Nick Maxwell In Ireland as a prelude to a nationwide valuation of land and buildings, the so-called Griffith’s Valuation, the Ordnance Survey was directed to map the whole country at a scale of six inches to one mile. It was originally intended to accompany each map with written topographical descriptions for every civil (Church of Ireland) parish. … Read more
Francis Wheatley’s painting of the Irish House of Commons in 1780 is well known and has been reprinted many times. It celebrates the occasion of Henry Grattan’s speech during the debate on the rights of the Irish parliament in the spring of 1780. The painting provides a striking visual record of an important political event … Read more
Ireland and Africa? What has Ireland got to do with Africa? While there was a modest level of emigration to South Africa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was nothing like the numbers who emigrated to North America, Australia or even South America. And yet on investigation there are many inter-relations (and … Read more
Believing in action: Concern the first thirty years, 1968–1998 Tony Farmar (Concern, E14.99) ISBN 1 899047 81 6 There was a remarkably rapid mutation in twentieth-century Ireland’s relations with Africa, from its being a rich source of missionaries to being a secular champion of Africa in its times of need and a source of development … Read more
The Irish Army in the Congo, 1960–64: the far battalions David O’Donoghue (Irish Academic Press, hb ?55.50/pb ?25) ISBN 0716528185/0716533197 The UN operation in the former Belgian Congo was a confused and sometimes chaotic affair. Some saw its role as keeping communism out of Africa, others as ending Belgian influence. The force’s mandate was to … Read more