This lecture will be about ‘forgotten’ or at least neglected Irish figures influential within Asian religions from the decades around 1900. This will include, as well as Buddhists like U Dhammaloka and Charles Pfoundes, Hindu, Sikh and other Irish figures including Annie Besant, Sister Nivedita (Margaret Noble), and Max Arthur Macauliffe.
Prof. Brian Bocking has had a long career in Religious Studies, publishing in a number of areas. He is Professor emeritus of University College Cork where he established Ireland’s first Study of Religions Department, serving previously as Professor of the Study of Religions at SOAS. In recent years his research has turned to neglected figures in the study of religions, especially Irish men and women involved in Asian religions in the period around 1900.