Nick Maxwell In the aftermath of the 1803 rebellion Robert Emmet frankly admitted that ‘To change the day was impossible for I expected the counties to act, and feared to lose the advantage of surprise’. The participation of rebels from County Kildare was central to Emmet’s strategy. The county’s proximity to Dublin and the high-profile involvement of … Read more
‘A vague feeling of melancholy . . . tempered by . . . relief’, eh? If the prospect of your kids going back to school elicits the latter rather than the former emotion, then two recent publications from the Liffey Press are what are required. For the kids 2 (222pp, ?14.95 pb, ISBN 1904148859), ‘a … Read more
Colmán of Cloyne: a study Paul MacCotter (Four Courts Press, €30) ISBN 1 851 827935 Colmán mac Léinín, credited with the foundation of the sixth-century monastery of Cluain Uama, Cloyne, Co. Cork, has been rather neglected by modern scholarship. Paul MacCotter speculates that the absence of an extant Vita, if one was ever written, … Read more
National Museum of Scotland Chamber Street, Edinburgh +44 (0)131 247 4422, info@nms.ac.uk Mon.–Sat. 10am–5pm, Sun. 12pm–5pm by Tony Canavan The opening of the National Museum of Scotland coincided with the opening of the new Scottish parliament and was widely seen as part of Tony Blair’s devolution package for the United Kingdom. For many Scots the … Read more
Divided Gaels: Gaelic cultural identities in Scotland and Ireland c. 1200–c. 1650 Wilson McLeod (Oxford University Press, £50) ISBN 0 199 247226 Ulster and the Isles in the fifteenth century: the lordship of the Clann Domhnaill of Antrim Simon Kingston (Four Courts Press, £55) ISBN 1 851 827293 In the wake of the establishment … Read more