Catherine Shannon, Professor of History at Westfield State College in Massachusetts, has been actively promoting Irish-American academic exchange for many years, both in her own career and in organisations such as the American Committee for Irish Studies. Peter Collins talked to her recently. PC: Tell us about your background. CS: I was born in Boston … Read more
Not many years ago, a popular BBC television series succeeded in making its audience experience an emotion that few could have thought would arise out of one of the greatest tragedies of this century, the First World War. This was to laugh at the efforts of Captain Blackadder to escape the inexorable folly of the … Read more
James Connolly’s relationship with Catholicism has been much debated. During his lifetime he argued extensively (against both Catholic and socialist opponents) that there was not necessarily a conflict between Catholicism and socialism. While Connolly demolished the cruder assertions of his adversaries, commentators then and since have pointed out that he evaded some obvious difficulties, such … Read more
Religious homogeneity helped contribute to the relative political stability in the Irish Free State during the 1920s. Politico-religious rivalry in the North on the other hand was a major cause of endemic sectarian tension. There were 3,171,697 Catholics living in Ireland, according to the 1926 census — 2,751,269 in Saorstát Éireann [Irish Free State] and … Read more
In relation to Daniel Mulhall’s article “Parallel Parnell” in the May/June 2010 issue, which speculates on the course Parnell’s career might have taken if he had married in 1880 and never become involved with Katherine O’Shea: Parnell seems to be the figure of modern Irish history who most strongly attracts counterfactual speculation. This is because he … Read more