Congratulations to Chris Lawlor, our friend, prolific author and treasurer of the West Wicklow Historical Society on his new book entitled The Little History of Wicklow. We were pleased to support the launch which took place on Thursday 12 February 2026 at the Fox in the Bunditch in Dunlavin, County Wicklow. Dr. Joan Kavanagh, Historian at the Grangegorman Penitentiary Project performed the honours, while Paul Gorry our Chairperson acted as Master of Ceremonies on the evening.
This book is a welcome addition to the historiography of County Wicklow. It is not so ‘little’, comprising 224 pages in total to include several illustrations, tables and extensive footnotes. Nor can it have been a ‘little’ task for Chris to condense the essence of the county’s history into one book. The Little History of Wicklow commences with pre-history and the first settlers (‘The Flintstones of Wicklow’) and brings us through our county’s eventful past up to the twentieth century.
The French prison reformer Gustave de Beaumont, who visited Ireland in the 1830s, commented that ‘Ireland is a little country that raises all the great questions’. One could say that Wicklow is a little county that does the same! (from the Introduction of The Little History of Wicklow).
Photo: Dr. Joan Kavanagh on the evening of the launch.