Remembering Dan Keohane

We are saddened to report the passing of Dan Keohane, a former Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Keele University.

Dan was born and grew up in the rural area of Kerry at the south-west tip of Ireland. As a young man, he moved to the mainland UK and, as a mature student, obtained a first-class degree at the University of Sussex. This was followed by an MA from Warwick, and in 1977 he was appointed to a temporary lectureship in the new Department of International Relations at Keele. He was given a permanent lectureship two years later, which was later translated into a senior lectureship. A man of integrity, he gave a great deal to the University and the Department where he was a wide-ranging teacher, retiring in 2003.

In the UK, Dan maintained his interest in the local sports scene in Ireland. He became a committed member of the Labour Party and a close student of the political situation, writing, among other topics, on Britain’s defence policy. He also kept a keen eye on the racial issue in apartheid South Africa, and taught a final-year option on it. Other subjects he taught and for which he was responsible include the International Relations of the Middle East, Strategic Studies, and Foreign Policy.

Dan played a key role in advancing the International Relations programme at Keele. He was an immensely experienced educator, well-versed in IR pedagogies, and inducted several new colleagues into the department. Bulent Gokay warmly remembers that when he began at Keele as a new IR lecturer in 1996, Dan mentored him in the most supportive way and helped him integrate smoothly into the department and the university.

Living in Newcastle-under-Lyme, he and his wife, Moody, were regular members of the Roman Catholic Church. Reception into Church and Requiem Mass to take place at Holy Trinity RC Church, Newcastle-under-Lyme, on Wednesday 21st May 2025 at 12pm, followed by cremation at Bradwell Crematorium.

*Words courtesy of Alan James, Lorna Lloyd and Bulent Gokay.