Nick Maxwell Sir,—A small correction to the article by Conor McNamara on British cabinet papers on-line (HI 20.2, March/April 2012, pp 40–1). Sir Rosslyn Wemyss was first sea lord, as stated, from December 1917 until the end of the war. He was not, however, commander-in-chief on the coast of Ireland. That position was held by Sir Lewis … Read more
A Chara, —The last sentence of Michael Gibbons’s review of Dublin NaziNo. 1: the life of Adolf Mahr (HI 15.5, Sept./Oct. 2007) was notsupported by a reading of the book. Neither author nor reviewer gaveany reason to think that Mahr ‘failed . . . as a man’ (whatever thatmeans?). But as one who worked in … Read more
Sir,—I wish to note a correction of an error in my book The Cosgrave Party: a history of Cumann na nGaedheal, 1923–33. In reference to Anthony Jordan’s W.T. Cosgrave, 1880–1965: founder of modern Ireland (Westport Books, 2006), line four of page 186 currently reads: ‘Anthony Jordan wrongly claims that Fianna Fáil won five seats. [footnote … Read more
Sir, —Rory O’Dwyer gives an interesting account of the EucharisticCongress of 1932 (HI 15.6, Nov./Dec. 2007). I am rather disappointed,though in no way surprised, given the nexus of interconnected interestsbetween the almost permanent government of Fianna Fáil and all strandsof Irish society, that he does not mention W. T. Cosgrave or theprevious Cumann na nGaedheal … Read more
First of all, my thanks to Mr Ó Cinneide for sharing his memories of his FCA service (HI 20.2, March/April 2012, Letters). All too few former members of the force have done so, and official records are quite sparse. The FCA did indeed wear a slightly shorter jacket than their regular army counterparts, but any … Read more