Liam Alex Heffron

Liam Alex Heffron is the founder director of St Cormac’s Society, dedicated to preservation and promotion of the heritage in Ireland’s North-West.

He is a graduating PhD Candidate at the University of Galway, while teaching in the History school having graduated in 2016 with a First Class (Hon) Masters Degree in History. His research work ‘Contested Space — The revolutionary intersection of land hunger, memory and social justice impulse, within a rural west of Ireland community’ explored the dynamics of subaltern forces at work during the local War of Independence and Civil War in North Mayo and their antecedents in the preceding ‘long nineteenth century’.

His research of the Revolution has powered several recent publications:

‘The Volunteers of Moygownagh C Company, North Mayo’ in Spirit of Revolution: Ireland from below, 1917–19 (Four Courts Press, 2023) edited by John Cunningham and Terry Dunne.

No Revolution, igniting war in North Mayo, 1917-1923 (Mayo County Library, 2019).

His next book titled The Saddest Soldier: the tragic story of IRA Captain Michael Joseph Kelly (Mayo County Library, 2023) is due for publication later this year. Liam has also contributed articles to History Ireland, Cathair na Mart and the Vineyard Magazine. 

Liam received the NUI Galway EXPLORE Campus award in 2019, for his archival work in digital humantities. He is also chairperson of the heritage charity, St Cormac’s Society, which he set-up in 2019 to advocate for community heritage protection and development. In 2020, Liam became the first History Officer with Mayo GAA, heading up his Beo Mayo project to digitally preserve the GAA heritage and historical records of Mayo GAA clubs and supporters.

Liam is the community & voluntary representative for the Ballina Municipal area on the Corporate, Education, Culture, Heritage, and Library Services Strategic Policy Committee, of Mayo County Council (2019-2023). He was also a board member of the Irish Industry Advisory Group for the Creative Momentum Project - MyCreativeEdge.eu - the creative showcase for Europe's Northern Edge (2015-2018).

As an award-winning entrepreneur and inventor he founded several companies involved in electronic security. His holds two international patents for his electronic monitoring system for lethal toxic gas emissions.

Liam is also an accomplished stage and screen actor, known for his role of Garda Sean Dolan on RTE’s Fair City. See www.LiamAlexHeffron.com.