Sir, —I think that Dr Hanley in his critique of the ‘Killings at Coolacrease’ programme protests too much when he writes that talk of ‘ethnic cleansing . . . should be banished from any serious discussions’ on what happened in Ireland in the 1920s. Some communities in the twentieth century leave their homeland when they … Read more
In the early twentieth century Ramsay MacDonald bestrode the fledgling British Labour Party like a colossus. In 1900 he became secretary of the newly founded Labour Representation Committee; in 1906 he was first elected as a Labour MP; over the following years he served as treasurer, chairman and secretary of the new Labour Party; and he was … Read more
Sir,—A small correction to the article by Conor McNamara on British cabinet papers on-line (HI 20.2, March/April 2012, pp 40–1). Sir Rosslyn Wemyss was first sea lord, as stated, from December 1917 until the end of the war. He was not, however, commander-in-chief on the coast of Ireland. That position was held by Sir Lewis … Read more
A Chara, —The last sentence of Michael Gibbons’s review of Dublin NaziNo. 1: the life of Adolf Mahr (HI 15.5, Sept./Oct. 2007) was notsupported by a reading of the book. Neither author nor reviewer gaveany reason to think that Mahr ‘failed . . . as a man’ (whatever thatmeans?). But as one who worked in … Read more
Sir,—I wish to note a correction of an error in my book The Cosgrave Party: a history of Cumann na nGaedheal, 1923–33. In reference to Anthony Jordan’s W.T. Cosgrave, 1880–1965: founder of modern Ireland (Westport Books, 2006), line four of page 186 currently reads: ‘Anthony Jordan wrongly claims that Fianna Fáil won five seats. [footnote … Read more