Among the most serious public order issues facing the Irish government in the 1930s were the disturbances that annually occurred on and around Armistice Day in November. The IRA and other republican groups often seized the opportunity presented by the presence of British flags and symbols to put a significant presence on the streets, obstructing … Read more
Michael Judge, a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, was bitterly opposed to the admission of Redmond’s nominees to the provisional committee, saying later that ‘had they been men, they could have snapped their fingers at John Redmond and all his influence’. Judge was the only one of the ‘Home Rule’ members to remain … Read more
Ian Cobain (Portobello Books, £18.99) ISBN 9781846273339 Many years ago, when the UK prime minister of the day, Margaret Thatcher, was eager to proclaim the British authenticity of the North of Ireland, she pronounced it to be ‘as British as Finchley’, her own constituency in England. She could as easily have said the same of … Read more
Mary Cullen (Arlen House, €25) ISBN 9780905223872 This book is a journey of discovery for both author and reader. Beginning with Maria Luddy’s dutiful summary of Cullen’s articles, we are introduced to Jane Austen’s views regarding history, which apparently consisted of ‘the quarrels of popes and kings . . . and hardly any women at … Read more
The Big House TV3, April/May 2013 Big Mountain Productions by Adrian Grant The story of the ‘big house’ and the landed estates is essentially the story of rural Ireland. Every aspect of life was affected by the fortunes of the landed class and their vast estates. Whether you were a domestic servant, a tradesman, a … Read more