BINGHAM, George Charles (1800–88), 3rd earl of Lucan, soldier and landlord, was born on 16 April 1800 in London, eldest son of Richard Bingham, 2nd earl of Lucan, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of the 3rd earl of Fauconberg. Educated at Westminster School (1812–16), he was commissioned ensign in the 6th Foot in 1816 and … Read more
Ireland’s fascist real McCoy We in Ireland have always prided ourselves on the robustness and durability of our democratic institutions. Of all the European states that gained independence in the twentieth century, ours is the only one to have maintained an unbroken tradition of parliamentary democracy. Running against the grain of a traditional ‘800 years … Read more
The ultimate responsibility for failure to cope effectively with the disaster of the Famine lay with the Westminster parliament, but we should remember that Ireland in 1847 returned 105 MPs to Westminster. A unified effort by all these MPs could have changed government policies. No such agreed approach emerged and there was a serious failure … Read more
In his article ‘Billy’s Boys’ in the last issue, it is a pity thatBrian Lacy does not answer the question posed in the introduction, thatis, whether William III was in fact homosexual. In researching my bookOrangeism—the making of a tradition (1999) I looked closely into thisquestion and went through as much material on William as … Read more
Sir,—In an earlier letter (HI 20.5, Sept./Oct. 2012) I suggested that the last lines of Tomás Rua Ó Suilleabháin’s praise-poem ‘Sé Domhnall Binn Ó Conaill caoin’ amounted to an unambiguous aspiration to ethnic cleansing (‘go nglanfar cruinn as Éilge iad’). In taking me to task on this (in surprisingly intemperate tones), Niall Gillespie (HI 20.6, … Read more