The English crown first intervened in Ireland in 1171. King Henry II came to curb the power of his Anglo-Norman subjects, who were seizing Irish territories for themselves; Diarmait MacMurchada had brought them here in the late 1160s to help him regain the kingship of Leinster. Henry also wished to impose his authority on the … Read more
Sir,—In ending his review of my book Irish Socialist Republicanism, 1909–36 (HI 21.4, July/Aug. 2013), Padraig Yeates states that I provide ‘many insights into the pursuit of [a workers’ republic] in the 1920s and 1930s that would have been better served by a deeper analysis of the decade before the Treaty’. The review (which, apart … Read more
Sir,—Barry Keane’s article on the cricket match between the ‘Gentlemen of Ireland versus the Military of Ireland’ (HI 21.6, Sept./Oct. 2013) was most interesting, as was the pen portrait of ‘one of Ireland’s greatest sportsmen’, Bob Lambert. Lambert’s cricketing achievements are listed but it might also be of interest to know his badminton accomplishments. He … Read more
Sir,—I wish to add to Joseph E.A. Connell’s excellent column on ‘The founding of the Irish Citizen Army’ (HI 21.5, Sept./Oct. 2013, ‘Countdown to 2020’). Most histories of the ICA, including D.R. O’Connor Lysaght’s superb ‘The Irish Citizen Army, 1913–1916: White, Larkin, and Connolly’ (HI 14.2, March/April 2006), overlook the role that Dublin-born dramatist and … Read more
Sir,—The discussion of the role of James Larkin in the Dublin Lockout (HI 21.4, July/Aug. 2013) was most thorough and stimulating. However, I might mention another strike that occurred at the same time in County Dublin in which Larkin played a pivotal and important part. In 1913 Fingal, the rural area north of the Liffey, … Read more