A Chara, —The last sentence of Michael Gibbons’s review of Dublin NaziNo. 1: the life of Adolf Mahr (HI 15.5, Sept./Oct. 2007) was notsupported by a reading of the book. Neither author nor reviewer gaveany reason to think that Mahr ‘failed . . . as a man’ (whatever thatmeans?). But as one who worked in … Read more
Sir, —Rory O’Dwyer gives an interesting account of the EucharisticCongress of 1932 (HI 15.6, Nov./Dec. 2007). I am rather disappointed,though in no way surprised, given the nexus of interconnected interestsbetween the almost permanent government of Fianna Fáil and all strandsof Irish society, that he does not mention W. T. Cosgrave or theprevious Cumann na nGaedheal … Read more
‘Let’s hear him deny it’ RTÉ is to be congratulated for its recent Hidden History series. In general these were a model of how to present sometimes complex (and controversial) subjects to a wider public. Thus William Martin Murphy, while not quite shaking off his well-deserved image as the ‘villain’ of the 1913 Dublin Lockout, … Read more
Sir, —The much-abused Christian Brothers—I use the descriptionadvisedly—must be exonerated from blame for the letter of support toJohn Charles McQuaid in connection with his prudish campaign torestrict the participation of women in athletics (‘Internal tamponage,hockey parturition and mixed athletics’ by Margaret Ó hÓgartaigh, HI15.6, Nov./Dec. 2007). The John Roe who wrote it was not a … Read more
Sir, —As a subscriber and regular reader of History Ireland I was veryperturbed by the article ‘Brotherhood among Irishmen? The Battle ofWijtschate-Messines Ridge, June 1917’ by Tom Burke, MBE, chairman ofthe Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association, which appeared in theSeptember/October issue of History Ireland, and particularly by theloose editorial standards applied to the printing of it. … Read more