Talks

Laurence Cox will be giving talks (online) at the Emigration Museum on Thurs 21st (https://epicchq.com/from-irish-hobo-to-buddhist-monk-the-extraordinary-story-of-u-dhammaloka/).

Dublin-born U Dhammaloka (1856-1914), likely a native of Booterstown has gone by many names. At one time or another he referred to himself as Laurence Carroll, William Colvin or Lawrence O’Rourke alongside a number of other aliases. After leaving Ireland he became a hobo in the United States but would go on to become famous from Japan to Sri Lanka as a Buddhist monk and anti-colonial celebrity. He operated under many pseudonyms, was put under surveillance, tried for sedition and faked his own death. Join us as Dr Laurence Cox (Maynooth University) tells stories from the new biography, “The Irish Buddhist: The Forgotten Monk Who Faced Down the British Empire”.

Another at Princeton’s Fund for Irish Studies on Fri Feb 5th (https://arts.princeton.edu/events/fund-for-irish-studies-lecture-by-laurence-cox/), free.

Associate professor of sociology at National University of Ireland Maynooth, Laurence Cox lectures on “Irish Hobo, Buddhist Monk, Anti-colonial Celebrity: The Strange Story of U Dhammaloka/Laurence Carroll” as part of Princeton University’s 2020-21 Fund for Irish Studies series. The lecture is based in his recent book, The Irish Buddhist: the Forgotten Monk who Faced Down the British Empire, with Alicia Turner and Brian Bocking.