‘Power’, as Mao Zse-tung observed, ‘comes from the barrel of a gun’. His aphorism is true in the most literal sense of early modern Europe where the introduction of gunpowder and artillery precipitated a military revolution, which so overthrew traditional medieval security arrangements as to beget an entirely new military system, whose organisational needs triggered … Read more
Reviewed by Robert Fisk The contemporary Irish interest in the reprinting of Michael Collins’ notes of August 1922 was not lost on Mercier Press. On the back of their book are Collins’ remarks about the vain efforts to bring about a truce with the British in December 1920: The actions taken indicated an over-keen desire … Read more
Tom Crean was born in 1877 in Annascaul, County Kerry. At the age of twenty he ran away from home and by 1901 he was serving as naval seaman in the New Zealand squadron of the Royal Navy. It was from here that he joined Scott’s ship Discovery on its way to Antarctica. By 1914 … Read more
At the last annual general meeting of the Federation of Local History Societies, Rathfeigh Historical Society reported on the possible replacement of a statue of Saint Patrick on the Hill of Tara. The original was removed by the OPW, after consultation with the bishops ofthe area, for possible refurbishment but was found to have deteriorated … Read more
Papers are invited for the eleventh Ulster-American Heritage Symposium, jointly sponsored by the Ulster-American Folk Park and the University of Ulster, to be held at the Ulster-American Folk Park on 8-10 August 1996. The symposium will be concerned with all aspects of emigration from Ulster to North America: the religious groups which took part in … Read more