Friday 8 October saw the culmination of a lengthy campaign for official recognition of the World War II hero, Leading Seaman James J. Magennis VC, in his native city. Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Robert Stoker, welcomed the Magennis family who had come over from Bradford for the ceremony. Ian Fraser VC, DSC, the commanding … Read more
The approach of the millennium risks overshadowing the fact that 1999 is a fin de siècle year. Despite the predictable onset of millennium fever, the passage of a century is a more meaningful historical event. It is difficult to make any sense of a thousand years of history. Centuries contain more manageable slices of time. … Read more
Sir—In your last issue Brian Hanley refers to a ‘Donie O’Neill’ as oneof the defenders of Connolly House during a violent anti-Communistattack in March 1933. The name mentioned is obviously a misprint forDonie O’Reilly. Not alone was he a founder member of the CommunistParty of Ireland in June 1933, he was one of the first … Read more
The Catholic priesthood can be seen as exemplifying ‘traditional’ leadership where authority derives from a social role irrespective of the individual involved; but there have always been priests who developed a more individualistic approach, even if this precipitated conflict with church or state authorities. These essays describe nine Irish Catholic priests, each marked out by … Read more
Apart from the postscript, which in my view is the weakest section of the book owing to its pious, unctuous and preaching tone, Anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland, was written by Brewer who generously acknowledges Higgins’s collaboration as research assistance by declaring co-authorship of the work. Brewer and Higgins maintain that anti-Catholicism in the North of … Read more