Maurice Casey: The Search For Forgotten Revolutionary Lives
In this episode of the Irish Stew Podcast, host Martin Nutty welcomes back Maurice Casey to discuss the exciting developments in his life since his last appearance. Now a Research Fellow at Queen's University in Belfast, Maurice talks about his first book 'Hotel Luxe, An Intimate History of Communism's Forgotten Radicals'. The book has garnered garnered critical acclaim and was shortlisted for an An Post Irish Book Award in the Hodges Figgis History Book of the Year category.
Maurice shares the fascinating origins and research process behind 'Hotel Luxe,' including uncovering the life of Wexford woman May O'Callaghan whose sufragette origins led to a key position in post revolutionary Russia's Comintern. The story focuses on Moscow's delapidated Hotel Luxe in the mid 1920s and the network of revolutionary connections May O'Callaghan established at the eponymous residence. The episode explores the significance of these revolutionary lives in today's context and Maurice reveals his next project focused on a vegetarian cafe in 1930s London that was a hub of anti-Nazi activity.
Hotel Lux Links
- Linktree
- Publisher Page: Footnote Press
Maurice Casey Links
Episode Details:
- Episode 21 of Season 6
- Episode 101 of Irish Stew Podcast
00:00 - Introduction
01:15 - Irish Book Awards Impressions
02:59 - Moving to Belfast
07:40 - Hotel Lux - Book Origins
13:59 - The Hotel Lux and the Comintern
18:28 - Why Forgotten Lives Matter
20:51 - When the Author is a Character
24:10 - Tracing the Leonhard Archive
27:49 - The Alpenpost and Edo Fimmen
33:58 - Deciding What Was Pertinent For Hotel Lux
37:55 - Liam O'Flaherty's Love Child
40:21 - Next Project: Cafe Vega
42:42 - Credits
Maurice J. Casey
Research Fellow at Queens University Belfast School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics
Maurice J. Casey is an Irish historian originally from Cahir, Co. Tipperary, and currently a Research Fellow in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University Belfast. His work focuses on the history of modern Ireland, queer history, and the history of international communism in the interwar world.
He holds degrees from Trinity College Dublin, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, where he completed his DPhil in History in 2020. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University from 2018 to 2019.
His writing has appeared in various publications, including History Today, the Irish Times, and Tribune magazine. He also writes a regular newsletter about his research, Archive Rats. Hotel Lux—An Intimate History of Communism's Forgotten Radicals is his first book, and it was shortlisted for an An Post Irish Book Award in the Hodges Figgis History Book of the Year category.
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