An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 27 BY JUSTYNA MAZUREK-SCHRAMM B etween 28 - 29th November 2018 the Institute of History at the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland along with the Irish Culture Foun- dation held their third conference dedicated to Polish and Irish history. The main aim of the conference is to bring together historians from both countries to talk on their nation's history, which are very similar and also in many cases are connected. The first conference took place in 2015 and was entitled 'Poland and Ireland – A Common History?' This conference brought together for the first time Irish and Polish historians to examine the similarities between 'Poland of the West and Ireland of the East.' The confer- ence included papers addressing the centenary of the 1916 Rising, Poland in 1916, the media and the role of women during the revolution. This year's conference brought together an eclectic group of historians to discuss an array of topics that included the formation of the Irish Defence Forces and the formation of the Polish Army, well known personalities such as de Valera and Collins, Jôzef Pilsudski and Roman Dmowski. Historians from Ireland included Liz Gillis (Author & Historian), Paul O'Brien MA (Author/Historian & regular contributor to An Cosantóir), Cathy Scuffil (DCC Historian in Residence), Lorcan Collins (CEO of the 1916 Rebellion Walk- ing Tour), and Cuan Ó Seireadáin (Historian at Conradh na Gaeilge). Polish historians from the History Department at the Adam Mickiewicz University included Professor Krzysz- tof Marchlewicz, Professor Przmyslaw Matusik, Professor Pior Okulewicz and Dr. Romuald Rydz. Other speakers included Marcin Wisniewski (director of Wielkopolska Rising Museum) and Jaroslaw Łuczak (Poznan Military Museum). The Irish Ambassador to Poland, Emer O'Connell was also in attendance at the Institute of History at the Adam Mickiewicz University. Polish Historian and Irish resident Adam Kucharski of the Irish Culture Foundation was instrumental in organising the conference and bringing the historians together. The Foundation also works hard in bringing both Polish and Irish history to young people and many of those in at- tendance at the conference were young and eager to learn about their country's involvement as well as Ireland's con- nections to Poland. Papers delivered by all the participants during the con- ference will be published in 2019 and will be available from the Foundation.

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