‘The World Administered By Irishmen’ – book launch and exhibition

The World Administered By Irishmen: The Life and Times of Robert Hart and Contemporary Irish in East Asia by Robin Masefield was published earlier this year and launched at the McClay Library on 29th September 2023.

The book can be obtained from local booksellers, purchased online through Blackstaff Press, or purchased online through Special Collections & Archives, Queen’s University Belfast.

The World Administered by Irishmen is a widely-researched book, published by Special Collections & Archives, Queen’s University Belfast. While the initial focus is on the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, and the Ulsterman Sir Robert Hart who led it for 45 years, it brings together a treasure trove of other Irish people in East Asia – men from Ulster working in the Customs Service; a nurse from Roscommon; a doctor
from Cork; a diplomat from Meath; Hong Kong governors from Dublin; and many more. Using first-hand accounts where possible, the book vividly brings to life the special contribution that Irish men and women made to developing relations with China, Japan and Korea in the 19th century.

To accompany the book launch, an exhibition of materials from the Hart Collection (MS 15) is available to view in the McClay Library’s ground floor exhibition area. The exhibition will remain on display until the new year.