Volume 1
The Great Famine and its interpreters, old and new
by James S. Donnelly, Jr For many years now revisionist historians have delighted in debunking nationalist interpretations of the Irish past. In general revisionism has had a triumphal march, slaying one dragon of nationalist historiography after another. But more recently, the revisionist enterprise received a serious challenge from Brenden Bradshaw in that citadel of revisionism, … Read more
Winston Churchill and Michael Collins 1919-22: Admirers or Adversaries?
by Benjamin Kline The relationship between Winston Churchill and Michael Collins has often been characterised as one of mutual respect and rapport which significantly influenced Anglo-Irish relations. Yet, while some form of respect may have developed between these two men, no amount of historical hindsight or sympathetic remembrances should imply that they were anything but … Read more
Dancing, Depravity and all that Jazz The Public Dance Halls Act of 1935
by Jim Smyth A protracted war of independence and a bitter civil war left the new Irish Free State with economic and social problems of enormous proportions – the economy and infrastructure were ravaged, unemployment and ill-health were endemic and the wounds of the civil war were far from healed. But the agenda of perhaps … Read more
Punch and the Great Famine
by Peter Gray The widespread use of Punch cartoons in books and teaching materials on nineteenth century history is hardly surprising: these often striking images are a convenient visual aid for understanding a period in which photography was in its infancy. Yet the use of this graphic record in an unreflective manner is fraught with … Read more