Sir,—As chairman of the Knockraha History and Heritage Society, I read with horror Gerard Murphy’s The year of disappearances: political killings in Cork 1920–1922 (reviewed in HI 19.1, Jan./Feb. 2011), which seeks to demonise the late Martin Corry TD for his role in the fight for Irish freedom. The author quotes my writings as a … Read more
Sir,—Gill & Macmillan have published a second edition of Gerard Murphy’s The year of disappearances ten months after publication of the first. It alleged systematic IRA sectarianism toward Protestants in Cork during and after the War of Independence. Initial positive commentary from Independent Newspapers columnists was replaced by heavy criticism in seven consecutive academic reviews. … Read more
This is the 45th production of Juno and the Paycock at the Abbey, and this latest, directed by Howard Davies, is a joint venture with the National Theatre of Great Britain. It is appropriate that O’Casey should be the subject of such a collaboration given the circumstances of his own life. Although he made his … Read more
Established in 1947 by the Irish government in collaboration with a committee of professional historians and former Irish Volunteers, the purpose of the Bureau of Military History was ‘to assemble and coordinate material to form the basis for the compilation of the history of the movement for independence from the formation of the Irish Volunteers … Read more
Shortly after the Easter Rising, a traumatised Englishwoman—who had the misfortune to happen upon some rebels as she entered the GPO to buy some stamps—related her dramatic ordeal to the Irish Independent: ‘Much to my consternation I found myself almost immediately placed under arrest by an officer of the Irish Volunteers. I was then taken … Read more