Sir, —Your Jan./Feb. 2008 issue proves that controversy still haunts the Irish revolutionary period. Brian Hanley (‘Fear and loathing at Coolacrease’) rightly cautions against emotive approaches to the past, yet he steps into another ahistorical snare: believing that our present republic is a more or less inevitable consequence of the events of that period, rather … Read more
Turning points of the Irish revolution: the British government, intelligence and the cost of indifference, 1912–1921 Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon (Palgrave Macmillan, £42.50) ISBN 9781403980038 This is a well-structured book that provides the first sustained analysis of Colonial Office intelligence reports from 1913 to 1920. These indicate that Dublin Castle was better informed about the secret activities … Read more
The insider: the Belfast prison diaries of Eamonn Boyce, 1956–1962 Anna Bryson (ed.) (Lilliput Press, €40) ISBN 9781843511298 The history of the IRA ‘border campaign’ of 1956–62 is in its infancy. Very few titles have focused on the republican offensive that made Seán South and Fergal O’Hanlon household names of their generation. This writer’s From … Read more
An atlas for Celtic studies: archaeology and names in ancient Europe and early medieval Ireland, Britain, and Brittany John T. Koch (Oxbow Books, £50) ISBN 9781842173091 When Abraham Ortelius published the first modern atlas in the late sixteenth century he included maps of ‘the Celts’ as part of his overall coverage of Europe. He justified … Read more
Between comrades: James Connolly, letters and correspondence, 1889–1916 Donal Nevin (ed.) (Gill & Macmillan, €29.99) ISBN 9780717142231 At last! After decades of calls to action, a beginning has been made. In this volume nearly all of James Connolly’s letters are collected. In addition, the first pages contain much correspondence unconnected with him save insofar as … Read more