Nick Maxwell By Brian Casey John Philpott Curran, a member of the Church of Ireland, a lawyer, MP, graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and supporter of Catholic rights, was born in Cork in 1750. As a student, he attended debates in the House of Commons, College Green, and was inspired by Henry Flood. He was a defender … Read more
By Stephen McGarry The ‘Wild Geese’ was the name given to the 14,000-strong Irish army that withdrew to France following the Jacobite War in 1691. These Irish regiments formed an Irish brigade that served France for around 100 years. It was disbanded after the French Revolution, leading to a split between those officers who supported … Read more
By Micheál Ó Siochrú ‘I am struck by a disinclination in both academic and journalistic accounts to critique empire and imperialism. Openness to, and engagement in, a critique of nationalism has seemed greater. And while it has been vital to our purposes in Ireland to examine nationalism, doing the same for imperialism is equally important … Read more
Sir,—In his review of Precipice by Robert Harris (HI 33.4, July/Aug. 2025), Colum Kenny is like many other historians and commentators who seem to have a strange need to blame Britain for the First World War and its ‘senseless’ loss of life. However, the Central Powers, by their aggression, started the war—Harris is quite clear … Read more
Sir,—I enjoyed Ivan Gibbons’s and Cormac Moore’s balanced discussion of the events surrounding the Boundary Commission (HI 33.6, Nov./Dec. 2025, pp 36–42) but would like to draw attention to an overlooked set of negotiations, occurring simultaneously, which were arguably more important. These were much more successful and led to the Irish Free State achieving de … Read more