Apart from increasing military wages, there was little that the Irish government could do to address the main problem facing Irish servicemen: boredom. After the initial surge of recruitment in mid-1940, when Defence Force numbers peaked at around 40,000 men, life in the Irish forces quickly became routine. As the threat of invasion receded after … Read more
Large-scale exhibitions of Irish art are as rare as written art histories of the period so the IMMA is to be commended for tackling the area head on. By their nature such exhibitions present a cartography of the period in question, effectively asserting that their route map is the newest and the best. Both as … Read more
‘The people are not only enchanted with the queen and the gracious kindness of her manner, and the confidence she has shown in them, but they are pleased with themselves for their own good feelings and behaviour, which they consider have removed the barriers that hitherto existed between the sovereign and themselves, and they now … Read more
July 11 1921 A truce in the Anglo-Irish war came into effect. 12 1911 King George V concluded a five-day visit to Ireland. During his stay he went to the races, visited Maynooth College and opened the College of Science in Merrion Street, Dublin. 15 1927 Countess Markievicz, née Constance Gore-Booth (59), republican socialist, the … Read more
In his thoughtful reflection on the recent visit of Queen Elizabeth II (pp 10–11) Edward Madigan observes that ‘there was also a popular understanding of the Irish Revolution and the First World War as separate, only very tenuously connected events’. Jérôme aan de Wiel’s article in this issue (pp 32–5) reinforces that ‘connectedness’. Misperceptions of … Read more