‘Too many histories’? The Bureau of Military History and Easter 1916

Established in 1947 by the Irish government in collaboration with a committee of professional historians and former Irish Volunteers, the purpose of the Bureau of Military History was ‘to assemble and coordinate material to form the basis for the compilation of the history of the movement for independence from the formation of the Irish Volunteers … Read more

Sisters sentenced to death: infanticide in independent Ireland

The County Roscommon district courthouse was crowded in January 1935 when sisters Elizabeth (23) and Rose E. (18) were tried for the murder of the elder sister’s infant daughter. Like most of the mothers who stood trial for infanticide in post-independence Ireland, Elizabeth was unmarried. Irish society was deeply intolerant of unmarried mothers and their illegitimate children … Read more

Oh what a lovely war! Dublin and the First World War

The First World War was good for Dublin. Living standards rose and mortality rates fell as money flowed into the tenements in separation payments to soldiers’ wives. The British government’s relatively generous compensation to property owners for the destruction wrought in 1916 allowed for a slight reduction in the commercial rates, and Lloyd George provided … Read more