The Inaugural Address of the 253rd Session

The Inaugural is an annual event where the Auditor picks a topic to give an address on, accompanied by a panel of expert guest speakers.

This year, the Auditor of the 253rd Session, Sébastien Dunne Fulmer, chose to give their address on “The Importance of Discourse in the Modern Day”. The event was chaired by Professor David McConnell, President of the Society.

Sébastien’s address was responded to by Cody Keenan, who served as Barack Obama’s chief speechwriter, and Rory Montgomery (former Librarian of the Hist), a distinguished diplomat and key Irish negotiator for both the Good Friday Agreement and Brexit.

Cody Keenan was awarded the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Public Discourse, while a number of student achievement were also recognised. Athena Wu, Anya Wilson, and Katy Harrington were presented with their trophies as the Champions of the Hist’s Maidens’ Competition, Oscar Wilde Card Competition, and Freshers’ Masters Competition.

The livestream of the Inaugural can be viewed here.

Photos can be found here.

From left to right; Rory Montgomery (Honorary Member), Sébastien Dunne Fulmer (Auditor), David McConnell (President), Cody Keenan, Áine Kennedy (Treasurer)

Hist Club Launch

The Hist Club was launched with a dinner in Trinity’s 1592 Restaurant. Toasts were given by Professor David McConnell (President), Judge Iseult O’Malley (Vice-President), and Sébastien Dunne Fulmer (Auditor).

The Hist Club will organise annual events for all friends of the Society. It intends to provide a forum for current and former members to meet and stay in touch, as well as provide support to the Hist to ensure its longevity.

Anyone with an interest in the Society is encouraged to contact auditor@thehist.com so they can be added to the Hist Club mailing list.

Bram Stoker portrait unveiled by Mick O'Dea and Dacre Stoker

Mick O’Dea’s portrait of former Hist Auditor, Bram Stoker, was unveiled in the Historical Conversation Room this week. Dacre Stoker, great-grandnephew of Bram, then addressed the Society in a lecture entitled “Bram Stoker is more than Dracula”, which emphasised how formative his time in both Trinity and the Hist was for Bram.

Feel free to pop into the Conversation Room to see the new painting, as well as O’Dea’s other fantastic portraits of former Hist members such as Douglas Hyde, Mary Harney, Conor Cruise O’Brien, and Jaja Wachuku.

Thank you very much to Mick for the beautiful painting and to Dacre for joining us!

Dacre Stoker’s lecture “Bram Stoker is more than Dracula”