| Ronan Fanning | |
| Birth Date: | 6 May 1941 |
| Nationality: | Irish |
| Occupation: | Historian |
Ronan Fanning MRIA (6 May 1941[1] 18 January 2017)[2] was an Irish historian.
The son of an Irish doctor and English Montessori teacher, Fanning was educated at St Michael's College, Dublin and C.B.C. Monkstown. He received his undergraduate degree from UCD and his doctoral thesis on "Balfour and Unionism" from Cambridge University.[3] He was Fulbright Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC in 1976-1977, researching the triangular relationship between Britain, Ireland and the US.
In 1978, he wrote the book, The Irish Department of Finance, (1922-1958), hailed as a pioneering work on the transfer of power from the British government to the Irish administration of W. T. Cosgrave and later to that of Éamon de Valera.[3]
Amongst his other noted books included Fatal Path: British Government and Irish Revolution 1910-1922, which examines the British government's role in Ireland's struggle for Independence.
Fanning's academic work focused primarily on diplomacy and high politics. He was strongly in favour of commemoration of the Easter Rising and critical of former Taoiseach John Bruton's criticism of the Rising.[4]
He was professor of modern History at University College Dublin and director of archives at the School of History and Archives (University College Dublin). A member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA),[5] [6] he was a member of the board of the Dictionary of Irish Biography and the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy.[7] He was also a regular political, historical and current affairs columnist at the Sunday Independent.[8]
Fanning died on 18 January 2017. He was 75. President Michael D Higgins described him as an "admired and respected historian whose extensive research and writings delivered a rich legacy to Irish scholarship".[9]
Ronan Fanning, list of publications.