Sir, —In relation to Joost Augusteijn’s review (HI 17.2, March/April2009) on the controversy over the June 1921 shootings of the Pearsonbrothers at their family farm in Coolacrease, Co. Offaly, by the IRA,your readers may be interested in a scrap of information that I cameacross when editing Wilfrid Ewart’s A Journey in Ireland 1921 for UCDPress … Read more
Sir, —In his review of Coolacrease (HI 17.2, March/April 2009) JoostAugusteijn presents himself as a neutral arbiter between the authors ofthe work and the writers of the tradition it criticises. In fact, it isclear that he is as committed as Philip O’Connor and his contributors,only from an opposing pole and in a more subtle manner. … Read more
Sir, —One of the joys of historical research is to discover an unknown document that appears to validate (or discredit) some widely cherished yet hitherto unproven speculation. Such a document is the report submitted to Dublin Castle by Brigadier-General Cyril (not ‘Cecil’) Prescott-Decie, divisional commissioner of the RIC in Limerick, on 1 June 1920. On … Read more
The Orange Order in Canada David A. Wilson (ed.) (Four Courts Press, €55) ISBN 9781846820779 This collection is derived from the first conference on the Orange Order in Canada, held at St Michael’s College, Toronto, in 2005. While the majority of the articles trace the activities and development of the order in Canada from the … Read more
Shipwreck Inventory of Ireland: Louth, Meath, Dublin and Wicklow Compiled by Karl Brady (Government Publications, €35) ISBN 9780755776160 From the highest point in old Holmpatrick graveyard, up by the ruined church tower where little more than a murder of crows mourns the many worn headstones, you have a pretty good view of the islands off … Read more