Sir, —While Daniel Mulhall’s article on golf’s early days in Ireland (HI14.5, Sept./Oct. 2006) is very interesting, I suspect that heunderestimates the extent of nationalist hostility to golf in theperiod. The relative scarcity of denunciations of golf in nationalistpublications may reflect the fact that its select and often olderclientele meant that it did not compete … Read more
Sir, —In the Jan./Feb. 2005 issue of History Ireland you kindly permitted our campaign the opportunity to raise the case for pardons for 26 Irish-born British soldiers executed for military offences during World War I. Many of your readers offered support and constructive criticism that was greatly appreciated and beneficial to the Irish effort. I … Read more
Blood of the Isles: exploring the genetic roots of our tribal history Bryan Sykes (Bantam Press, £10.79) ISBN 0593056523From a historian’s point of view, this is initially a difficult book to get into. Sykes is a geneticist, not a historian; he writes in a personalised, conversational style and, in the opening chapters, talks a lot … Read more
All in the blood. A memoir of the Plunkett family, the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence by Geraldine Plunkett Dillon Honor Ó Brolcháin (ed.) (A. A. Farmar, E25) First, I have to declare an interest. Geraldine Plunkett Dillon was my grandmother. I grew up a few houses away from her; I knew her … Read more
The Fenian ideal and Irish nationalism, 1882–1916 M. J. Kelly (Boydell Press, E85) ISBN 1843832046 This book is more a study of Irish nationalist mentalities than it is a political history. Implicit in the author’s approach is the theory that a people’s use of language is the primary factor not only in defining but also … Read more