A portrait of Robert Dudley Edwards by his doting granddaughter turns out to be gripping, unconventional and searingly honest

Irish Times

14 hours ago

Robert (Robin) Dudley Edwards was a towering presence in Irish academic life for almost half a century in the course of which he helped change the way our history is taught and written. His lasting achievements are embodied in the history archive at UCD and the
National Archives
, which was established at his urging.
Dudley, as almost everybody called him, was a familiar figure to generations of
UCD
students between the 1950s and the 1980s, and not just those who studied history. His striking, unconventional appearance – white hair sticking up on his balding head – combined with a high-pitched voice, made him an unforgettable character.
His reputation was not confined to the university. Dudley was a well-known public figure during his lifetime, writing for newspapers, appearing on television and hobnobbing with successive taoisigh, while pestering them for more funding for the universities.
His granddaughter Neasa MacErlean has written
a biography
of him with the provocative title Telling the Truth is Dangerous: How Robert Dudley Edwards Changed Irish History Forever.
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This biography of an important, larger-than-life figure by a doting granddaughter defies expectations. It is a gripping read as unconventional as Dudley himself, searingly honest in telling the truth, warts and all, about the life of the historian and his family, including the author.
Despite a promise to his wife, he started drinking in the late 1940s, and at times his drinking became a public embarrassment
As a history student in UCD in the early 1970s, I experienced Dudley's impact on the department he had moulded. There was an excitement about studying history through questioning and debate, by which he had made the history department the most dynamic in the arts faculty.
Dudley didn't just engage with the students in lectures or tutorials. He took an active part in the social life of the college. I recall him at the annual student history congresses drinking and dancing away into the small hours, behaving more like an undergraduate than a professor.
When Dudley got married, he promised his wife that he would never drink alcohol because of the way her father had behaved violently when drunk. However, he started drinking in the late 1940s, and at times in subsequent decades his drinking became a public embarrassment.
Everything about Dudley was unconventional, beginning with his birth in Dublin in 1909. His parents, Walter Edwards, an English man, and Bridget Teresa McInerney, a nurse from Co Clare, met in London. Walter was already married but separated from his wife, and he and Bridget moved to Dublin and set up home.
Everybody, including their children, assumed they were married. It was only shortly before his death in 1946 that Walter revealed the secret to his son.
History was Dudley's favourite subject from an early age. He took first place in Ireland in the subject in final school exams of 1926 and went on to study history in UCD, achieving a first-class honours degree in 1929. After completing his MA in 1931 he was awarded a scholarship to enable him to study for a doctorate at King's College, London. It was there that he struck up a friendship with fellow student Theodore Moody from Belfast.
Dudley was awarded a doctorate in 1933 and published an extensively revised version of his thesis as Church and State in Tudor Ireland in 1935. It was a groundbreaking work.
From the beginning Dudley had his heart set on an academic career but despite being elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1936, a suitable post was hard to find. By that stage he was married to teacher Síle Ní Shuilleabháin who kept bread on the table for her husband and three children, Owen, Mary and Ruth.
Dudley kept up his research during these hungry years and also, in partnership with Moody, developed initiatives aimed at raising the standard of Irish historical scholarship, which culminated in the journal Irish Historical Studies, which they jointly edited.
He eventually obtained a post as a lecturer in UCD in 1939 and in 1945 was promoted to professor of modern Irish history, a post he occupied until his retirement in 1979. It was from this vantage that he promoted the study of history through careful research in primary sources and a dispassionate presentation of the facts.
Through his engagement with leading British historian Herbert Butterfield, he developed close connections between UCD and Peterhouse College, Cambridge. A number of his star pupils including Ronan Fanning, Patrick Cosgrave, James McGuire and his own daughter Ruth, went on to pursue further studies at Cambridge having completed their primary degrees at UCD.
At UCD he adopted the Cambridge style of tutorials in which academics met students for discussion and debate on essay topics on a regular basis, apart from the formal lectures.
His determination to free the teaching of history from unthinking acceptance of traditional narratives prompted students and historians to examine received wisdom and sources with a critical eye. In time this approach came to be dubbed 'revisionism' and it generated fierce debate among historians.
'Dudley was like no other professor I had ever met,' recalled Art Cosgrove. 'He didn't want agreement. He wanted people to disagree. Naturally he divided opinion both during his lifetime and after his death.'
The arch critic of Dudley and Moody was the historian Brendan Bradshaw, who accused them of a chilly indifference to humanity and the rights and wrongs of the actions of significant historical figures. Dudley did actually make moral evaluations of the actions of some historical figures but he was consciously sparing in attributing blame. One way or another the controversy over 'revisionism' helped generate even more interest in Irish history and led to a flowering of research in Irish universities.
The National Archives on Bishop Street. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
While Dudley established a vibrant history department, his own productivity in terms of publications was disappointing after his early brilliant work. His main achievements in his later years were the establishment of the UCD Archives Department and his persistence in persuading Garret FitzGerald to set up the National Archives during his time as taoiseach.
One of the reasons for Dudley's disappointing work rate in his later career was his heavy drinking. MacErlean does not shy away from dealing with this aspect of his life, which led to some bad behaviour.
Neasa MacErlean
She also refers to her own troubled childhood. Her mother, Mary, who lived in England, had mental health problems and treated her quite appallingly at times. For her own safety she spent a lot of time with her grandparents in Dublin or with her aunt Ruth and her husband, Patrick Cosgrave, in Cambridge, who gave her the stability she lacked at home.
Acknowledgment of Dudley's flaws has not dimmed Neasa's admiration for him and what he achieved.
Telling the Truth Is Dangerous: How Robert Dudley Edwards Changed Irish History Forever by Neasa MacErlean is published by Tartaruga Books