Dr Matthew Potter
AS a young boy, Matthew Potter had no idea of what he wanted to be when he grew up. Yet all around him, in Donegal town, were clues to what his future would hold.
Dotted around his hometown were castles, fortresses and ruins - all remnants of Ireland's Viking past. Known as the Fort of the Foreigners, Donegal most famously produced Hugh O'Donnell and soon historian and academic Potter could turn his back on the Treaty city and focus on where it all began.
His late father, John, who originally hails from Clarina in Limerick, inspired his passion in history.
"He was very interested in history and used to read about 19th century Ireland and World War Two. I remember growing up I was always very interested in discussing these matters with him. And there was always old books around the house, from my father's and grandfather's time, so that's how it all began really."
But is was another Viking town, some 200km further down the West coast, that was to become the main source of his academia.
Just last week, Dr Potter launched First Citizens of the Treaty City - The Mayors and Mayoralty of Limerick 1197-2007, the product of three years of exhaustive research by the author.
It follows on from last year's publication, The Government and the People of Limerick: The History of Limerick Corporation/City Council 1197-2006, which was the first complete account of the government of an Irish urban area ever written.
Now its successor, First Citizens of the Treaty City, represents the first account of the mayors of Limerick and consists of two parts - a history of the mayoralty from the Middle Ages until the present day, and an account of each incumbent since 1842.
First Citizens, he recognises, is more of an easy read than its predecessor. Tragic events such as the murder of Mayors O'Callaghan and Clancy in 1921 are discussed, but more lighthearted material, such as the connection of the three O'Mara mayors of Limerick to the Von Trapp family, of Sound of Music fame, makes the heavy material easier to digest.
And as the city council, or formerly corporation, celebrates its 810th anniversary in a fortnight, Dr Potter ponders many 'what if' scenarios.
Ambrose Hall, Mayor of Limerick in 1875, instigated the construction and erection of a statue in memory of Patrick Sarsfield, which now lies near St John's Cathedral.
"His original plan was to build something like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, only something smaller, across Thomond Bridge at King John's Castle. and on the arch he wanted a statue of Sarsfield, so it would have been incredibly impressive if it was built," he marvels.
When questioned on the most important mayor in Limerick's 800 year history, he is momentarily dumb-founded.
"They all made their contributions in different ways; some of them were extraordinary figures," he says pausing to reflect on his accounts in the extensive 300 page compilation.
"Maurice Lenihan was probably one of the most extraordinary mayors. He was a very interesting character, because he came from Waterford and wrote his most fantastic book on the history of Limerick. But sadly he died in poverty and his History of Limerick was one of the reasons he died in poverty, because it didn’t sell particularly well. Certainly his legacy has remained with us up until the present.”
If Dr Potter himself leaves a legacy with both of these accounts of Limerick’s history, he hopes it will inspire other writers to dig deeper and even offer an opposing view.
“My books clearly aren’t the last word on their subject. Many other people are interested and working on Limerick history, and they’ll probably build on what I have done, or even contradict a lot of what I have said. That’s what history is all about - a particular viewpoint, a perceived wisdom, can be overturned by someone else.”
Born in Donegal in 1958, he confides that growing up in the north-west was “a much more simple life than people have nowadays” and now maintains a “dual citizenship” with his birthplace and that of his ancestors.
“I certainly had a very happy childhood in Donegal with my parents and my brother. I think your perception of your youth and growing up is determined by your family.”
However, while he is keen to resist sentimentalising the past, one of his favourite authors is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll - the author of Alice in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel, Through the Looking Glass (1871).
He quotes a line from the latter, when explaining its relevance to the modern world. “It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.”
He first read Alice in Wonderland aged nine and has been enchanted by the book ever since. “In those days children didn’t have as much opportunities to exercise their imaginations as they do now. We only had a few TV channels,” he says by way of explanation.
But Through the Looking Glass also has significance during recent political debacles; it was, for instance, frequently invoked during the Watergate scandal in the early ‘70s.
Limerick has now been his home for 33 years and he has been employed by Limerick City Council for 28 years. He is, he says, indebted to the city council for their whole-hearted backing of his past two books. Indeed, it would be quite an accomplishment to provoke criticism on any grounds from Dr Potter, whose only vices in life are chocolate and a fondness for sugar in his tea.
“I love Limerick; I’ve never had a bad incident here. It’s given me my wife [from Limerick city], and my two children,” said the Dooradoyle resident.
One wonders how future historians will judge the Limerick of the noughties generation, with ever expanding development, regeneration and migration.
“I suppose it’s probably the most dynamic period - the last 20 years, since the beginning of the urban renewal. It will be regarded as one of those periods when Limerick forged ahead and was transformed."You had a long period there when Limerick was in the doldrums, like most of the rest of Ireland."
"Every period in history has good and bad points, but I'd say on the whole people will regard the last 20 years as being a period of progress. Ireland has probably been transformed more rapidly over the last 20 years than a lot of other European countries."
The University of Limerick is also a residence of sorts. At present, he is on secondment from Limerick City Council, having recently been appointed to the staff of the history department at the university, where he is employed as an IRCHSS Postdoctoral Fellow.
As well as working on his next book, which will focus on the history of local government in Irish cities and towns since 1800, he is also relishing the chance to preach what he was learned since he first started studying history seriously in 1985.
He graduated from University of London with a first class honours degree in history in 1989 and NUI Galway in 2002 with a PhD in history.
"I love lecturing and like meeting the students. The great majority of them are anxious to do well and I find them very hard working. I've great faith in the younger generation; I don't think they're out to cause trouble or anything," he says, glancing around at the company in the Allegro cafe in the university's foundation building.
Meanwhile, his mentor at the university, Prof Anthony McElligott, is introducing him "to the whole international dimension of local government in Germany and France".
Prof McElligott told the Limerick Leader that "Matthew is without doubt the leading historian of Limerick Corporation" and believes that his new work will "probably propel him to the forefront of historians working on Ireland in the modern period".
His post at the university concludes next year, after which point he is unsure of the next move to take, apart from a desire "to continue working in academia, and stay writing and researching".
Some of his interests outside of the university gates - art, architecture and travel - are also influenced by his first love.
Travel, in particular, he notes, has often been motivated by historical interests, which most recently led him to Istanbul and Buenos Aires. Now, however, he jokes, his two children Alex (12) and Anna (10) determine the family's next escapade.
"I like places of historical significance, but now the kids have an input into where we go, so it's not all churches and museums."
While his profession involves delving as deeply as possible into the past, he repeatedly states his resolve to remain in the present and resist making too many grand plans about the future.
"As regards to what will happen after this contract expires I have no idea. If you start making plans for the future...no-one knows what's ahead of you.The main thing is to do a good job in the present, and then things will work out in the future."
The First Citizens of the Treaty City - The Mayors and Mayoralty of Limerick 1197-2007 is available to buy now in all bookshops in Limerick, as well as Limerick City Library
- By Anne Sheridan
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