Two objects that sum up Ireland’s contrasting relationships with the First World War feature in a new exhibition on the Battle of the Somme that opened in France on 28 April 2006. 1916: the Battle of the Somme, an International Arena has been organised by the major museum on the Somme, the Historial de la … Read more
The Jackie Clarke Library spans nearly 400 years of Irish history and contains over 15,000 items: rare books, manuscripts, photographs, legal papers, pamphlets, handbills, newspapers, autograph books, news sheets, circulars, reports, letters, periodicals, cartoons, maps, minute books, theses, articles and proclamations. And it was put together during the lifetime of one man, Jackie Clarke, an … Read more
No Irish battle is more famous than the Battle of the Boyne. No year in Irish history is better known than 1690. Sadly, over 300 years on, a new Battle of the Boyne is under way. This time, however, it is not Protestant against Catholic. It is not a battle for sovereignty. Instead, it is … Read more
The Freeman’s Journal was published in Dublin continuously from 1763 to 1924. In its early years it was associated with the ‘patriot’ opposition in the Irish parliament—most notably Charles Lucas, Henry Grattan and Henry Flood. Lucas is generally credited with having founded the paper, though its first editor was Henry Brooke, well known as an … Read more
In the autumn and winter of 1956 a popular mass movement rose up against the ruling communist dictatorship in Hungary and sought to introduce a multi-party democracy and to take the country out of its military alliance with the Soviet Union. For a few heady days it seemed that this movement would be successful, as … Read more