In March 1972 the British government abolished the unionist-dominated parliament at Stormont but subsequently found it extremely difficult to establish a new administration. The overall parameters of a political settlement (at least as far as the British government was concerned) were clear: a power-sharing administration for Northern Ireland with both unionist and nationalist political opinion … Read more
‘Let’s hear him deny it’ RTÉ is to be congratulated for its recent Hidden History series. In general these were a model of how to present sometimes complex (and controversial) subjects to a wider public. Thus William Martin Murphy, while not quite shaking off his well-deserved image as the ‘villain’ of the 1913 Dublin Lockout, … Read more
The History of the Irish Soldier by Brigadier Ted Bredin is dedicated to ‘all Irish soldiers who fought the good fight for the justice of their particular cause’. My great-great-great-uncle, Colonel Joseph Willcocks, who grew up in Dublin, does not appear in it. A Canadian magazine announced in 2008 that it was looking for Canadians … Read more
Sir, —The much-abused Christian Brothers—I use the descriptionadvisedly—must be exonerated from blame for the letter of support toJohn Charles McQuaid in connection with his prudish campaign torestrict the participation of women in athletics (‘Internal tamponage,hockey parturition and mixed athletics’ by Margaret Ó hÓgartaigh, HI15.6, Nov./Dec. 2007). The John Roe who wrote it was not a … Read more
Sir, —As a subscriber and regular reader of History Ireland I was veryperturbed by the article ‘Brotherhood among Irishmen? The Battle ofWijtschate-Messines Ridge, June 1917’ by Tom Burke, MBE, chairman ofthe Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association, which appeared in theSeptember/October issue of History Ireland, and particularly by theloose editorial standards applied to the printing of it. … Read more