Laurence Kettle was born in 1878, a son of Andrew Kettle, the Parnellite politician and one of the founders of the Land League. He was a brother of Tom Kettle, the nationalist and poet who was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He was a founding member of the Irish Volunteers in … Read more
Ronan Fanning (Faber and Faber, £16.99) ISBN 9780571297399 ‘There is a path of fatality which pursues the relations between the two countries and makes them eternally at cross purposes’ (David Lloyd George, House of Commons, 22 December 1919). Author Ronan Fanning says: ‘Fatal path is simply a case study in the high politics of how … Read more
The Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913 to protect the Home Rule bill then going through parliament from the threat posed by the unionist leader Edward Carson and his newly formed Ulster Volunteer Force. Alternatively, the Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913 by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, using respected constitutionalists as an unwitting front, with … Read more
The 1860s was a period in which physical-force nationalists were once again secretly organising and it was later claimed by the Fenian leader John Devoy that the IRB had recruited Irishmen to the Fenians from within the ranks of the 61st, as well as other British regiments. Devoy later recalled that ‘One of the most … Read more
The Indian Rebellion began when native soldiers of the East India Company mutinied in May 1857. The result of a number of grievances, it was triggered by the outrage of Hindu and Muslim sepoys at the use of rifle cartridges greased with beef and pork fat. Violence against white civilians angered British public opinion and … Read more