Barry John Boland

Barry Boland is an Irish writer and historian based in Wexford, Ireland, whose work focuses on the intersection of Irish history, Atlantic world history, and the history of ideas. He brings to his writing a deep engagement with th stories of Irish men and women whose contributions to European and American intellectual and political life have been insufficiently recognised by the standard historical accounts. Drawing on his background in Irish history and his fascination with the transatlantic connections that shaped the modern world, Boland writes narrative nonfiction that combines rigorous historical research with the storytelling instincts of the best biographical tradition. His work is particularly concerned with the 1798 rebellion and its aftermath, with the experience of the Irish diaspora in the United States, and with the ways in which individual lives illuminate the broader currents of historical change. Shot and Left for Dead is his latest work, and reflects his conviction that the most important historical figures are often those who have been most thoroughly forgotten by the histories their achievements helped to make.