Dr. Brendan Twomey is a retired banker. In 2018 he completed his PhD in Trinity College Dublin entitled Personal Financial Management in Early Eighteenth-Century Ireland: Practices, participants, and outcomes This PhD included a major case study on the financial affairs of Jonathan Swift i.e. how he financed ‘the house for fools and mad’. His most recent publication is ‘A 1742 inventory of Jonathan Swift’s household goods and chattels’ in Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies, XXXVII 2026. His current research interests are focussed on public history events to mark the 300^th anniversary of the publication of Gulliver’s Travels and on continuing his research into the financial and legal affairs of Jonathan Swift.

Elina Hakanen received a professional musician- degree from Turku Conservatory, Finland in 2003. She also studied a Bachelor of Music degree (Honours) in Performance in DIT Conservatory of music and drama, Dublin which she was awarded in 2011. Her teachers included Andres Laan, Alexander Vinnitski, Pavel Vernikov and David O’Doherty.

Elina has appeared as a soloist and a chamber musician in many venues such as Sigyn-hall, Finland ; National Concert Hall, Dublin; Cadogan Hall, London; Colyer-Fergusson Hall, Canterbury and Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico. Elina plays regularly with the City of London Sinfonia, RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin, Canterbury Festival Chamber Orchestra and Kent Concert Orchestra. She
has performed with artists such as Kiri Te Kanawa, Marti Pellow, Hollywood Composer Brian Byrne and Imelda May. The repertoire varies from Classical to Film Music and Popular music.

Alongside her performance work, Elina also holds a post in Alexandra College as a violin and orchestra teacher.

Claire is in her final year in Trinity College Dublin, studying Management Science and Information Systems Studies. She studied violin under Fionnuala Hunt as a Young Scholar at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She has served as leader of Trinity Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, as well the co-leader of the Royal Irish Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and Esker Festival Orchestra. She also enjoys playing in chamber music projects and was a member of the Iveagh Quartet from 2018-2022. She was also a reserve member of the European Union Youth Orchestra for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Claire has won multiple solo and chamber music prizes at Feis Ceoil, and performed in the Feis Ceoil Young Platform Series at the National Concert Hall in 2019. She has received several bursaries, including the NCH Young Musician Award for String Players in 2019 and the John Pollard Award for Violinists in 2018. She was also selected to be part of the Eversheds Sutherland Accelerator Academy from 2019 to 2021. She has had the opportunity to attend several international music courses and festivals, including ChamberWorks, Valdres Sommersymfoni, Cadenza Music Academy at the Purcell School, the International Music Festival Vitoria-Gasteiz and Musicfest Aberystwyth. In 2020, she led the Mendelssohn Octet at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival as part of an online pilot project supported by the Irish Association of Youth Orchestras during the Covid-19 pandemic. Claire has received masterclasses from violinists including Alf Richard Kraggerud, Mauricio Fuks, Leland Chen, Krysia Osostowicz, and Phillipa Mo.