The Ulster Volunteers 1913-1914: force or farce?

In January 1913, Ulster Unionist resistance to Home Rule entered a more militant phase with the establishment of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Work published on the UVF to date (most notably, A.T.Q. Stewart, The Ulster Crisis: resistance to Home Rule 1912-1914 [London 1967]) has concentrated largely on the Larne gunrunning of 24 and 25 … Read more

Orange handkerchief at the Somme?

Sir,—I noticed a few assertions in Timothy Bowman’s article, The Irishat the Somme (HI 4.4, Winter 1996), which I believe are incorrect.Firstly, Mr Bowman mentions that there were twenty-three ‘Irish’battalions at the Somme; there were several more that I am aware of,namely: 1st and 2nd battalions/18th London Regiment (London IrishRifles), 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, and … Read more

Re-presenting war: the Somme Heritage Centre (3:1)

David Officer Historians of Ireland regularly harp on about the often blunt and crude forms in which the past is mobilised by contemporary interests. However, historians themselves pay scant attention to the forms, methods and media through which the transmission of a historical consciousness is effected. It is inadaquate to describe such complex processes as … Read more