Dermot A. Quinn, D. Phil.
Professor of History
College of Arts and Sciences

Keynote Speaker

Dermot A. Quinn, D. Phil.
Professor of History
College of Arts and Sciences

A member of the Seton Hall community since 1990, Dermot Quinn is a professor in the department of history and a member of the Board of Advisers of the G.K. Chesterton Institute for Faith and Culture. He also teaches in Seton Hall's Honors Program.

Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, from which he graduated with first class honors in history in 1981, and at New College, Oxford, where he was awarded a doctorate in 1986, he has authored three books and many articles and reviews in the field of British and Irish history. His first book, Patronage and Piety: English Roman Catholics and Politics, 1850-1900, was published by Stanford University Press in 1993. Understanding Northern Ireland (Baseline Books) appeared the same year. His latest work, The Irish in New Jersey: 400 Years of American Life (Rutgers University Press, 2004) was awarded the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance scholarly book prize in 2005.

In addition, he has written extensively on Catholic social teaching, especially as exemplified in the thought of G.K. Chesterton, and on the Catholic philosophy of history, particularly in the work of the English historian, Christopher Dawson. He is associate editor of The Chesterton Review and will assume the editorship upon the retirement of Father Ian Boyd. A regular participant in international conferences, he has spoken in England, Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania, Argentina and, most recently, Brazil. His latest article, “In Search of Polish Anti-Semitism,” received wide attention in Poland where it was the subject of a nationally televised debate. He has broadcast on the BBC, C-Span, and Irish radio. His latest project is the sesquicentennial history of Seton Hall University.

Dermot Quinn lives in South Orange where he is a familiar and well-regarded figure. He is a sought-after speaker on a wide variety of academic and cultural topics. As often as he can, he spends time in Ireland for visits with family and friends, as well as for research and reflection on the history of his native country.