Ronan Fanning (6 May 1941 18 January 2017) was an Irish historian.

Biography

The son of an Irish doctor and English Montessori teacher, Fanning was educated at

St Michael's College, Dublin St Michael's College ( ga, Coláiste Naomh Mícheál) is a voluntary Catholic boys' school, with an associated primary school, located on Ailesbury Road in Dublin 4, Ireland. Founded in 1944 by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (The Spiritan ...

and C.B.C. Monkstown. He received his undergraduate degree from UCD and his doctoral thesis on "Balfour and Unionism" from

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was Fulbright Professor at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1976-1977, researching the triangular relationship between Britain, Ireland and the US. In 1978, he wrote the book, ''The Irish Department of Finance'', (1922-1958), hailed as a pioneering work on the transfer of power from the British government to the Irish administration of

W. T. Cosgrave William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as the president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, leader of the Opposition in both the Free State and Ire ...

and later to that of

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

. Amongst his other noted books included ''Fatal Path: British Government and Irish Revolution 1910-1922'', which examines the British government's role in Ireland's struggle for Independence. Fanning's academic work focused primarily on diplomacy and high politics. He was strongly in favour of commemoration of the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

and critical of former

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001, Leader of ...

's criticism of the Rising. He was professor of modern History at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

and director of archives at the School of History and Archives (University College Dublin). 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 ...

, he was a member of the board of the Dictionary of Irish Biography and the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy. He was also a regular political, historical and current affairs columnist at the '' Sunday Independent''. Fanning died on 18 January 2017. He was 75. President

Michael D Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, Sociology, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national polit ...

described him as an "admired and respected historian whose extensive research and writings delivered a rich legacy to Irish scholarship".

Publications

* ''Documents on Irish Foreign Policy'' by Catriona Crowe, Ronan Fanning, Michael Kennedy,

Dermot Keogh Dermot Keogh (born 12 May 1945) is Professor of History and Emeritus Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration Studies at University College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na ...

Eunan O'Halpin Eunan O'Halpin ( ) is Bank of Ireland Professor of Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College Dublin. He was educated at Gonzaga College, Dublin, received his BA and MA from University College Dublin and received a PhD from the University of ...

, (1-904890-03-2) * ''Independent Ireland'',

The Educational Company of Ireland ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, (0-86167-301-8) * ''The Irish Department of Finance, (1922-58)'' by Ronan Fanning,

Institute of Public Administration (Ireland) An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

Staff Hardcover, Institute of Public Administration, (0-902173-82-0) * ''Religion and Rebellion'' by Judith Devlin, Ronan Fanning, University College Dublin Press, (1-900621-03-7) * ''The Lives of Eliza Lynch'' by Michael Lillis and Ronan Fanning, Gill and Macmillan (September 2009). * ''Fatal Path: British Government and Irish Revolution 1910-1922'' by Ronan Fanning, Faber and Faber (August 2013). * ''Eamon de Valera: A Will to Power'' by Ronan Fanning, Faber and Faber (2015)
Ronan Fanning, list of publications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanning, Ronan 1941 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Irish historians 21st-century Irish historians Contemporary historians Sunday Independent (Ireland) people Members of the Royal Irish Academy Academics of University College Dublin Revisionism (Ireland)