Nick Maxwell Set in the small market town of Bantry, surrounded by one of the spate rivers that drain from the Knocknaveagh range to the south, is one of Ireland’s most unusual examples of Modernist architecture. Bantry Library was designed in 1962 by the Cork County Council architect Patrick McSweeney, and the project was developed and overseen … Read more
Sir, —Owing to my interest in Latin American history and politics, Ipicked up the July/August 2008 issue (Ireland and Latin America) withgreat interest. Looking at Jim Fitzpatrick’s famous reworking ofKorda’s photo of Che at a public funeral in Havana, however, I spotteda factual error that seems to have passed into fact, particularly inIreland. The poster … Read more
Sir, —Michael O’Neill-Mockler’s list of monsters in his letter in thelast issue includes Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, the Shah of Iran andPinochet. Interestingly, all the names on his list speak funnylanguages or have moustaches or are followers of exotic religions. Andof course they all come from ‘over there’. I wonder has he ever seenthe … Read more
‘The Wild Geese’ is the romantic term traditionally applied to the men who left Ireland to join the armies of European countries. Beginning in the sixteenth century, large numbers of Irishmen enlisted in the armies of Spain, France, Austria and Russia. Many soldiers hoped eventually to return to Ireland and throw off foreign rule. This … Read more
At the grave risk of appearing a pedant (God forbid!), may Irespectfully suggest that the reference to Raymond le Gros in yourMay/June 2008 issue (‘On this day’, 1 May 1170, p. 8) meritscorrection? Le Gros was not a Fitzgerald, although he may perhaps beconsidered to have been a Geraldine (the question is rather semantic).The Geraldine … Read more