There is much talk these days of a ‘decade of centenaries’, but this renewed emphasis on impending commemoration shouldn’t obscure those commemorations that are already established. At this time of year one looms large: Armistice Day, 11 November. To mark it, the Dublin photographer David O’Flynn has compiled a collection of his photographs, available to … Read more
The 1970s was an undeniably dramatic decade, with economic, industrial and political unrest at home and abroad; social change, with a new level of consumer affluence; and sharpened debates about religion, equality and the status of women in Irish life. And there was the continuation of the conflict in Northern Ireland, with serious implications for … Read more
The early decades of the twentieth century were ones of social, political and geographical upheaval. This created a restless society, with many political organisations forming across the political spectrum. During these decades the law of sedition was used in prosecutions more frequently than today. Generally sedition was considered to occur when a person/member of an … Read more
As the political ideology of communism and socialism spread after the formation of the USSR in 1922, many Western countries began to consider it a potential threat to national security and stability. In Northern Ireland the Ministry of Home Affairs, responsible for gauging this threat, was created in 1921 as a consequence of the Government … Read more
On Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, a small group of Irish Citizen Army soldiers under Captain Seán Connolly (no relation to James Connolly) attacked the centre of British administration in Ireland—Dublin Castle. At the time it was largely in the hands of civil servants, and sections of it had been handed over to a Red … Read more