Sir,—In an earlier letter (HI 20.5, Sept./Oct. 2012) I suggested that the last lines of Tomás Rua Ó Suilleabháin’s praise-poem ‘Sé Domhnall Binn Ó Conaill caoin’ amounted to an unambiguous aspiration to ethnic cleansing (‘go nglanfar cruinn as Éilge iad’). In taking me to task on this (in surprisingly intemperate tones), Niall Gillespie (HI 20.6, … Read more
Sir,—Peter Connolly (Letters, HI 20.6, Nov./Dec. 2012) contrasts the wiping out by Tom Barry’s column of eighteen Auxiliaries at Kilmichael in November 1920 with the sparing of men from the same force by Seán MacEoin’s men at Ballinalee in February 1921. Neither Barry nor any of his men suffered injury or imprisonment as a result … Read more
Sir,—I loved the front cover picture (HI 20.6, Nov./Dec. 2012) of Edward Carson and James Craig at Galgorm Castle in July 1913. Over the following few days I found myself coming back to sneak a peak at it again, and grinning inanely. And yet I couldn’t quite explain my fascination. And then came my ‘eureka’ … Read more
Sir,—I read with interest the article on the American Civil War by Kevin Haddick Flynn (HI 20.5, Sept./Oct. 2012). I should like, however, to correct some factual errors in the article, the first being that William Mitchel was John Mitchel’s eldest son. He was in fact his youngest and a private in the 1st Virginia … Read more
Sir,—I thoroughly enjoyed Philip Orr’s article on Ballymena during the Home Rule crisis (HI 20.6, Nov./Dec. 2012). I have lived in the town for 40 years and taught history here for 30. A pupil once lent me a postcard (reproduced in my Nationalist and Unionist: Ireland before the Treaty [Blackie & Son, 1989]) sent in … Read more