Sir, —In his article on King Billy (HI 12.1, Spring 2004) Padraig Lenihan points out that William ‘rode a dark horse’ at the battle of the Boyne. However, in 1696/97 he did acquire a horse, White Sorrel (sometimes Sorel), that became his favourite mount. The horse was bred at Wallington Hall, here in Northumberland, … Read more
Sir, —Liam Ó Ruairc’s interesting review of the work of Peter Hart and Meda Ryan (HI, 12.1, Spring 2004) mentions Tom Barry remaining a member of the IRA from the Civil War until 1938 and also his being a ‘staunch’ supporter of the Provisional IRA. Like so much with Barry’s life the reality is … Read more
‘The same people living in the same place’? Readership response to our new design has been very positive, and in this issue we have added quantity to quality with eight extra pages. There was, however, one unfortunate glitch. Many readers of the interview may have been surprised to find that James Maguire is a … Read more
Sir, —In his article ‘Birth pangs of a nation: Senator Thomas Westropp Bennett and the Irish Free State’ (HI 11.4, Winter 2003), Bruce-Andrew Finch presents some interesting information but weakens its historical value by placing it in a partisan context while overlooking obvious questions. An example of the latter is contained in the … Read more
Sir, —In his rather superficial discussion of the JFK assassination in the last issue (HI 11.4, Winter 2003), Mel Ayton matches the wilder speculations of the conspiracy theorists with some of his own. Among these is his unqualified assertion of the most fantastic of the conclusions of the Warren Report—the so-called ‘single bullet theory’. … Read more