Sir, —Writing from Cork (HI 16.2, March/April 2008), CliveSinclair-Poulton embraces the view that more needs to be taught on whathappened in the 1920s and he reckons that there should be no taboos. Isay Amen to both propositions. A good place to start might be tworecent (March and April) obituaries in the Irish Times, one for … Read more
Sir, —Michael Kennedy’s article in the last issue, ‘“Men that came in with the sea”: the Coastwatching Service and the sinking of the Arandora Star’, showed the function of the lookout posts, and I am looking forward to reading the author’s book, Guarding neutral Ireland: the coast watching service and military intelligence, 1939–1945. The sad … Read more
Too soon to say/It’s early yet It is now ten years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and the anniversary has been marked by a plethora of analyses in both broadcast and print media (and books: see ‘Bookworm’, p. 54). Moreover, it comes at a time when most of the architects of the … Read more
Sir, —Risteárd Mulcahy certainly has a point (HI 16.2, March/April 2008) when he states that the role of the IRA’s GHQ staff during the War of Independence has been somewhat ignored. Outside historical circles, who could even name the 13 members of the pre-treaty GHQ staff at the time of the truce in 1921? They … Read more
Sir, —In the lead photo (p. 22) of Michael Doorley’s article on ‘The Friends of Irish Freedom’ (HI 16.1, Jan./Feb. 2008), the figure to Dev’s immediate left is in fact Dr Patrick McCartan (and not FOIF secretary Diarmuid Lynch, as captioned). I should know—he was my godfather. —Yours etc., MAIRTÍN McCULLOUGH Blackrock Co. Dublin