Nick Maxwell

Sir,—As a former president of the Maritime Institute of Ireland and organiser of the memorial services in Dublin for more than three decades, I must take issue with Daire Brunicardi re ‘sparsely attended ecumenical services’ in Dublin and Cork (‘Ireland and the Second World War’, HI 23.3, May/June 2015). For the record, the Institute’s memorial … Read more

Sir,—Tony Canavan (Museum Eye, HI 23.4, July/Aug. 2015) refers to George Bernard Shaw’s play O’Flaherty VC as ‘possibly inspired by the real-life Michael O’Leary VC’. Shaw’s play, originally scheduled to premier at the Abbey Theatre in November 1915, was withdrawn during rehearsals owing to pressure from the British military and Dublin Castle, citing concerns that … Read more

Sir,—Laurence Fenton’s article (Artefacts, HI 23.4, July/Aug. 2015) featured the engraving of the Immaculate Conception sent by William Smith O’Brien from Brussels in 1855 to Daniel Doyle. The print was not identified but it is a simplified version of a work now known as The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables, or of Soult, painted in … Read more

Sir,—John Gibney (Seen on TV, HI 23.4, July/Aug. 2015) commented on the ability of relatives of those who died in Gallipoli to ‘[have] respect for both those who fought in the war and those who fought in the Easter Rising’. Like others, Dr Gibney has taken the simplistic approach that the only way to remember … Read more

Sir,—The articles relating to O’Donovan Rossa (HI 23.4, July/Aug. 2015) barely mentioned his second marriage to Ellen Buckley. She was the eighteen-year-old daughter of Cornelius Buckley, a Skibbereen businessman. Ellen met O’Donovan Rossa and they became friendly. However, her father disapproved of a man he saw as a ‘Fenian, revolutionary, and widower with four dependent … Read more