A lot of so-called history today is concerned with questioning received wisdom, upsetting useful certainties, revising uncontested facts, introducing irrelevant theories, problematizing key concepts of nationality, identity, heritage and continuity that helped our forefathers to endure 753 years of oppression. Clever academic historians are turning into what the late Spiro T. Agnew called "nattering nabobs of negativism".
Is this really necessary? Why should universities not teach a positive version of History? Why can't we get out the good news about our past and our identity, our daring achievements in the face of overwhelming odds that would have banjaxed lesser men (to say nothing of the ladies)?
The King's College Center for Positive Narrative History exists to burnish and transmit the stirring stories, those national narratives, those mystical memories that define who we really are, deep down in the depths of our Celtic soul. Building on their acclaimed "History That's Worth Having" (TM) program for Senior Infants, Honorary Professor Feardorcha de Faoite and his volunteer research team are assembling a network of inspiring historical accounts. The long-term aim of the Center, for which we are actively seeking funding, is to produce the Encyclopedia Hiberniorum, a large, green, multi-volume production with a limited edition bound in emergald-tinged pigskin, promulgating a truly Irish version of historical and cultural events to the world at large.
