by Joseph E.A. Connell Jr The Irish Citizen Army (ICA) was born out of the struggle between the workers and the employers during the Lockout of 1913. A defence force had been mooted many times before the ICA was actually formed, and police brutality during previous strikes in Dublin, Cork and Wexford had convinced some … Read more
Alan F. Parkinson (Ulster Historical Foundation, £7.99) ISBN 9781908448521 In the early 2000s I worked in the office of the leader of the Liberal Democrats (then Charles Kennedy) as a speechwriter and the party’s director of policy. The two-storey office was located just off the committee corridor of the House of Commons. To access it, … Read more
Following the First World War, the perceived inadequacies of the peace settlement were a major contributing factor to political turmoil in Italy. Coining the phrase ‘mutilated victory’, the acclaimed poet, politician and soldier Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863–1938) emerged as the high priest of Italian irredentism. Acting on his grievances, he formed a private army, which in … Read more
The first monument erected by the National Graves Association was over the graves of rank-and-file Easter Week Volunteers in Glasnevin Cemetery. It was unveiled by Frank Ryan on 31 March 1929. Over the years the monument began to show signs of wear and tear, so on the 50th anniversary of the Rising the association, at … Read more
Walter Stanley Paget was a painter and illustrator who was born in London in 1863 and died in 1935. As a painter he exhibited six times with the Royal Academy, though he seems to have been more successful as an illustrator; he was commissioned to produce drawings for books by both Sir Walter Scott and … Read more