Sir,—I read with interest Tomás O’Riordan’s article on the theft of theIrish Crown Jewels (HI, Winter 2001). I have written an entry onFrancis Richard (‘Frank’) Shackleton for the Royal Irish Academy’sDictionary of Irish Biography and thought that your readers might beinterested in some further information regarding his later life. Afterthe theft of the jewels and … Read more
R.F. Foster (Allen Lane, £20) ISBN 0713994975Roy Foster has already made an enormous contribution to the writing of Irish history. He has inspired, encouraged, and provoked many of us to engage in/with the reassessment of Irish historical writing and thinking that has marked the last two decades as among the most fruitful in Irish historical … Read more
At a meeting held on the 5 January, 1971, the government agreed thatthe title of the Minister for External Affairs in the English language,should be changed to ‘Minister for Foreign Affairs’ and the title ofhis department, in the English language, should be changed to‘Department of Foreign Affairs’. The meeting also authorised theMinister to have an … Read more
Few terms cause as much annoyance to Irish ears as the title ‘BritishIsles’. In 1951 the Minister for External Affairs, Seán MacBride,complained because particulars relating to Ireland were entered underthe heading ‘British Isles’ in a table in the Economic Bulletin forEurope published by the United Nations in Geneva. He considered ‘theinclusion of Ireland under this … Read more
Cold War paranoia and hunger for new markets clashed in governmentdisscussions in 1971 on the desirability of establishing diplomaticlinks with the Soviet Union and Poland. In a memorandum of 28 October1971 the cabinet was informed: The Minister for Foreign Affairs [Dr Patrick Hillery] considers thatthe establishment of formal relations with at least some of the … Read more