Nick Maxwell Sir, —I am delighted to note that you have resisted the, no doubt challenging, temptation to implicate the Orange Order, the Black-and-Tans, General Montgomery, etc. in the removal of the Mass rock from the island of Inishtrahull, Co. Donegal (HI 17.5, Sept./Oct. 2009, ‘Sidelines’). This is a worthy and welcome departure from some recent ‘Sidelines’ … Read more
Sir, —As an Irish ‘type’ which does not exist in the usual scholarly andmedia analysis of modern Ireland, I approached your special issue onAugust ’69 (HI 17.4, July/Aug. 2009) with the usual presentiments. Mypaternal grandparents were Presbyterian and ‘British’, my maternal weremoderately nationalist yet Presbyterian. The women had southern links,and there was a heavy dose … Read more
A chara, —For over 40 years I have been dealing in antiques, collectables or just pure honest-to-God bric-a-brac. The subject of heritage, repatriation or just moving old objects from one area or country to another has always both fascinated and haunted me. A letter (HI 17.4, July/Aug. 2009) on the Akwiten Canoe and the Book … Read more
Sir, —It is unfortunate that Myles Dungan chose to mar his interestingpiece (HI 17.5, Sept./Oct. 2009) on the efforts of William O’Shea tomaintain his political support in the constituency of Clare in the1880s by peppering his article with derogatory references to theFenians and other resistance movements in the county at the time.Nationalists and republicans are … Read more
Sir, —Your editorial ‘Ireland’s fascist real McCoy’ (HI 17.5, Sept./Oct.2009) points to the emergence of extremism here in the 1940s. Whatmight seem to some a tad odd, however, is your emphasis upon the Irishtradition not of constitutional but of parliamentary democracy. Thusthere is no mention of either Bunreacht na hÉireann or of the earlierConstitution of … Read more