Nick Maxwell COLUM KENNY Irish Academic Press €19.95 ISBN 9781785373145 Reviewed by Owen McGee Owen McGee is the author of A history of Ireland in international relations (Irish Academic Press, 2020). Rather than taking the form of a biography, this concise and stylish new assessment of Griffith focuses on particular episodes or themes to assess his significance. … Read more
STEPHEN PULEO St Martin’s Press $28.99 ISBN 9781250200471 Reviewed by Dean Jobb Dean Jobb is the author of Empire of deception and teaches non-fiction writing at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was a perilous voyage—a run from Boston to Ireland in April, perhaps the stormiest month to be crossing the … Read more
ROLF LOEBER (edited by Kevin Whelan and Matthew Stout) Four Courts Press €55 ISBN 9781846828201 Reviewed by Arnold Horner The late Rolf Loeber (1942–2017) worked for over 50 years on topics related to Irish architecture and to Irish social history and literature, broadly interpreted. Born in the Netherlands and for most of his life based … Read more
Sir,—Liam Cahill’s points (HI 28.2, March/April 2020), correcting this writer’s review of his book on the Limerick Soviet, need a clear reply themselves. Firstly, as to the criticism of the Irish Times’ coverage of the centenary, this applied to Ronan McGreevy’s January survey of the year 1919, which emphasised the relatively sparse military actions of … Read more
Sir,—In relation to recent controversies about unionist attitudes to the Irish language, it may be interesting to note that there is evidence that Edward Carson could speak some Irish. William Gibson, second Lord Ashbourne, was president of the Gaelic League 1928–33. In 1918 he delivered a speech in Irish and English in the House of … Read more