The Communist Party of Ireland 1921–2011: Vol. 1: 1921–1969

Matt Treacy (Brocaire Books, €20) ISBN 9781291093186 Operating under various names over the decades—the Socialist Party of Ireland, the Communist Party of Ireland, the Irish Workers’ League, the Revolutionary Workers’ Groups, the Communist Party of Ireland (again), the Communist Party of Northern Ireland, the Irish Workers’ League (again), the Irish Workers’ Party (again) and the … Read more

Irish socialist republicanism 1909–36

Adrian Grant (Four Courts Press, €50) ISBN 9781846823619 This is an important book that tackles big issues. Adrian Grant makes a strong case for the compatibility of socialism and republicanism and argues that splits between left-republicans, radical socialists and communists were based on ‘practicalities’ rather than theoretical differences. But if the problem was one of … Read more

A capital in conflict: Dublin City and the 1913 Lockout

Francis Devine (ed.) (Four Courts Press, €24.95) ISBN 9781907002106 The centenary of the Lockout has generated a new interest in the period that goes beyond just historians and trade union activists. With James Plunkett’s remarkable novel Strumpet city on the lips and minds of many Dubliners thanks to the ‘One City, One Book’ campaign, there … Read more

Bookworm

In keeping with the Lockout theme, Bookworm has cast the net a bit wider for this issue, which means that the first and most obvious book to mention is a novel: James Plunkett’s classic Strumpet city (Gill & Macmillan, €10.99pb, 560pp, ISBN 9780717156108). Plunkett’s epic was chosen for the Dublin Public Libraries ‘One City, One … Read more

Ulster Covenant 1912: an exercise in democracy or reaction?

[sc_embed_player fileurl=”https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/history2013/20130507-HistoryIrelandShow-022-UlsterCovenant1912.mp3″] Click the Play button to listen To download file, right click this link and select “Save link as..” Ulster Covenant 1912: an exerc A History Ireland Hedge School recorded at the National Library on 28 November 2012 with Peter Collins (St Mary’s Belfast), Tom Hartley (Sinn Féin), Brian Kennaway (Irish Association) and Philip … Read more