Celebrating Conquest? Ireland’s Culture War over William the Conqueror

2025-08-27

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William the Conqueror has been dead for nearly a thousand years, and he never set foot in Ireland—so how did he end up at the centre of a modern Irish culture war? With Normandy gearing up for “The Year of the Norman” in 2027, a celebration of William’s legacy has sparked fierce debate on this side of the Irish Sea. Should Ireland join in commemorating a figure whose impact here is so fraught and contested? What does this row reveal about how we remember the past, and who gets to decide what’s worth celebrati...

William the Conqueror has been dead for nearly a thousand years, and he never set foot in Ireland—so how did he end up at the centre of a modern Irish culture war?

With Normandy gearing up for “The Year of the Norman” in 2027, a celebration of William’s legacy has sparked fierce debate on this side of the Irish Sea. Should Ireland join in commemorating a figure whose impact here is so fraught and contested? What does this row reveal about how we remember the past, and who gets to decide what’s worth celebrating? In this episode, I explore how a medieval king became the unlikely flashpoint for Ireland’s latest history debate, and what it tells us about the way we use and sometimes misuse our history today.

Want to dive deeper into Ireland’s medieval past? You can get both of my bestselling books—Life in Medieval Ireland and 1348: A Medieval Apocalypse – The Black Death in Ireland—together for just €30. Grab the Medieval Ireland Book Bundle now at https://irishhistory.bigcartel.com/product/medieval-ireland-book-bundle-two-bestsellers-for-30

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