A keynote lecture delivered in the Edmund Burke Theatre, Trinity College Dublin, by Professor Steven Ellis, Head of History, NUI, Galway entitled ‘The “Great Earl” of Kildare’. The lecture examines the mythology surrounding the career of the ‘Great Earl’ of Kildare with focus on the conflict between his posthumous reputation in the early ears of the Irish Free State and his unacknowledged legacy of expanding English rule. After a brief introduction by Professor Seán Duffy, Professor Ellis is introduced by the Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr Patrick Prendergast.