Nick Maxwell Charles J. Haughey did not come cheap. Neither did this much-hyped three-part mini-series on the life, or excerpts thereof, of the notorious former taoiseach, which apparently cost €4 million to produce. Yet the expensive production costs of Charlie seem to have been lost as it made its way to the small screen. So too, alas, … Read more
The split centred around a bitter dispute between two men, Judge Daniel Cohalan, leader of the Irish-American nationalist organisation Friends of Irish Freedom (FOIF), and Éamon de Valera, then leading Sinn Féin efforts in the United States to win diplomatic and financial support for Ireland’s independence struggle. This split mirrored the less-publicised break between the … Read more
In explaining the background to the development of Cohalan’s nationalism, his work on behalf of Irish independence should be noted. Throughout his life, Cohalan remained a staunch supporter of the Irish nationalist cause. Cohalan’s grandfather and father left Cork at the height of the Famine in 1847 and, like the descendants of many Irish emigrants … Read more
The escalating tensions that led to this split have been much rehearsed by historians, especially those dealing with de Valera’s prolonged visit to the United States from June 1919 to October 1920. Conflicts took place between the two men on a number of issues, ranging from Irish policy towards the League of Nations to how … Read more
It’s a Long Way to Tipperary—An Irish Story of the Great War follows the daily lives of a single family from July 1914 to December 1918 through weekly posts of diary extracts, letters, photographs and other wartime memorabilia. The posts are based on documents accumulated by the Armstrong family of Moyaliffe Castle, Co. Tipperary. This … Read more