Roy Foster
Historian
There are few interpreters of Irish history working today as respected as Roy Foster.
Born in Waterford, he has published an armful of highly regarded books over the last fifty years. These have covered various aspects of Irish history from Charles Stewart Parnell to the Easter Rising, as well as a two-volume authorised biography of WB Yeats.
View on Ireland
But, Foster has developed his view on Ireland from a distance, having spent the majority of his career living and working in the United Kingdom.
“My working life has been spent teaching Irish history in British universities,” he explains from his home in London.
“And especially trying to up the appreciation and understanding of Irish history in Britain.”
Distance offering perspective
That distance is something he thinks has helped him develop his view on Ireland. “The real reordering of one’s perspective, from encountering the assumptions (and sometimes prejudices) of people in the country you've moved to, towards the country you've come from. It can be a bit discombobulating. But it can also be quite bracing and refreshing, leading to creative forms of argument.”
Irish History at Oxford
After studying history at Trinity College Dublin, Foster moved from Ireland to London in 1974 to teach at London University. He then moved in 1991 to the first endowed chair of Irish history, the Carroll Chair of Irish History at Oxford.
Ireland and UK's approach
Since retiring from academia in 2016, that chair has been named after Foster himself. During his career, he has noted differences in how Ireland and the UK approach their own respective histories.
“In Ireland, I think that for reasons both good and bad, we continually scratch away at our historical understanding. We continually look at where we came from.”
History, Foster says, helps us to understand the present moment.
Analysis of history
His work has illustrated the differences in this understanding when one compares Ireland to Britain, our closest neighbour. “Living in Britain, I’m very struck by how little history means, apart from grand rituals and full dress occasions like the opening of parliament and all that sort of stuff. Actual analysis of the very peculiar history of Britain, and how it has created the deeply peculiar country it is today, is lacking.”
He points to Ireland’s recent Decade of Centenaries 2012 - 2023 programme by way of contrast. which he describes as being approached in a “more interesting and analytical” manner than previous historical commemorations in Ireland.
History as a form of literature
Foster believes that education has a role to play in embedding comprehension of history into a country’s consciousness. “History is a form of popular literature in Ireland,” he notes. “That’s one of the very gratifying things about being an Irish historian. People may slag off what you say, but they will read it.”
In 2021, Foster was presented the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, in recognition of his work and achievements in furthering the understanding of Irish history around the world.
There’s an argument that work like Foster’s can have an ambassadorial role in a global context – communicating Ireland to a wider audience. But when put to him, it’s a role that Foster himself disputes. “I don't think one should be in any kind of role as an historian, except in trying to explicate things unto us,” he says.
“My friend [the archivist] Catriona Crowe constantly says [the historian’s role is] to complicate the narrative.” For readers curious about how modern Ireland got to where it is today, Foster’s many complications are welcome wrinkles in the fabric.