed to catch this on his phone when our recorder was not working.
Professor Patrick Geoghegan interviews Neasa MacErlean in the first of the three interviews here about new history books (and the third one is about rugby). He calls the book ‘superb’. (3 August 2025)
Neasa on Galway Bay FM
Galway Bay FM Radio’s John Morley interviews Neasa MacErlean about Robert Dudley Edwards and her Galway grandfather Henry McErlean. Education was a major theme in both their lives, transforming their prospects and helping them flourish in the complex politics of 20th century Ireland.
Brendan Behan and Dudley
In this 10 minute video, Neasa talks about Brendan Behan and Robert Dudley Edwards. The playwright and professor knew each other slightly, and Dudley was impressed by the younger man, using some of the same techniques to impart ideas about objectivity. One of a series of short talks being delivered by Neasa to the Research Centre for Irish Studies in the British University of Egypt.
Granddaughters discuss
Neasa – who is, of course, Robert Dudley Edwards’s granddaughter – meets Aileen Crean O’Brien, the granddaughter of polar explorer Tom Crean in the highly-appropriate location of the Tom Crean Brewery, Kenmare
Fake History
Are we becoming a non-literate society? How fast will AI take us there? Do we end up with fake history, as well as fake facts? Neasa chats to Dublin playwright Susan Lynch.
Journalism and biography
Neasa chats to fellow journalist and biographer Michael Smith (biographer of polar explorer Tom Crean) about the way their biographical works are influenced by their experiences on the Observer newspaper where they first met.
Robert Dudley Edwards and Galway
How does a state historian in the capital stay in touch with the community on the other side of the country? Neasa gives a short talk on Robert Dudley Edwards and his contact with Galway and the hidden Ireland, given as part of the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society (22 March 2025).
Genealogy: an alternative route to history?
A talk by Neasa MacErlean to the Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI) about the perspective that genealogy gives on history, ancient and modern. Why did Professor Robert Dudley Edwards see it as an alternative path into history? Why does the history of new states so often prioritise the family trees of the founders? And what about business family trees? And how did the growth of certain groups, especially the middle classes, launch the success of Charles Stewart Parnell? Talk given to the monthly evening meeting on Tuesday, 8 July 2025
The brilliant woman behind Professor Robert Dudley Edwards — Sheila O’Sullivan aka Sheila Dudley Edwards
Neasa MacErlean talks about Robert Dudley Edwards’s enduring love for his wife, from the day they met to the end of his life, four years after she predeceased him. Why did he say she was more intelligent than he was? Why did they both suspect that prevailing definitions of ‘intelligence’ were lacking? What do we mean by ‘intelligence’? And how can students excel at university? Talk given to Age Action, Claregalway on Tuesday, 16 September 2025 at SMA House.
Why ‘telling the truth’ is becoming more dangerous in 2025
Why has telling the truth become more difficult in the three months since ‘Telling the Truth is Dangerous’ was published in June 2025? Neasa MacErlean discusses the attempts of Pieter Geyl, Herbert Butterfield, Robert Dudley Edwards and other historians to create a balanced approach to the study of history which would help us to understand foreigners instead of blaming them. Being able to speak the truth is a fundamental part of self-respect, she argues.This short talk was delivered at Charlie Byrne’s bookshop in Galway on Culture Night, 19 September, in 2025.
Press
Tipperary Live, 18 June 2025 New book about famous man who ‘knew Tipperary well’ is said to inspire Leaving Cert students
Aoife Sheenan starts her article by saying: ‘Students finishing their Senior Cycle (Leaving Cert exams) might be worrying about their ability to make a success of university life — but the author of this new book suggests that most underrate their talents.’
Book review by Neasa MacErlean of a book which looks at issues of truth, lies and propaganda — themes which Robert Dudley Edwards focused on in his teaching and research.
Irish Times, 25 July 2025 The people who gave Ireland back its past
In his weekly column, Dudley’s successor Professor Diarmaid Ferriter talks of how the preoccupations of Dudley Edwards ‘continue to resonate, especially during this era when there is, in some quarters, such a cavalier and dangerous distortion of history and contempt for evidence, and where skewed and selective accounts of the past are weaponised, with devastating results’.
The Irish Catholic, 26 June 2025 Seeking for ‘truth’ in the archives
by Professor Ciaran Brady
A review of Telling The Truth Is Dangerous by the former Professor of Early Modern History and Historiography in Trinity College Dublin.
Offaly History Blog, 25 June 2025 QuinnEdwards/ by Neasa MacErlean. Blog no. 723 in the Offaly History Series – the Clara-born historian David B. Quinn
Neasa MacErlean writes on the lifelong friendship between Robert Dudley Edwards and David Quinn
March 16 or April 30 2026 (Date TBC) Offaly History and Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society Neasa MacErlean on Professors David Quinn and Robert Dudley Edwards: their collaboration and contribution
Friday, 19 September (Culture Night) at Charle Byrne’s Bookshop, Galway at about 9 pm. ‘What is history? And why does it matter in today’s violent world?’ Neasa MacErlean will be addressing these issues in a few short readings from Telling the Truth is Dangerous.
Saturday, 4 October 2025, Ivy Day at the Parnell Summer School
Talk by Neasa MacErlean on: ‘O’Connell’s democratic legacy, and Dudley Edwards’ role in preserving that legacy’
Thursday, 18 September, Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Galway at 6pm (arrive 5.50pm) Book Club on Telling the Truth is Dangerous
Wednesday, 13 August, Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Galway at 10am Book Club on Telling the Truth is Dangerous (no video)
Tuesday, 8 July 2025
Genealogical Society of Ireland: monthly talk
Neasa MacErlean on: ‘Genealogy: an alternative route to history? Professor Robert Dudley Edwards and the transformation of historical, archival and genealogical study in the 20th century’
Friday, 27 June 2025, 6pm, Charlie Byrne’s bookshop, Galway Launch of Telling The Truth is Dangerous The book was launched by Professor Nicholas Canny and author Neasa MacErlean.
Thursday, 26 June 2025, 6pm, Hodges Figgis bookshop, Dublin Launch of Telling The Truth is Dangerous The book was launched by John MacMenamin (Dudley’s student, formerly of the Supreme Court), playwright Susan Lynch and author Neasa MacErlean.
You can watch a full video from Dublin and a partial video from Galway in the Video and Audio section above.
Telling The Truth Is Dangerous is available through all good bookshops and online. Buy direct using the links below.
