Nick Maxwell BY AODHÁN CREALEY SEPTEMBER 22/1846 The luxury liner SS Great Britain, en route on her fifth voyage from Liverpool to New York, ran aground on the sands of Dundrum Bay, Co. Down, when her captain mistook the new St John’s lighthouse for the Calf light on the Isle of Man. Designed by the great Isambard … Read more
In spring 2020 justice minister, Charlie Flanagan, announced, as part of the official Decade of Centenaries events, a commemoration of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RIC). Such was the public outcry that it had to be abandoned. Nevertheless a commemoration eventually took place in April 2022, but in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. This was accompanied by … Read more
Born in West Cork in 1890, Michael Collins joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) as a teenager while working as a clerk in London. He fought in the GPO in 1916, and rose to prominence by the War of Independence, combining the positions of Dáil minister for finance and IRA director of intelligence. How can … Read more
By John M. Regan This article first appeared in: THE SPLIT-Treaty to Civil War 1921–23 published by Wordwell as a supplement to History Ireland in 2021 priced €12. Copies are still available. IN THE SMALL HOURS of 23 August 1922, news arrived at Government Buildings in Dublin’s Merrion Street that Michael Collins had been killed … Read more
So said Michael Collins, yet despite his central role in the development of the Irish nationalism from which the Irish State would emerge, Arthur Griffith has had to settle for a side-line role in the national historical memory. How fair or accurate are accusations of anti-Semitism, misogyny or ‘selling the pass’ at the Treaty negotiations? … Read more