After a break occasioned by our detour to Latin America in the last issue, Bookworm is back. It seems to be an iron rule of publishing that any book relating to the Second World War must have ‘Hitler’ in the title. The latest in the genre is Terence O’Reilly’s Hitler’s Irishmen (Mercier Press, 320pp, €16.99 … Read more
Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre Oldbridge, Co. Meath +353 (0)41 9849873, battleoftheboyne@opw.ie, www.battleoftheboyne.ie Daily 10am–5pm by Tony Canavan Given the massive amount of publicity surrounding the opening of this visitor centre, I expected that it would be easy to find, but in fact there is very little in the way of signposting. I nearly … Read more
Prisoner of the Crown Richard Stockton Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd Street, New York, May–July 2008 by Mark Coalter The life and legacy of Roger Casement are shrouded in paradox, controversy and conspiracy. As a liberal Edwardian figure, Casement was a celebrated British diplomat who was knighted by George V for his courageous humanitarian … Read more
Car bomber Many Rivers Films 27 July and 3 August 2008, Channel 4 by John Gibney One of the various complaints levelled against Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins (1996) on its release related to the incongruous depiction of a car bomb attack in Dublin Castle. Given that no such attack ever happened in Ireland in 1920–1, … Read more
Night Flight to Uli Concern films at the Irish Film Archive, Temple Bar by Tom Lodge Recently the NGO Concern donated a collection of its films, originally made for fund-raising purposes, to the Irish Film Archive. Originally ‘Africa Concern’, its formation in 1968 was prompted by Irish missionaries in Biafra at the time of its … Read more