Nick Maxwell By John Cunningham This year is the bicentenary of James Hardiman’s The history of the town and county of the town of Galway, ‘one of the most reflective of … a remarkable cluster’ of Irish urban histories published in the early nineteenth century, according to David Dickson. For Hardiman, his endeavour was a patriotic duty … Read more
By Tony Canavan I first came across this poster advertising Matt. D’Arcy’s Irish whiskey in an art gallery in Dublin about fifteen years ago. It is a distinctive image of a barefooted Hibernia, a harp slung over her shoulder and an Irish wolfhound at her feet. She is pointing over agricultural fields to the town … Read more
So claimed British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in a speech at London’s Guildhall on 9 November 1920 in response to the IRA’s escalating guerrilla war. Already, in September, the demoralised and depleted RIC had been augmented by Auxiliary Cadets in an effort to counter IRA flying columns and ‘fight fire with fire’. And in … Read more
Kevin Barry is one of the most popular, and certainly one of the most sung, of Irish ballads. But who was Kevin Barry? Why was he immortalised in song? And what has been the significance of the ballad tradition generally in the Irish Revolution and, indeed, of the Irish Revolution in the ballad tradition? Listen to History … Read more
Seat of Crown administration since the twelfth century, and still bearing the physical scars of the 1916 Rising, during the War of Independence Dublin was also GHQ of the IRA and the location of the underground Dáil administration. To find out how the conflict played out between the two sides join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion … Read more