The 1956 polio epidemic in Cork

Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that is spread through person-to-person or faecal–oral contact. The effects of the disease range from mild to severe, from a minor transient illness to extensive long-term paralysis and even death. The virus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of … Read more

The politics of Irish education, 1920-65, Sean Farren, (Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University, Belfast, £16.50)

This is a thought provoking study. Sean Farren provides us not only with an insight into developments in the schools in both Northern Ireland and the Free State/Republic of Ireland, but shows the extent to which the schools were used by political and church powers to cultivate a particular, one-dimensional type of nationality, culture and … Read more