David Patrick Brian Fitzpatrick (25 May 1948 – 20 February 2019) was an Irish historian best known for his work on Irish independence and emigration. He was professor of Modern History at Trinity College Dublin and a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

. Roy Foster referred to him as “the most original and influential Irish historian of his generation” and

Diarmuid Ferriter Diarmaid Ferriter (born February 1972) is an Irish historian, broadcaster and university professor. He has written eleven books on the subject of Irish history, and co-authored another. Ferriter attended St. Benildus College in Kilmacud in Du ...

considers him "one of the most brilliant historians of his generation." Cormac O Grada has stated he "will be remembered for his deep, sometimes contrarian, insights and for his takes on a bewilderingly wide range of themes."

Early life

Fitzpatrick was born in Melbourne, Australia to Brian Charles Fitzpatrick, an author and journalist, and mother Dorothy Mary (née Davies), a historian at the Monash University. His elder sister

Sheila Fitzpatrick Sheila May Fitzpatrick (born June 4, 1941) is an Australian historian, whose main subjects are history of the Soviet Union and history of modern Russia, especially the Stalin era and the Great Purges, of which she proposes a " history from belo ...

is a historian of modern Russia. At birth, Fitzpatrick was given three names as their parents could not decide on either David, Brian or Patrick. To the family he was initially known as Pat, but he later took to using his first name. His parents instilled in their children a strong sense of academic achievement. Two months before his Matriculation examinations, his father died during a research trip to Sydney. His parents were not separated as claimed elsewhere. Fitzpatrick nevertheless topped the State of Victoria in Modern History, adding an Exhibition to his other awards and scholarships. He went on to study history at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

and resided at Trinity College. His first foray into Irish history, through his love of the poetry of

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

, was his B.A. Hons. thesis "The Dancer and the Dance: The Social and Political Ideas and Activities of William Butler Yeats from 1916 to 1928". Fitzpatrick graduated in 1969 before moving to

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

as a tutor. After discussions there with the fellow Irish historian John O'Brien, he moved to do a PhD at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

Academic career

Fitzpatrick spent his professional life at Trinity College Dublin, where he was appointed a lecturer in Modern History in 1979. In 1982, he was made a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

, an

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

1993 and a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

in 2000. Prior his move to Dublin, he spent time as a Prize Research Fellow between 1975 and 1977 at Nuffield College, Oxford, and returned to the University of Melbourne for two years as a research fellow (1977–1979). He published his first book, ''Politics and Irish Life, 1913–1921: Provincial Experience of War and Revolution'' in 1977. Based on his PhD thesis, the publication was described as "fair, balanced and neutral, with a touch of irreverence, indeed a model of objectivity."

Personal life

Fitzpatrick was married twice. He first married Georgina Huege de Serville (known as Haigh), a historian who studied the Australian War Trials. They had a son, Brian, and daughter, Margaret. The marriage was dissolved in 1999. His second marriage was to Jane Leonard, an Irish military historian, with whom he had two daughters, Julia and Hannah. He died, aged 70, in Belfast after suffering a long illness.

Bibliography

Monographs

* ''Politics and Irish Life, 1913–1921: Provincial Experience of War and Revolution'' (Gill & MacMillan, 1977) * ''Irish Emigration, 1801–1921'' (Economic and Social History Society of Ireland, 1984) * ''Oceans of Consolation: Personal Accounts of Irish Migration to Australia'' (Cornell University Press, 1994) * ''The Two Irelands, 1912–1939'' (Oxford University Press, 1998) * ''Harry Boland's Irish Revolution, 1887–1922'' (Cork University Press, 2004) * ''Solitary and Wild: Frederick MacNeice and the Salvation of Ireland'' (Lilliput Press, 2012) * ''Descendancy: Irish Protestant Histories since 1795'' (Cambridge University Press, 2017) * ''Ernest Blythe in Ulster: The Making of a Double Agent?'' (Cork University Press, 2018) * ''The Americanisation of Ireland: Migration and Settlement, 1841–1925'' (Cambridge University Press, 2019)

Edited volumes

* ''Ireland and the First World War'' (Trinity History Workshop, 1986) * ''Revolution?: Ireland, 1917–1923'' (Trinity History Workshop, 1990) * ''Henry Stratford Persse's Letters from Galway to America, 1821–1832'' (Irish Narrative Series) (Cork University Press, 1998) * ''Terror in Ireland, 1916–1923'' (Trinity History Workshop, 2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, David P. B. 20th-century Irish historians 21st-century Irish historians 1948 births 2019 deaths Members of the Royal Irish Academy