Nick Maxwell JANE FENLON and SARAH MAGUIRE Four Courts Press €50 ISBN 9781801510899 Reviewed by Eoin Swithin Walsh Eoin Swithin Walsh is the author of Kilkenny: in times of revolution, 1900–1923 (Merrion Press, 2018). One of the significant successes of the ‘decade of centenaries’ has been the upsurge of interest in local histories. Knowing what happened in … Read more
JANE OHLMEYER Oxford University Press €43 ISBN 9780192867681 Reviewed by Hiram Morgan This is a significant survey of Ireland’s involvement in colonialism—both its own colonisation by the English and Scots in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and its ubiquitous role in the British and other European empires into the mid-eighteenth century and beyond. Fast-moving, richly … Read more
By Daragh Fitzgerald The ongoing slaughter in Gaza has rightly produced outrage and consistent demonstrations of solidarity in Ireland, demanding a permanent ceasefire—as it has the world over. Irish support for the Palestinian cause is well documented and widely known. Less familiar, however, are the historic links between Irish nationalism and the Jewish diaspora. A … Read more
By Donal Fallon Irish historical themes have been present in many recent exhibitions in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). Last year’s well-received Patricia Hurl retrospective, The Irish Gothic, positioned deeply personal works alongside pieces like ‘Study for the Kerry Babies Trial’. Now, Self-Determination: A Global Perspective casts a wide net, exploring the emergence … Read more
By Fiona Brennan The dramatic tragedy Sive, written by the Kerry playwright John B. Keane, enjoys iconic status within the annals of Irish theatre history. Following its initial rejection by the Abbey Theatre in 1958, its acclaimed production by the amateur Listowel Drama Group the following year is legendary. Sixty-five years later, the play remains … Read more