Jonathan Eric Bardon (born in
Dublin, 1941 – died in Belfast, 21 April 2020), was an
Irish historian and
author.
Early life
Bardon was born in Dublin in 1941 and graduated from
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
(TCD), in 1963.
Shortly thereafter, in 1964, he moved to
Belfast to begin his teaching career at Orangefield Boys Secondary School. While in Belfast, he enrolled at
Queens University, Belfast
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, type = Public research university
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, where he received a Diploma in Education, also in 1964.
Living in
Northern Ireland as a young man during the beginning of
the Troubles, he credits two things that piqued his fascination with it, while remaining nonpolitical: his early teaching experiences educating young boys, both
Catholic and
Protestant, in Belfast; and a five feature commission he received from the now-defunct ''Sunday Times'' to write about and research the
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
.
Career
Bardon is best known for his critically acclaimed text, ''A History of Ulster''. The book examines, in detail, the cultural, social, economic, and political arenas of the province, beginning with the
early settlements and progressing linearly to present-day
Ulster.
He has also written numerous radio and television programmes on the subject of
Northern Ireland. Most recently he was commissioned by
BBC Radio to create a two hundred and forty-episode series entitled ''A Short History of Ireland''. The final episode aired on 18 March 2007.
In 2002, Bardon was appointed an
OBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
for "services to community life".
Bardon died in Belfast on 21 April 2020, having contracted
COVID-19. He already had underlying health issues, including lung cancer.
Bibliography
*''A History of Ulster''.
Blackstaff Press
The Blackstaff Press is a publishing company in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1971, it publishes printed books on a range of subjects (mainly, but not exclusively, of Irish interest) and, since 2011, has also published e- ...
, 1992.
*''A History of Ireland in 250 Episodes''. 2008.
*''Belfast: A Century''. Blackstaff Press, 1999.
*''Belfast: An Illustrated History''. Blackstaff Press, 1982.
*''Belfast: 1000 Years''. Blackstaff Press, 1985.
*''Beyond the Studio: A History of BBC Northern Ireland''. Blackstaff Press, 2000.
*''Dublin: One Thousand Years of Wood Quay''. Blackstaff Press, 1988. (co-authored with Stephen Conlin).
*''The Plantation Of Ulster''. Gill and Macmillan, 2011.
*''Hallelujah - The Story of a Musical Genius and the City That Brought his Masterpiece to Life''. Gill and Macmillan, 2015.
*''A Narrow Sea: The Irish-Scottish Connection in 120 Episodes''. Gill Books, 2018.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardon, Jonathan
20th-century Irish historians
21st-century Irish historians
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
1941 births
2020 deaths