When Pope John Paul II made his famous visit to Ireland in 1979, it must have looked to the outside world as if the words ‘Irish’ and ‘Catholic’ still belonged easily together, as they had for centuries. Semper fidelis was the phrase confidently pronounced by the pope just before he departed from Shannon airport. As … Read more
Sir—I refer to Brian Hanley’s review of Robert A. Stradling’s book onIrish involvement in the Spanish Civil War (HI Winter 1999). In thatbook there is reference to a ‘Michael Cadell’, a member of the SpanishForeign Legion, who became a Catholic when he joined O’Duffy’s brigade.That man was actually Maurice Cadell, from a well-off Scottish family.He … Read more
New Year’s Eve 1961 may not immediately spring to mind as a significant date in the history of the Ireland. As a phenomenon that has provoked endless debate, argument and discussion ever since, the start of television broadcasting from Dublin on that date was most definitely significant. Loved or hated, television cannot be ignored. Controversy … Read more
Historical Insights Ireland has been organising historical walking tours Dublin for ten years or more. The walks commence at the front gate of Trinity College and are led by history graduates of the college. During the leisurely two-hour perambulation from Trinity to the old parliament (Bank of Ireland), Temple Bar, Dublin Castle, Christchurch and the … Read more
It has become commonplace for historians of Ireland to describe the events of 1912–1923 as a ‘revolution’, typically without attempting to define that term. These three complementary studies of Ireland between 1891 and 1936 all follow suit: Maume concludes with ‘Reflections on a Revolution’; the largest part of Laffan’s study is entitled ‘The Irish Revolution, … Read more