Faculty, alumni and friends from the Department of History in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences have endowed a lecture series to honor Thomas C. Kennedy (1937-2017) for his lifelong dedication to teaching and encouragement of the scholarly life.

The inaugural Tom Kennedy Endowed Lecture will be delivered by Padraic Kennedy, associate professor of history at York College of Pennsylvania, at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 15, in Giffels Auditorium in Old Main.

The title of the talk is, "God Save Ireland from Informers! Spies, Traitors and the Construction of an Irish National Identity." Music will be provided by the Mudlarks.

As the department's former chair, bard and historian of Britain, Ireland and the Empire, and as a faculty activist and host of a nearly legendary annual St. Patrick's Day party, Kennedy spent more than 50 years doing good at the university and in the Northwest Arkansas community.

The public is invited to this free event to celebrate Kennedy's legacy, learn some Irish history, and hear some Irish music.