The History Department will celebrate the publication of Prof. Sean Farrell's new book, entitle Thomas Drew and the Marking of Victorian Belfast (Syracuse University Press, 2023) with a reception, during which Prof. Farrell will discuss the book and answer questions. Refreshments will be served.

History Professor Publishes Book on a Controversial Figure in Victorian Belfast

History Professor Sean Farrell has a new book out that sheds light on a controversial figure in Victorian Belfast and political and religious tensions in Ireland.  

Farrell will deliver a talk on his book, “Thomas Drew and the Making of Victorian Belfast” (Syracuse University Press), during a reception for faculty, students and invited guests from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, at the Thurgood Marshall Gallery in Swen Parson Hall.

Thomas Drew (1800–1870) was one of the most controversial figures in Victorian Belfast. He was a prominent leader in the Loyal Orange Order and the head of one of the island’s largest Church of Ireland congregations at Christ Church, Belfast. Drew was a fierce anti-Catholic rabble-rouser as well as an active minister who worked tirelessly to bring evangelical religion and conservative social respectability to Protestant working-class communities. In “Thomas Drew and the Making of Victorian Belfast,” Sean Farrell argues that it was Drew’s ability to straddle these two overlapping worlds that allowed him to play a significant role in the making of modern Belfast. Based on a wide array of new and underutilized archival sources, this book offers a nuanced portrait of Thomas Drew as well as a detailed social, religious and political history of Belfast at a critical moment in its development.

Visit the publisher's website for more information on Farrell’s book.