Through the innocent gesture of inviting President Douglas Hyde to a soccer match between Poland and Ireland in 1938, Consul Dobrzyński—the first ever Polish diplomat to Ireland and otherwise a very popular and admired personality in 1930s Dublin—unwittingly caused chaos on the Irish political scene. By Ian Cantwell and Nikola Sękowska-Moroney Consul General Wacław Tadeusz … Read more
Fact and fiction in contemporary Irish newspapers. By William Burton This year marks the 80th anniversary of the attack on Guernica on 26 April 1937 by the German Condor Legion. The attack—the first large-scale air raid in human history—was virtually ignored by rural newspapers but heavily reported on in editorials and reports in national and … Read more
On the 150th anniversary of the birth of the poet, painter, mystic and advocate of agricultural cooperation. By Daniel Mulhall George Russell (AE), who was born in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, on 10 April 1867, was a man of many parts, but it is his value as a witness to Irish history that has always drawn … Read more
Irish and Irish-American Catholic admiration for McCarthy, while widespread, was far from universal. By Gerard Madden When attendees gathered to hear Joseph McCarthy, the young junior senator for Wisconsin, address the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, West Virginia, on 9 February 1950, little did they realise that they were about to witness one of the … Read more
A startling discovery about Ernest Blythe (1889–1975), a central figure in the Irish revolution and early Free State, who re-emerged as managing director of the Abbey Theatre (1941–67) after his premature departure from parliamentary politics in 1936. By David Fitzpatrick Ernest Blythe was brought up near Lisburn, but only developed an active interest in the … Read more