Sir, —In his reassessment of the reputation of Oliver Cromwell, Micheál Ó Siochrú outlines the known historical facts relating to his campaign in Ireland (August 1649–May 1650), detailing his programme of ethnic cleansing, the massacre of military and civilian personnel at Drogheda and Wexford, the forced removal to Connacht and the transportation of slave labour … Read more
Sir,— I am currently researching a book on the Bayno, the famous playcentre established by the first Lord Iveagh in 1909 in the Myra Hall inFrancis Street, Dublin, and then transferred to Bull Alley in 1915.This magnificent building was created by Iveagh inspired by thepeople’s palaces movement in England, particularly that on the Mile EndRoad … Read more
Sir, —Owing to my interest in Latin American history and politics, Ipicked up the July/August 2008 issue (Ireland and Latin America) withgreat interest. Looking at Jim Fitzpatrick’s famous reworking ofKorda’s photo of Che at a public funeral in Havana, however, I spotteda factual error that seems to have passed into fact, particularly inIreland. The poster … Read more
Sir, —Michael O’Neill-Mockler’s list of monsters in his letter in thelast issue includes Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, the Shah of Iran andPinochet. Interestingly, all the names on his list speak funnylanguages or have moustaches or are followers of exotic religions. Andof course they all come from ‘over there’. I wonder has he ever seenthe … Read more
At the grave risk of appearing a pedant (God forbid!), may Irespectfully suggest that the reference to Raymond le Gros in yourMay/June 2008 issue (‘On this day’, 1 May 1170, p. 8) meritscorrection? Le Gros was not a Fitzgerald, although he may perhaps beconsidered to have been a Geraldine (the question is rather semantic).The Geraldine … Read more