A night of history at the VAC

Sean McMahon’s second book A History of County Derry has just been published and was launched at the Verbal Arts Centre on Wednesday 11th of November. Almost 50 guests celebrated the local historian with wine and snacks. Amongst Sean McMahon’s family, friends and distinguished guests there was the famous author and playwright Brian Friel.

The Book

Sean McMahon’s consideration of the county’s history starts with the earliest settlement in Ireland dating to the Stone Age. He leads the reader though the medieval times to the modern county beginning with the Plantation, the Industrial Revolution and the textile rea in Derry City. Sean McMahon moves on to the civil rights clashes in 1968 and ends up in 2004 with the wish that the next thirty years will be less violent than the last.

Photographs of the most important places and public events accompany Sean McMahon’s book. The appendix contains a small overview of famous people and places in County Derry. McMahon’s publication would interest local people and visitors to get a better grasp of local history.

The Author

Sean McMahon is a well-known author and a local historian based in his native Derry. He is also co-author of Derry in Old Photographs.

Susanne Wernstedt