Presented in association with Unworlding, the solo exhibition by Patrick Hough, this special talk explores the story of wolves in Ireland through archaeology, myth, folklore, place names and documentary records. Tracing the wolf’s historical presence across the Irish landscape, Kieran Hickey will examine the social, environmental and political forces that led to the species’ extermination, before considering contemporary debates around their possible reintroduction.

Echoing themes within Unworlding, including ecological loss, shifting relationships between humans and the natural world, and the haunting afterlives of vanished species, this talk invites audiences to reflect on how landscapes are shaped by memory, absence and human intervention.

Kieran Hickey is Senior Lecturer in Geography and Head of the Department of Geography at University College Cork. A leading expert in climatology, environmental history and weather systems, he is the author of Wolves in Ireland: A Natural and Cultural History and Five Minutes to Midnight: Ireland and Climate Change, and editor of Advances in Hurricane Research – Modelling, Meteorology, Preparedness and Impacts, alongside numerous journal articles, book chapters and other publications.

His main research interests include storms and hurricanes, the climate–coastal interface, climate change, historical climatology and weather disasters. Kieran Hickey has led a number of research projects on Ireland’s climate and climate history, alongside more specialised studies on changing patterns of Atlantic storminess, hurricanes, and the attribution of extreme weather events to climate change.

Kieran Hickey regularly appears on national television, radio and in print media, as well as local media, sharing his expertise on climate change, weather and natural disasters in Ireland and internationally.

This talk takes place as part of the late night programme “Gallery Lates” supported by Galway City Council and the Department of Culture, Communications & Sport as part of the Galway City Night-Time Economy Action Plan.

Image courtesy of Patrick Hough