About
Tomás Irish is an expert in the history of twentieth-century Europe with specialisms in the cultural history of First World War and interwar Europe. The author of two books and numerous articles and book chapters, his research has illuminated the ways in which universities, intellectuals, and knowledge itself have influenced issues of war and peace in the past as well as the ways that past societies have valued knowledge in times of crisis. His third monograph, Feeding the Mind: Humanitarianism and the Reconstruction of European Intellectual Life, 1919-1933, will be published by Cambridge University Press in late 2023.
Tomás is currently working on two new projects. The first explores post-First World War reparations and focuses on the restitution of looted or destroyed cultural objects. The second project focuses on the role played by a range of international actors in planning educational reconstruction during the Second World War.
Originally from Ireland, Tomás took his BA and PhD degrees at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and held a postdoctoral research fellowship there between 2012 and 2015. He took up the position of Lecturer in Modern History at Swansea University in September 2015, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018 and to Associate Professor in 2022. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.