Nick Maxwell Sir, —Allow me to respond to your ‘Sidelines’ piece in the last issue(HI 17.3, May/June 2009). I was a member of the Maliseet-Wolastoqiyik‘Akwiten’ canoe repatriation group, along with Chief Candice Paul andother St Mary’s First Nation community members. As a dualIrish–Canadian citizen, I provided some advice on how best to proceedin Ireland. I say ‘was’ … Read more
Sir, —In his response to my review of Tom Moore’s Memoirs of CaptainRock (HI 17.2, March/April 2009), Seamus Deane argues that I was ‘wrongto say that John MacHale’s “A Brief Reply to the Charge of WilliamMagee . . . (1822) . . .” first appeared in the Dublin Journal in1820’. As ‘should be obvious from … Read more
The context in which the civil rights crisis should be placed stretches beyond the islands on the edge of Europe’s Atlantic coast to take in the whole continent. Northern Ireland was not entirely a ‘place apart’; it was one variation upon a wider European pattern. The French sociologist Raymond Aron highlighted that the post-war era … Read more
Sir, —Although delighted to see an article on Jerome Collins in the lastissue (HI 17.3, May/June 2009), permit me to make a few corrections andobservations. His second name was not Janus but James. In fact, hetravelled openly under the name James Collins when he went to Americain 1866: it wasn’t a case of having to … Read more
Sir, —Without wanting to start a long discussion, there are a few pointsmentioned in last issue’s letters pages (HI 17.3, May/June 2009)concerning my review of the Coolacrease book that apparently need someclarification. In essence these criticisms come down to two issues: theresults of the 1918 elections and the consequent democratic mandate ofSinn Féin, and my … Read more