Roger Casement Sir,—Martin Mansergh, in his review (May–June 2014) of Angus Mitchell’s biography 16 Lives—Roger Casement, makes great play of the only reported denial by Casement of the Black Diaries: ‘A US attorney visiting Casement in Pentonville with Gavan Duffy made him aware of what was going on and recorded Casement’s indignant disbelief of the … Read more
Thomas Willis was a Dublin apothecary who was involved in various charitable activities throughout his life, such as the foundation of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Ireland. He was based in St Michan’s parish, just behind Ormond Quay and in 1845 he published a survey of the parish that examined it it … Read more
The weapons were imported after the arming of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), which, with the open support of the opposition Conservative Party, was established to prepare for civil war rather than accept all-Ireland Home Rule as set out in the bill of 1912. Home Rule had been introduced to allow the Liberal Party to … Read more
Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President Kennedy, narrowly escaped being, like Lord Frederick Cavendish, an unintended victim of Irish terrorism. In 1975 there was an unsuccessful attempt by the IRA on the life of the Conservative MP Sir Hugh Fraser—then still married to the historian Lady Antonia Fraser—and the car bomb that was intended to kill … Read more
Spencer Percival is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated. In contrast, four US presidents have been assassinated—Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy—and thirteen others were the intended victims of credible assassins, though Ronald Reagan was the only serving US president actually to have been injured in an unsuccessful assassination attempt. Lord Frederick Cavendish’s … Read more