Sir,—I read with delight the article ‘Viking Cork’ by Henry A. Jefferies (HI 18.6, Nov./Dec. 2010) and note with interest his quotation, attributed to Deborah Sutton, that ‘We think the people here ate hake and pike . . .’. It seems that excavations of Viking Cork carried out by Deborah and Máire Ní Loingsigh revealed … Read more
Sir,—Re Fergus Whelan’s claim that Irish republicanism is ‘not indigenous’ (HI 18.6, Nov./Dec. 2010). By the same token, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism and Islam are all imports. In fact, the only truly indigenous faith is paganism.—Yours etc., JAMES G. KEEHAN Gort
Sir,—I was interested in Tom Farrell’s account of some of the Irishmen who fought in the Korean War (HI 18.5, Sept./Oct. 2010). This was the first war in which the United Nations organised a task force, under its own command, to enforce its mandate. As well as the troops referred to by Tom Farrell, there … Read more
Sir,—I was dismayed by Seamus Deane’s intemperate review of James Donnelly’s Captain Rock (HI 18.6, Nov./Dec. 2010), having long been an admirer of Deane’s writing. He did your readers no favours, ignoring much of the content of a book that offers the most comprehensive and sophisticated analysis of the Rockite movement to date. Deane, it … Read more
The current crisis in Ireland can be compared to ‘the crisis of liberalism’ experienced in the United Kingdom before 1914. One aspect of it was the feeling that the Westminster model had ceased to provide democratic representation under industrial conditions. It was in this period that Labour first considered issues such as proportional representation, but … Read more