Carson: the man who divided Ireland Geoffrey Lewis (Hambledon and London, price £19.99) ISBN 1852854545 Writing in 1953, H. Montgomery Hyde, the biographer of Edward Carson and sometime Ulster Unionist MP, commented that ‘today a new generation has grown up in Ulster in an atmosphere of relative political security. To its members Carson is a … Read more
Subversive law in Ireland 1879–1920: from ‘unwritten law’ to the Dáil courts Heather Laird (Four Courts Press, E45) ISBN 1851828761 In this study the author looks at the self-help schemes put in place by the native Irish to settle their grievances by devising alternative tribunals in which they might be aired and adjudicated upon in … Read more
For the past eleven years Gorey, Co. Wexford, has been hosting the Byrne Perry Summer School. Miles Byrne and Anthony Perry were leaders of the 1798 Rebellion in Wexford. This year’s school took place on 24–26 June, with Wexford County Council as chief sponsor and in association with History Ireland and Keough Notre Dame Centre, … Read more
The recent high-profile sale of two iconic documents relating to the 1916 Rising—a Proclamation (in March 2005) and an original copy of Pearse’s surrender document (in May)—became huge media events. Insofar as there was debate, it tended to concentrate on two questions. Would a private sale result in these prized documents being ‘lost to the … Read more
On 19 September 1908 Petty Officer Second Class William O’Brien left Dublin on the 9.20pm boat bound for Devonport and Portsmouth, the Royal Navy bases in the south of England. On 10 September he had been ‘warned for draft to Pandora, fitting out at Portsmouth for service on Cape of Good Hope and West Coast … Read more