Contact Information
Office Hours Spring 2024
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 10:50 a.m.-12:20 p.m. and 1:40 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Please email ahead of time- (509) 313-5227
- debarra@gonzaga.edu
Caoimhín De Barra, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
Caoimhín De Barra is a native of Ireland who joined the history faculty at Gonzaga University in the fall of 2018. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware in 2014 and was previously employed as the assistant professor of Irish history...
Caoimhín De Barra is a native of Ireland who joined the history faculty at Gonzaga University in the fall of 2018. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware in 2014 and was previously employed as the assistant professor of Irish history and culture at Drew University in New Jersey.
Dr. De Barra’s main research interest is in the relationship between language and identity, as part of a broader focus on the history of nationalism. He has taught courses on British, Irish and European history, in addition to courses on imperialism and nationalism. His first book The Coming of the Celts, A.D. 1860: Celtic Nationalism in Wales and Ireland was published by the University of Notre Dame Press in 2018.
Aside from his research and teaching, Dr. De Barra is an avid sports fan. He played rugby for twenty-five years and watches Gaelic football, soccer, and football (the American kind!). He is also a fan of the ancient Irish sport of hurling, and coaches the Gonzaga hurling team. He is a passionate supporter of the Irish language and advocate for its revival. He also occasionally writes opinion pieces on the relationship between history and contemporary politics.
Books
Gaeilge: A Radical Revolution, Currach Press, 2019.
The Coming of the Celts, A.D. 1860: Celtic Nationalism in Ireland and Wales, University of Notre Dame Press, 2018.
Articles
“A Gallant Little Tírín: The Welsh Influence on Irish Nationalism, 1870 – 1918.” Irish Historical Studies. (May 2014.)
“Protestants Playing Pagans: Irish Nationalism and the Rejection of Pan-Celticism” in Authority and Wisdom in the New Ireland, (eds. Billy Gray & Carmen Zamarano Llena; Peter Lang, 2015.)
“German Violations of Irish Neutrality 1939-1945.” The Irish Sword, Vol. XXVII, 2012, No. 113.
“Language, Education and Empire: A Comparison of the Struggle to Place Hebrew and Irish in Higher Level Education within the Ottoman and British Empire” in Irish Classrooms and the British Empire: Imperial Contexts in the Origins of Modern Education, (eds. David Dickson, Justyna Pyz & Christopher Shepard. Dublin; Four Courts Press, 2012), pp. 215-222.