Averill Earls, ‘Love and Sex Between Men in Dublin, 1884-1973’

In an undated letter to his life partner, Micheál Mac Liammóir wrote “I love you so much, I can’t express it”. Hilton Edwards, in turn, was so bereft after Michael's death in 1978 that he hardly left the house they'd shared for decades. And yet it is likely surprising to some to learn that two men so deeply in love as all that had a happy and fulfilled life together in Dublin, Ireland, from the time they settled here in 1928 until their deaths. Certainly Catholic social pressure and legal restrictions prevented many same-sex desiring men and women from pursuing relationships in independent Ireland. But as court records, newspapers, and even some love letters demonstrate, men loved and had sex with other men in Ireland despite (or in spite of) societal expectations and legal consequences.
In this talk, Dr Averill Earls of St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota) will give a brief overview of the history of love and sex between men in Dublin, as well as the role of class, nationalism, and policing in shaping the sexual subculture of Dublin, from 1884 until 1973.
Recorded 24th Jan 2024