Sir, —I read with interest about those who engineered or took part inthe Easter Rising of 1916 (HI 14.2, March/April 2006) but I would liketo know about the thousands of ordinary people who were affected indifferent ways by the fighting on their doorsteps, the bombing andburning and the loss of livelihood. My great-grandparents had a … Read more
Sir, —I just bought your 1916 edition and am very impressed with thecontent. I must take exception, however, with your condemnation, inyour editorial, of people who stopped the ‘Love Ulster’ Orange marchdown O’Connell Street on 26 February. The Orange Order is a bigoted,sectarian organisation and should never have been granted permission toparade in the first … Read more
Sir, —Paul Bew dismisses as ‘an amusing educational parlour game’ thestatement that Redmondite home rule could have delivered politicalfreedom ‘without the political and economic costs of the 1916 project’.He castigates nationalists for proposing ‘to celebrate 1916 in aninevitably rhetorical overblown style’ (HI 14.2, March/April 2006). Healso advises nationalists ‘finally to close the door on the … Read more
Sir, —Hot on the heels of comparing Ulster unionists to the Nazis, it now seems that Mary McAleese wishes to reinstate the glorification of a rebellion that caused immeasurable suffering to the very people the insurgents were seeking to free from ‘oppression’. This seems particularly unfortunate at a time when the Republic of Ireland seemed … Read more
The Scotch-Irish: from the north of Ireland to the making of America Ron Chepesiuk (McFarland & Co., North Carolina, £17.95) 0786422734 To buy or not to buy? This is the constant dilemma we all face when we pick up a book that has just been published. With a long-standing and particular interest in the Scotch-Irish, … Read more