Nick Maxwell Sir,—Míle buíochas to David Prendergast for his excellent summation (HI 31.2, March/April 2023) of the events surrounding the arguably unnecessary April 1923 death of Volunteer Tom Keating. Along with other West Waterford families (Mooney, Mansfield, Fraher and the Cullinane ‘rebel sisters’), the Keatings were among the most active and suffered grievously during the revolutionary period … Read more
Owing to a software gremlin, Niall Meehan’s review of Emmet O’Connor’s Rotten Prod: the unlikely career of Dongaree Baird (UCD Press) in the March/April 2023 issue of History Ireland was incorrectly attributed to Jim Smyth, a layout ‘ghost’ from the previous issue. Apologies to all concerned.—Ed.
Sir,—The very striking cover image of Robert Ballagh’s painting, Lest we forget, and the accompanying article ‘John Charles McQuaid reassessed?’ by Mary Kenny (HI 31.2, March/April 2023) together make a valuable and interesting contribution to the debate on this titan of twentieth-century Ireland. However, there is no reference to the McQuaid painting being based on … Read more
ÉAMONN CEANNT’S PIPES The subject of a fascinating biography by Mary Gallagher in the O’Brien Press 16 Lives series, Éamonn Ceannt is perhaps one of the less familiar signatories of the 1916 Proclamation to contemporary Ireland. Yet his influence on Irish traditional music was enormous, as a talented uileann piper and a founding member of … Read more
By Ivor Casey With his domineering physique and commanding voice, actor Godfrey Quigley’s contribution to the world of drama is one that easily garners admiration and a reason to be honoured. From his roles in the Abbey Theatre playing the nasty deputy governor in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (1978) and the prison governor in Brendan … Read more