Kevin Barry is one of the most popular, and certainly one of the most sung, of Irish ballads. But who was Kevin Barry? Why was he immortalised in song? And what has been the significance of the ballad tradition generally in the Irish Revolution and, indeed, of the Irish Revolution in the ballad tradition? Listen to History … Read more
Seat of Crown administration since the twelfth century, and still bearing the physical scars of the 1916 Rising, during the War of Independence Dublin was also GHQ of the IRA and the location of the underground Dáil administration. To find out how the conflict played out between the two sides join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion … Read more
So said Winston Churchill in reference to the Irish Free State on hearing news of the destruction of the Public Records Office in the Four Courts in June 1922 at the outbreak of the Civil War. But in many respects, this also applies to Northern Ireland whose Public Records Office Northern Ireland (PRONI) didn’t open … Read more
Having considered the ‘global’ impact of the Irish revolution in the last podcast (Dev in America), this Hedge School zooms in on the ‘local’—the market town of Nenagh and the surrounding North Tipperary area during the revolutionary decade—but also sets events in the wider national context. Listen to Tommy Graham, editor of History Ireland, in discussion with Gerard … Read more
While the War of Independence raged in Ireland, a parallel international diplomatic campaign for recognition and funding for the underground Irish Republic was being waged. Central to this was the tour of Eamon de Valera, ‘President of the Irish Republic’, to the United States from June 1919 to December 1920. To assess its success or … Read more