THE SINGLE GREATEST ACT OF VANDALISM OF THE IRISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE By Pat Poland On 21 January 1919 the first Dáil was convened in the Mansion House in Dublin and the independence of the Irish Republic was declared; later the same day, the opening shots in, avant la lettre, the Irish War of Independence … Read more
Seán O’Casey was secretary of the Irish Citizen Army and wrote ‘ICA Notes’ in The Worker and the Irish Worker. While James Connolly attacked the British, O’Casey attacked the Volunteers week after week. He continually argued that the workers of Ireland were not served by the intent of the Volunteers, that the Volunteers were in … Read more
It’s been a busy week in history-land. Beginning with last weeks unveiling of the CWGC Cross of Sacrifice in Glasnevin Cemetery, we’ve had a raft of official commemorations of the outbreak of the First World War in Ireland, the UK and Belgium (with Irish representation at the latter two). RTÉ have also launched an ambitious month … Read more
The centenary anniversary of the Howth gun-running falls this coming weekend. It is being marked by an official ceremony, and the weekend will also witness a commemoration of the related (though less well-known) Kilcoole gun-running, which is being marked with what looks like a very impressive ‘Heritage Weekend’. The Irish Times has given a good … Read more
Robert Erskine Childers wrote these words in the darkness of his damp prison cell less than an hour before his execution for unlawfully possessing a firearm (ironically given to him by Michael Collins) during the Civil War. It was then, and has since, been speculated that he had been an agent of the Crown and … Read more