Sir,—I am a trifle disappointed, but not surprised, with Tim Bowman’sfinal conclusions in his otherwise well-informed and scholarly reviewof the role of the Ulster Volunteers before World War I—‘The UlsterVolunteers 1913-1914: force or farce?’ (HI 10.1, Spring 2002). Inhindsight it is unfortunate that he opted for a title that delivers thedistinct impression of an ability … Read more
Sir,—In his article, ‘Major Robert Gregory and the Irish Air Aces of 1917-18’ (HI 9.4, Winter 2001), Adrian Smith asserts that John McCudden, brother of James McCudden, was ‘posthumously awarded the family’s second Victoria Cross’. The sole Victoria Cross awarded to the McCudden family was that awarded to James and announced in the London Gazette … Read more
Michael Barry (Aer Rianta, E16.44) ISBN 09540591 A View from Above, 200 Years of Aviation in Ireland Donal McCarron (O’Brien Press, E25.39) ISBN 0862786622 Cork is the second city of the Irish Republic and its airport, which has recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary, is rapidly overtaking Shannon as the second most important airport after Dublin. … Read more
Conor McCarthy (Four Courts Press,E45) ISBN 1851824758 The notion that Ireland is wracked by an unprecedented cultural crisis has become a new orthodoxy accepted both by the side-bar columnists of the Irish Times and the cosmopolitan academic elite. The theoretical basis for this approach was located in the Anglo-American disciplines of cultural studies and post-colonial … Read more
Sean Farren (Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University, Belfast, £16.50) ISBN 0853895953 This is a thought provoking study. Sean Farren provides us not only with an insight into developments in the schools in both Northern Ireland and the Free State/Republic of Ireland, but shows the extent to which the schools were used by political and … Read more