Seán McLoughlin was born in Dublin on 2 June 1895, the second child of six eventually born to ITGWU activist Patrick McLoughlin and his wife Christina. Involvement in Irish nationalist activity began early. Aged fifteen, McLoughlin joined both the Gaelic League and Fianna Éireann. Like many Fianna members, he became involved in the Irish Republican … Read more
The 1917 Sinn Féin Convention was a crucial watershed in the Irish struggle for national independence. It was the culmination of a process of reorganisation that had begun almost as soon as the quicklime had settled upon the bodies of the executed leaders of the Easter Rising. For a significant group of Irish women, many … Read more
As soon as the Great War broke out in August 1914, members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), operating as a secret caucus within the Irish Volunteers, began to plan a rebellion against British rule in Ireland. Operating on the old IRB maxim that ‘England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity’, they planned for a countrywide rebellion. … Read more
From the founding of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) to Easter Week 1916 can be described as the organisation’s heroic period. It would survive the Rising by a further twenty years: until the Civil War in form and occasional actions and campaigns, then in suspended animation until 1934, and reviving for one more year before … Read more
Belfast’s unholy war Alan Parkinson (Four Courts Press, ?39.95) ISBN 1851827927 Those involved in bridging community divisions in Belfast should be aware that the city was scarred by a prolonged period of unremitting sectarian and political violence long before the recent Troubles. The black days of 1920–2, in which almost 500 people—mainly innocent civilians—died, coincided … Read more