Nick Maxwell When the lords of the Pale (as they continued to be styled in subsequent depositions) gathered at various hilltops in east Meath in October 1641, their dilemma was palpable. Should they continue to support an English state from which they were increasingly alienated in religion and in outlook, or should they make common cause with … Read more
On 13 August 1969 the Irish cabinet discussed the developing Bogside crisis. Neil Blaney, minister for agriculture, suggested sending the Irish army across the border in an attempt to provoke United Nations intervention and the consequent deployment of a UN peacekeeping force. After a brief discussion regarding possible outcomes, the cabinet wisely rejected military intervention, … Read more
Like other losers across Ireland, and now doubly tainted as ‘Irish’ and ‘papist’, the lords of the Pale faced their punishment under the Cromwellian administration. Widespread changes in land ownership, involving land forfeitures and yet another settlement plantation, were pushed in the interest of promoting a new political and social order. To implement these measures, … Read more
Ought he to have known about that attempt to import arms? The answer is certainly ‘yes’. But the burden of evidence that I have examined leads me to conclude that he did not know. What was evident in those critical weeks was a catastrophic breakdown in the proven decision-making system in the civil service, military … Read more
If the myopia of the British Labour government in early August 1969 is hard to fathom, it is equally difficult to understand why Lynch felt he could start his annual leave only a few days before the predicted outbreak of open conflict in Derry and right across Northern Ireland. Detailed contingency plans needed to be … Read more