A Gansee production, directed by Kevin Brannigan and Graham Seely By Brian Hanley By any standards Seán Garland has led an interesting life. Raised in the tenements of north inner city Dublin, by his early twenties he was already an iconic figure among Irish republicans. Joining the IRA in 1953, he shortly afterwards enlisted in … Read more
At around 5.30pm on Friday 17 May 1974, three car bombs exploded in the centre of Dublin. Just before 7pm another explosion took place outside a pub in Monaghan town. Thirty-three people died as a result of what was the worst single atrocity in the history of the Northern Ireland conflict. The bombings came as … Read more
In November 1973, it fell to me and my crew to respond to an Air Ambulance request to fly a patient by helicopter from Tullamore General Hospital to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, which was at that time the only hospital on this island that could provide the specialist treatment that this badly injured … Read more
I did the 11+ exam in 1969. The Troubles in the North had started the year before and widespread violence came in August 1969. To me the Troubles were something in the background. Academic selection and whether I would get to a grammar school or not was the thing that mattered. The primary school I … Read more
In April 1966 the Revd Ian Paisley, who had already earned his first token conviction for a public order offence, addressed the inaugural meeting in Belfast’s Ulster Hall of what became the Ulster Constitutional Defence Committee. In the course of a fiery speech he told his audience that in anticipation of republican subversion to accompany … Read more