The next Historical Novel Society conference is taking place in Ireland in August 2026. It’s on the Maynooth Campus, an hour’s trainride from Dublin. John Banville, Vaseem Khan, and Martina Devlin are among the conference speakers. Excursions include the prehistoric necropolis at Newgrange.

If you are a histfic writer, publisher, or reader don’t miss out. Early Bird booking is open now until 1 March. Details are on the website https://hns2026.com

I will be giving a talk on Vikings and Normans in Ireland and the process of transforming sources to fiction. Several of my novels have scenes set in Ireland and my Conquest trilogy has a big connection with the Fitzgerald Castle in Maynooth. Maurice Fitzgerald, one of the early Cambro-Norman invaders in Ireland, was the son of my heroine Nest ferch Rhys.

Maynooth Castle, the home of the Fitzgeralds from the 13th century. Photo: FlorinBaban, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons