A New History of Ireland, vol. 1 Prehistoric and early Ireland Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (ed.) (Oxford University Press, €187.40) ISBN 0-19-821737-4Reviewing a book that weighs in at more than 1200 pages and carrying it from office to home reminded me of that North American game of social responsibility in which teenagers are asked to carry … Read more
As the Scottish comedian Arnold Browne used to say, the secret of good comedy is timing: the audience and the comedian must show up at the same time. Being even one day out made a difference, he observed. Not so where historical journals are concerned, it seems. Thus the May 2004 issue of Irish Historical … Read more
Politics, sex and death—an exhibition of the paintings of Sir William Orpen National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square, Dublin, until 28 August 2005 by Mark Coalter Outside his native land the celebrated war artist and society painter, Sir William Orpen, is largely overlooked. As one of the most successful Irish painters of his day, and … Read more
Hitler’s Irishman; the story of Lord Haw-Haw RTÉ 1 Written and directed by Martin Gilbert By Eamon O’Flaherty Ireland’s flirtation with Fascism and Nazism took many forms in the period between the rise of Mussolini and the end of the Second World War. There was considerable admiration for Italian Fascism in both Britain and Ireland … Read more
DUIGNAN, Mary Ann (‘Chicago May’) (1871–1929), criminal and prostitute, described by contemporary tabloid journalists as ‘the most dangerous woman in the world’, was born on 26 December 1871 in Edenmore townland, Dromard parish, Ballinamuck, Co. Longford, the eldest among two daughters and three sons of Francis Duignan and Anne Duignan (née Gray); the pet name … Read more