Programme

A talk by James Scannell from the Old Dublin Society about the police intelligence reports from various newspapers around the time period of The Coroner’s Daughter (1800s) highlighting how offenders were treated.

No booking required. First come, first seated.

Join us for a fascinating evening as author Andrew Hughes and State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers and Deputy State Pathologist Dr Jill Roman will be in conversation with novelist and journalist Conor Brady. In the years preceding 1816, the year in which The Coroner’s Daughter is set, forensic investigation into deaths was almost non-existent. 1816 was also the year of publication of George Male’s Epitome of Forensic Medicine, a pivotal guide as to how marks of a violent death appear on a body, and a textbook which became instrumental in The Coroner’s Daughter. This panel discussion will explore the history of forensic science, the development of investigative techniques, and their use in crime fiction, from the historical through to the contemporary.

A 4-week course led by tutor Garret Fagan, based around The Coroner’s Daughter by Andrew Hughes. You’ll also read other titles, as well as material which relates to The Coroner’s Daughter and the Dublin of the time, and to Dublin in literature and crime writing.

No prior knowledge or skills are required for this course beyond an enjoyment and an interest in reading and in finding out more about your city.

Takes place on Wednesday 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th April.

Course Code: Spring AE-LN248

From love letters and diaries, to court records and newspaper archives, Andrew Hughes will talk about how his background as a professional archivist, and his research with archival sources, has inspired the stories, characters, and setting for his historical crime novels The Coroner’s Daughter and The Convictions of John Delahunt.

Andrew Hughes born in Co. Wexford, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. A qualified archivist, he worked for RTÉ before going freelance. It was while researching his social history of Fitzwilliam Square – Lives Less Ordinary: Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Square, 1798-1922 – that he came across the true story of John Delahunt, a Victorian murderer and Dublin Castle informer. His debut novel, The Convictions of John Delahunt, was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Irish Crime Book of the Year. The Coroner’s Daughter was nominated for the CWA Historical Dagger.

In this special event to partner Wexford County Council Libraries and One Dublin One Book, Wexford authors Andrew Hughes and Cat Hogan will be in conversation with Caroline Busher about creating chilling, sinister and complex villains, and the different dynamics in writing novels from the perspective of the murderer, and the perspective of the sleuth.

Andrew Hughes born in Co. Wexford, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. A qualified archivist, he worked for RTÉ before going freelance. His debut novel, The Convictions of John Delahunt, was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Irish Crime Book of the Year. The Coroner’s Daughter was nominated for the CWA Historical Dagger.

Cat Hogan is an international bestselling novelist and screenwriter. Her first award nominated novel They All Fall Down was published in 2016, and her second novel, There Was A Crooked Man (2017) was nominated by Bord Gais Energy as Crime Fiction of the Year Novel.

Caroline Busher is the Irish Times best-selling author and Irish Book Award nominated author. Her books include of The Ghosts of Magnificent Children, The Girl Who Ate The Stars, The Legend of Valentine Sorrow and The Spectacular Library of Magical.

In The Coroner’s Daughter Abigail Lawless breaks the mould of our idea of a 19^th Century Irish woman. Join historian and author Liz Gillis as she explores the status of women in 19^th Century Ireland. Presented by South Dublin Libraries.

Historian and author Liz Gillis is from the Liberties. She is the author of six books about the Irish Revolution  including, ‘The Fall of Dublin’, ‘Women of the Irish Revolution’ and ‘The Hales Brothers and the Irish Revolution’ and  ‘May 25: The Burning of the Custom House 1921’. Liz has worked as a researcher on numerous publications, television and radio documentaries covering the period. 

Liz is the Historian in Residence for Dublin South County Council for the Decade of Centenaries. She also works as a Researcher for the History Show on RTE Radio and lectures at Champlain College Dublin.  Liz was a Historical Consultant for the new Custom House Visitor Centre and was a Curatorial Assistant in RTE, specialising in researching the Easter Rising and a tour guide for many years in Kilmainham Gaol.  In 2018 Liz was a recipient of the Lord Mayor’s Award for her contribution to history. 

A talk by James Scannell from the Old Dublin Society about the police intelligence reports from various newspapers around the time period of The Coroner’s Daughter (1800s) highlighting how offenders were treated.

dlr Libraries present Andrew Hughes in conversation with Martina Devlin about his book The Coroner’s Daughter followed by a Q&A. Copies of The Coroner’s Daughter are available to borrow from your local library or in e-format via the Borrowbox library app.

Born in Co. Wexford, Andrew Hughes was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. A qualified archivist, he worked for RTÉ before going freelance. His debut novel, The Convictions of John Delahunt, was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Irish Crime Book of the Year. The Coroner’s Daughter was nominated for the CWA Historical Dagger.

Martina Devlin is a bestselling author and an award-winning journalist. Her latest book is Edith: A Novel based on the life of writer Edith Somerville. She also is the presenter and producer of City of Books podcast series.

Presented by South Dublin Libraries.

Past and present One Dublin One Book authors Joe Joyce and Andrew Hughes will be in conversation about Dublin city as a canvas and setting for historical crime fiction. They will talk about the research required to recreate a version of Dublin from the past, as well as the inspiration to be found in its landmarks, people, and historical events.

Andrew Hughes is a qualified archivist who worked for RTÉ before going freelance.  His debut novel The Convictions of John Delahunt was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Irish Crime Book of the Year. The Coroner’s Daughter, a tale of a young lady sleuth operating at the dawn of forensic science, is the One Dublin One Book choice for 2023. Andrew lives in Drumcondra, where he continues to work on archival and historical research projects, as well as Dublin-set crime fiction.

Joe Joyce is the author of seven historical novels and author or co-author of three non-fiction books. Echoland, the first of a trilogy of spy novels set in Dublin during The Emergency, was the One Dublin One Book choice for 2017. His most recent books are 1691: A Novel, an account of a pivotal year in Irish history, and No Second Take, a thriller set during the filming of a classic French film on the Riviera during the Second World War.

From The Year Without a Summer – the year in which The Coroner’s Daughter is set – to The Night of the Big Wind to Hurricane Ophelia, meteorologist Joanna Donnelly will talk about freak weather events in Irish history. This will be followed by a discussion with writer Andrew Hughes and poet Jane Robinson who will explore the themes and symbolism of weather and climate change in their writing.

Andrew Hughes born in Co. Wexford, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. A qualified archivist, he worked for RTÉ before going freelance. His debut novel, The Convictions of John Delahunt, was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Irish Crime Book of the Year. The Coroner’s Daughter was nominated for the CWA Historical Dagger.

Joanna Donnelly is a meteorologist with Met Éireann and presents the weather bulletins on RTÉ One and RTÉ 2. She is a Dubliner, and she studied Applied Maths in DCU.

Jane Robinson is an Irish poet and biologist. She was educated at Trinity College Dublin and the California Institute of Technology and worked as a scientist in Ireland, India, and the US for ten years before turning to writing, particularly poetry, to express and explore the urgent issue of environmental change. Her poems have been recognized by awards including the Strokestown International Poetry Prize, and the Shine Strong Award for her debut collection, Journey to the Sleeping Whale. Her second collection is Island and Atoll (Salmon, 2023).

In The Coroner’s Daughter, Abigail Lawless rails against the restrictions placed on inquisitive and scholarly women. In A Quiet Tide, Ellen Hutchins determines to make her mark as Ireland’s first female botanist. In the beautiful setting of the National Library’s Reading Room, authors Andrew Hughes and Marianne Lee will discuss with Sandra Collins, University Librarian UCD, the forgotten women of scientific history, and the creation of characters who have to overcome the gender, class, and political repression of their time.

Andrew Hughes born in Co. Wexford, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. A qualified archivist, he worked for RTÉ before going freelance. His debut novel, The Convictions of John Delahunt, was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Irish Crime Book of the Year. The Coroner’s Daughter was nominated for the CWA Historical Dagger.

Marianne Lee works as a designer and copywriter. Her debut novel, A Quiet Tide, a fictionalised account of the life of Ellen Hutchins, Ireland’s first female botanist, was published in 2020 by New Island. A Quiet Tide was shortlisted for the 2021 Kate O’Brien Award, featured on RTÉ Radio One Book on One in spring 2022, and was recently reissued as a paperback. Marianne is currently adapting A Quiet Tide for the screen and working on her second novel.

Dr Sandra Collins is University Librarian at University College Dublin. Originally a mathematician, she has worked in digital innovation and cultural heritage over 25 years in the public and private sectors. She was previously the Director of the National Library of Ireland, the founding Director of the Digital Repository of Ireland in the Royal Irish Academy, a Scientific Programme Manager in Science Foundation Ireland, a Master Engineer in Ericsson Telecommunications, and a Mathematics lecturer in Dublin City University. She received her PhD in nonlinear fluid dynamics from UCD in 1996.

A talk by James Scannell from the Old Dublin Society about the police intelligence reports from various newspapers around the time period of The Coroner’s Daughter (1800s) highlighting how offenders were treated.

A talk by James Scannell from the Old Dublin Society about the police intelligence reports from various newspapers around the time period of The Coroner’s Daughter (1800s) highlighting how offenders were treated.

Tying into the announcement of this year’s One Dublin One Book (The Coroner’s Daughter by Andrew Hughes) historian and broadcaster Myles Dungan (‘The History Show’ – RTÉ Radio 1) looks at the early history of forensic science.

Lunchtime Talk at the Hugh Lane Gallery

In tandem with Dublin City Council’s One Dublin One Book, which in 2023 is The Coroner’s Daughter by Andrew Hughes, join us for an illustrated ‘virtual tour’ with art lecturer Aoife Convery exploring nineteenth century and early 20th century Dublin as depicted by artists in the Hugh Lane Gallery collection.

This is an in-person event.

Join us in the atmospheric surroundings of the Hugh Lane Gallery, where Niall MacMonagle will be in conversation with author Andrew Hughes to discuss his journey from archivist to writer of historical fiction, and to explore the themes, settings, and characters of his novels The Coroner’s Daughter and The Convictions of John Delahunt. The night will include dramatic readings from The Coroner’s Daughter by actors Julie Crowe and Shane O’Regan as well as music from the 19^th Century performed by the Dublin String Quartet.

The event will be introduced by Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy and Minister Catherine Martin, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Andrew Hughes was born in Wexford and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. A qualified archivist, he worked for RTÉ before going freelance. It was while researching his social history of Fitzwilliam Square – Lives Less Ordinary: Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Square, 1798-1922 – that he came across the true story of John Delahunt, a Victorian murderer and Dublin Castle informer. His debut novel, The Convictions of John Delahunt, was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Irish Crime Book of the Year. The Coroner’s Daughter, a tale of a young lady sleuth operating at the dawn of forensic science, was nominated for the CWA Historical Dagger. Andrew lives in Drumcondra, where he continues to work on archival and historical research projects, as well as Dublin-set crime fiction.

Formed in 2008, Dublin String Quartet is one of Ireland’s finest string Quartets. The members of the quartet are all graduates of Music Conservatoires who perform regularly with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of the National Concert Hall. They gained their Masters Degree in Chamber Music Performance with the world renowned Vanbrugh Quartet in DIT in 2011 and since then have been performing at weddings all over Ireland, recording soundtracks and performing at Festivals such as Glastonbury, Electric Picnic and Body & Soul. Individually and collectively, they have performed with artists such as Kodaline, The Coronas, Michael Bublé, Jamiroquai, Richard Clayderman, Julie Feeney, Il Divo, Jack L and Sinead O’Connor. Their musicians have also performed at events such as the MTV European Music Awards, Meteor Awards, and the Late Late Show performing with artists such as Kanye West, Smokey Robinson, Harry Connick Jnr, The Coronas, Jamiroquai, Colm Wilkinson, Declan O’Rourke, Richard Clayderman, Julie Feeney, Bell X1, Il Divo, Imelda May, Sinead O’Connor and Aslan.

Niall MacMonagle, writer, interviewer, critic, taught English for many years and has edited several anthologies including the Lifelines books, Slow Time, The Open Door Book of Poetry, TEXT A Transition Year English Reader, the Poetry Now anthologies for Leaving Certificate and Windharp Poems of Ireland since 1916. He writes a weekly art column for the Sunday Independent and in 2017 was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters by UCD for services to Literature.

How do you go about writing historical fiction? How do you do the research and what are the pitfalls to avoid?

The School of English, Trinity College Dublin, in collaboration with The Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute, and Dublin City Libraries, is delighted to bring you this online interview with Andrew Hughes, author of the 2023 One Dublin One Book Choice The Coroner’s Daughter.

Andrew will be in conversation with acclaimed novelist Deirdre Madden, who teaches Creative Writing in the TCD Oscar Wilde Centre.

All welcome at this free event. Please register in advance on Eventbrite.