I am a native of Milltown, Co. Kerry and I am the author of several books on the history and politics of my native county. A former press adviser to the Labour Party and a journalist for many years, I am the author of Heirs to the Kingdom: Kerry’s Political Dynasties (O’Brien Press, 2011) and co-author of A Century of Politics in the Kingdom: A County Kerry Compendium (Merrion Press, 2018). I was co-editor of a history of Kerry and the Easter Rising in 2016 with Bridget McAuliffe and Dr Mary McAuliffe. I currently work as Media, Communications and Customer Relations Officer with Kerry County Council and I an Irish Research Council-funded PhD student at University College Dublin, researching electioneering and politics in Kerry in the decade after the Civil War under the supervision of Professor Diarmaid Ferriter.
Areas of expertise
Political history of County Kerry; the Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the revolutionary period in County Kerry; elections and electioneering; political parties, party organisation and party competition.
Member Details
Nickname
Owen O'Shea
Membership Type
Graduate Historian
Experience
Education
University College Dublin – BA (2000)
University College Dublin – MA (2001)
University College Dublin – PhD (current)
Employment
Media, Communications and Customer Relations Officer, Kerry Council Council
Former print and broadcast journalist
Former press officer with the Labour Party
Publications
Books
Heirs to the Kingdom: Kerry’s Political Dynasties (O’Brien Press, 2011)
Kerry 1916: Histories and Legacies of the Easter Rising – A Centenary Record (co-editor, Irish Historical Publications, 2016)
A Century of Politics in the Kingdom: A County Kerry Compendium (co-author, Merrion Press, 2018)
Ballymacandy: the Story of a Kerry Ambush (Merrion Press, 2021)
Book Chapters
‘Party organisation, political engagement and electioneering in Kerry, 1927 – 1966’ in Kerry: History and Society (ed. Maurice Bric, Geography Publications. 2020)
