Professor Wardell was the son of John Charles Wardell, a captain in the Royal Marines who was killed at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir in 1882, and of his wife Frederica, co-heiress of William O'Sullivan Morgan of Old Abbey, Shanagolden, Co. Limerick.

A star graduate of the Trinity College Dublin (TCD) history honours programme, John Wardell, a young man from County Limerick, was appointed lecturer in history at his alma mater in 1902 and promoted to full professor two years later. Until illness forced his resignation in 1911, Wardell attempted to modernise and expand the history programme—and pioneered the introduction of Irish content—at the college with the help of a handful of colleagues. His vision of what constituted valuable Irish history was informed by his background: generations of ancestors had fought for the Crown throughout the Empire and he was obsessed with his family history. By rediscovering Wardell, we are offered a revealing glimpse into the mindset of a young Irish Protestant from a landholding background during a tumultuous period for his class. In doing so, we also gain insight into a formative period in Irish historiography when debates surrounding ‘national’ history and what to consider valuable source material intensified.
[© Ruairi Cullen - Proceedings of The Royal Irish Academy Vol.117C 2017]

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Additional Information
Date of Birth 10th Apr 1878
Date of Death 3rd Aug 1957
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Comments

  • The good professor is my third cousin, twice removed.

    I have done a deal of work on his family history.

    I would welcome communication with anyone with a similar interest.

    George Morgan

    Popmorgan

    Thursday 21st February 2019 04:51PM
  • My father was a distant cousin and we visited many times. He gave me my dog and I have a pair of silver candlesticks he gave me. My father who was also a historian was left some items and some of his papers

    Margaret Wardell

    Saturday 25th April 2020 08:10PM
  • Did you know he was a page for Queen Victorians 

    Saturday 25th April 2020 08:12PM
  • Hello Margaret, great to hear from you.
    I am George Morgan and live in Co Wicklow in Ireland.
    Prof Wardell's wife was a Morgan and he communicated with my Grandfather back in the 1940's.
    They exchanged genealogy data about the Morgan heritage. I have his notes.
    I would be interested to find out about the papers that he left to your family.
    Do you know the precise relationship between your father and John W?
    I have been to visit Old Abbey on several occasions in the last few years.
    Can we communicate further via email  -  I am   morgans@1kinged.com

    Take care
    George

    Popmorgan

    Saturday 25th April 2020 08:48PM
  • This gentleman was my great Grandfather. My Grandmother, his daughter moved to Kenya and then to Chagford Devon. Her son, my late father, was Dr. John Dymoke Jowitt. My name is Fiona Blair-Watson.

    Fiona

    Wednesday 9th June 2021 09:38PM
  • Born in 1878, he inherited Old Abbey on the death of his mother in 1935.

    He was Professor of Modern History and Director of Military Studies at Trinity College Dublin 1901-1911 and Professor of Economics at the Royal University of Ireland 1903-1908.

    Popmorgan

    Monday 28th August 2023 05:14PM

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