Nick Maxwell The Wolfe Tones’ record-breaking crowd at this year’s Electric Picnic drew considerable media attention—a lot more than our more modestly attended History Ireland Hedge School (held at the same time) on the life and legacy of the man himself (https://historyireland.com/hedge-schools/). Yet in the longue durée of history the latter was far more significant, one of … Read more
Listen to History Ireland editor Tommy Graham for a lively and interactive discussion on how the Irish Civil War was depicted on film, both at the time (newsreels) and subsequently (Michael Collins, The Wind that Shakes the Barleyand other films), and how this has affected our understanding of the period—with Ciara Chambers, Dennis Condon, Brian Hanleyand Kevin Rockett. (Recorded at the Irish Film … Read more
This Hedge School, recorded at the Electric Picnic, September 2023, was preceded by a performance of Paddy Cullivan’s The Two Murders of Wolfe Tone, which can be viewed at paddycullivan.com. ‘He landed in France with one hundred guineas in his pocket and had come near to altering the destiny of Europe’—so said Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, … Read more
1960 The first televised debate between US presidential candidates is watched by an audience of 70 million as Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy faced off against Republican Vice-President Richard Nixon in Chicago. Kennedy was widely assumed to have made the better impression on viewers than a tired Nixon, who was recovering from a knee injury … Read more
MARK COEN, KATHERINE O’DONNELL and MAEVE O’ROURKE Bloomsbury ISBN 9781350279063 £19.99 Reviewed by Sheila Ahern Sheila Ahern is a freelance researcher, writer and broadcaster, formerly with RTÉ (1987–2000). In the twentieth century there were ten Magdalene laundries in Ireland, run by four religious orders. Here the editors explain that ‘by focusing on this one institution—on … Read more