FORTHCOMING LECTURES & ACTIVITIES – Spring 2026 onwards
Friday 6th November 2026 2:30pm at Newtownpark Pastoral Centre, Church of the Guardian Angels, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
Roger Casement: A Rebel and a Traitor
Journalist and noted author Rory Carroll is the Ireland Correspondent for The Guardian. He has reported from the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq (where he was kidnapped), Latin America and the United States. After twenty years as a foreign correspondent Rory came full circle and ended up back in Blackrock and Dun Laoghaire where he grew up.
Dun Laoghaire was also the point where former British diplomat Sir Roger Casement was taken in handcuffs from Ireland to the UK for his trial for treason and grisly execution at Pentonville prison. Buried in quicklime four months after his secret landing on a Kerry beach, it was just five years after the award of a knighthood for his fight against slavery and exploitation in the Congo and in the Amazon.
Rory will talk about his much lauded new book “A Rebel and a Traitor” which covers the background to this tragedy and the stealthy chase to catch Casement by British Intelligence led by the innovative, capable and all too dangerous Reginald “Blinker” Hall as the deadline of the Easter Rising loomed. It also deals with the reputational damage and loss of support sustained by the patriot when details of his private life were exposed in the ‘Black Diaries’
The book follows Killing Thatcher: The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown published to great acclaim three years ago. His previous book on Hugo Chávez called “Comandante“ was published by Cannongate and Penguin.
See further details of currently planned 2026 talks and previous ones for 2025,’24,’23,’22,’20 and 2019 HERE
Please note there is an attendance charge of €5 for non-members of Blackrock Society
Further talks and lectures for the Spring, Autumn/Winter of 2026 will be confirmed shortly and we will be hosting these at Newtownpark Pastoral Centre on mostly the second Friday of the month. We will be confirming details, and this site will be updated, as talks are arranged.
If you are interested in giving a talk, please contact Douglas by email at info at blackrocksociety.ie
~o~