September Was it for this the wild geese spread The grey wing upon every tide; For this that all the blood was shed, For this Edward Fitzgerald died, And Robert Emmet and Wolfe Tone, All that delirium of the brave? Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone, It’s with O’Leary in the grave. —W.B. Yeats, September 1913 … Read more
Irish society has woken up to the fact that some historically important centenaries are almost upon us: the Easter Rising and the period leading up to it (1913–16), the First World War (1914–18) and the War of Independence/Civil War (1919–23). This awareness is evident in the pages of History Ireland and other journals, on the … Read more
n A major historical fraud has been uncovered thanks to Google and an amateur detective, John Paul Floyd from Glasgow. The Vinland map caused a stir when it came to light in 1957 because it purported to be a Viking map of North America—in other words, proof that the hardy Norsemen had got there centuries … Read more
September 2 Mon 8pm Celbridge Historical Society, Celbridge Library. Irish women and World War II, Mary Muldowney. 6–7 Fri–Sat Birr Historical Society, conference on Birr workhouse. Speakers: Willie Smyth, Mary E. Daly, John Joe Conwell & Margaret Hogan. Enquiries: www.birrhistsoc.com. 6–7 Fri–Sat Centre for the Study of Irish Protestantism and Dept of History, NUI Maynooth. … Read more
As a bimonthly history magazine it is unusual for History Ireland to ‘break’ a story which then goes on to become national news. The exception was Niall Meehan’s ‘Platform’ piece—‘Church and state bear responsibility for the Bethany Home’—published three years ago (HI 18.5, Sept./Oct. 2010). Up to that point, particularly in the wake of the … Read more