Ireland: the politics of enmity 1789–2006 Paul Bew (Oxford University Press, £35) ISBN 9780198205555 According to the preface, this book ‘is about the conflict between the Protestant British—both on the British “mainland” and in Ireland itself—and the Catholic Irish’, from the 1800 Act of Union to the 2006 St Andrews Agreement. The various attempts by … Read more
The Orange Order Mervyn Jess (O’Brien Press, €11.95) ISBN 97808627896619 The Orange Order: a contemporary Northern Irish history Eric P. Kaufmann (Oxford University Press, £30) ISBN 9780199208487 Unionism and Orangeism in Northern Ireland since 1945: the decline of the loyal family Henry Patterson and Eric Kaufmann (Manchester University Press, £16.99) ISBN 9780719077449 Orangeism, once the … Read more
Sentiment is not something that one would normally associate with Henry Ford, who once remarked that ‘History is bunk!’ (Readers of a certain age might recall that this was a question—followed by ‘discuss’—on the 1975 honours history Leaving Cert. paper. Did anyone out there actually attempt it?) Yet it was largely sentiment that determined the … Read more
National Print Museum Músaem Náisiúnta Cló Garrison Chapel, Beggars Bush, Haddington Road, Dublin 4 +353 (1) 6603770, npmuseum@iol.ie, www.nationalprintmuseum.ie Mon.–Fri. 9am–5pm, Sat. & Sun. 2–5pm Closed bank holiday weekends by Tony Canavan The National Print Museum is located on a very historic site. A British army barracks was built here in the eighteenth century and … Read more
Pretenders looking for their crowns Kings Director: Tom Collins by Mícheál Mac Aonghusa Surely the most chilling line of dialogue in Kings is the acknowledgement, ‘Seo é do bhaile anois’ [‘This is your home now’]. To a single Connemara man who has spent 30 years in London and more or less confined his social life … Read more