A. T. Q. Stewart
Anthony Terence Quincey Stewart, CBE (8 July 1929 – 16 December 2010), known professionally as A. T. Q. Stewart or Tony Stewart,[1] was a Northern Irish historian, teacher and academic, and a best-selling author on the subject of the politics of Ulster and Northern Ireland. Coming from a Presbyterian background, he was a history master at the Belfast Royal Academy and taught for many years at Queen's University, Belfast.[2][3][4]
Personal life
[edit]Stewart was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1929 to Presbyterian parents.[1] He went to school at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution before going on to study history at Queen's University Belfast.[1] He then took a history teacher's job at a school whilst studying for an MA under J. C. Beckett on the topic of radical Presbyterianism in Northern Ireland following the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and why it had changed from an Irish republican to British unionist perspective in the decades following.[1][5] Following this, he became a lecturer and later reader of Irish political history at Queen's.[1] He married the Queen's English graduate and teacher Anna Robinson and they had two children together. He retired early from Queen's in 1990.[1] He died in 2010 in Belfast.[6]
Academic work
[edit]Stewart was critical of the prevailing view of Irish history. He felt it was interpreted with a bias in favour of one political side.[7] He once stated: "There is something wrong with the shape of Irish history; it is too short, too narrow, upside down and it leans all over to one side".[1][8]
In 1968, he wrote The Ulster Crisis on the establishment of the Ulster Volunteer Force which served as his PhD.[6][5] In 1977, he wrote his critically acclaimed book The Narrow Ground which was so popular, Reverend Ian Paisley held it up during a Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster sermon calling it "a great book which tells us the truth about the history of Ulster" despite Stewart stating he did not want it to become involved in politics.[5] Stewart received criticism from claims that he was an "apologist for unionism" but he responded stating that Irish nationalism was not the sole preserve of Catholics.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g "ATQ Stewart: Historian celebrated for his cool and astute analyses of Northern Ireland". The Independent. 3 February 2011. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Digital materials for the study and appreciation of Anglo-Irish Literature". Ricorso. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "In Short". Irish Times. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "STEWART Anthony Terence Quincey CBE". Irish Times. 30 December 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "ATQ Stewart". Telegraph. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "Obituary: ATQ Stewart - Distinguished Irish historian, writer and consultant". Belfast Telegraph. 24 December 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Biased recall of history only serves to perpetuate old hatreds". The Irish News. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Counting down to 2016". History Ireland. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
External links
[edit]- The Narrow Ground: The Roots of Conflict in Ulster, full text of the book in PDF format on the Internet Archive
- 1929 births
- 2010 deaths
- Academics of Queen's University Belfast
- Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Political history of Northern Ireland
- 20th-century British historians
- 21st-century British historians
- Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland
- Presbyterians from Northern Ireland
- Historians from Northern Ireland
- Historians of Ireland