Nick Maxwell Sir,—I write to register some disagreement with Daniel Downer’s article ‘Irish attitudes to slavery during the American Civil War’ (HI 21.3, May/June 2013). First, the argument is somewhat of a straw-man construction. No one has doubted that many, and probably most, Irish emigrants to the US in the Civil War era took an extreme white … Read more
Sir,—There are a number of small points that I would like to address in relation to the review of my book Dublin Fire Brigade and the Irish Revolution (HI 21.3, May/June 2013). Kevin Myers pointed out the lack of an index, an omission that is entirely mine. He also took me to task for ‘factual … Read more
<p?Sir,—In his article on the Book of Kells (HI 21.3, May/June 2013) Roger Stalley mentioned my suggestion ‘that the actual text of the book could have been written in as little as 60 days, assuming good weather and satisfactory working conditions’. This calculation, however, refers to the Book of Durrow and was published originally in … Read more
Sir,—Your editorial (HI 21.2, March/April 2013) on Pope Benedict XVI was factually incorrect, unbalanced and more of an emotional rant than a reflective opinion piece. What evidence is there that Benedict XVI ‘carefully choreographed his elevation to the papacy in 2005’? Perhaps most surprising is your contention that the Normae de gravioribus delictis 2010 were … Read more
Brian Hanley asks whether commemoration of the Lockout means that awkward questions about class and power in Ireland are ignored. Over the weekend of 30–31 August 1913, a few days into what was to become a five-month-long lockout, the Dublin Metropolitan Police ran amok across inner-city Dublin, attacking strikers and their supporters. Two men died … Read more