Ian McKeane Just over seventy years ago in the early evening of 22 August 1922 a car stopped at Newcestown church County Cork and its principal passenger wandered alone in the churchyard. Then driver and passenger set off north-eastwards and turned left at Quarry Cross to take the road to Bealnablath and then on to … Read more
John Regan Michael Collins in his full general’s uniform cuts a striking figure and is one of the most popularly used images of the Irish revolution. He remains, some seventy-three years after his death, an instantly recognisable figure with an undeniable romantic quality. But such is Collins’ continued celebrity that images of him are not … Read more
Strong Words, Brave Deeds: the poetry, life and times of Thomas O’Brien, volunteer in the Spanish Civil War H. Gustav Klaus (ed.)(O’Brien Press, £15.99) Reviewed by Willy Maley This is several books rolled into one—biography, letters, poems, plays, and essays, the whole project ‘illustrated with historic photographs, documents and ephemera’. The title suggests a simplistic … Read more
A Companion Guide to Architecture in Ireland, 1837-1921 Jeremy Williams(Irish Academic Press, £35) Reviewed by Christine Casey In his foreword to this book Mark Girouard recalls schoolboy holidays in Ireland and a youthful appreciation of Irish nineteenth-century classicism gained through the seat of his trousers on sliding down the staircase balustrade of an aunt’s Greek-revival … Read more
Elected to the Senate two years ago for the National University, Professor Joe Lee of University College Cork is probably Ireland’s best known modern historian. Gráinne Henry caught up with him recently. GH: Tell us about your background. JL: I was born in Tralee, County Kerry, in 1942. I spent my first nine years in … Read more