March 3 Tues 8pm Clare & Shannon Archaeological & Historical Societies, Old Ground Hotel, Ennis. Praying and singing in medieval Ireland, 1000–1600, Frank Lawrence. 6 Fri 7.30pm NUI Maynooth History Forum, Rhetoric House, South Campus. The moral economy—how the poor survived in 1830s Ireland, Seán Bagnall. 9 Mon 7.30pm Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, … Read more
Through their articles and editorial positions, newspapers shaped and set in motion many of the forces that created the organisations and individuals of the revolutionary years. As was often the case in the period, women were to the fore. In 1908 the Daughters of Ireland. Inghinidhe na hÉireann initiated Bean na hÉireann, the first nationalist-feminist … Read more
MICHAEL KENNEDY & ART MAGENNIS Four Courts Press €40.50 ISBN 9781846825231 Reviewed by Thomas O’Loughlin To appreciate this important book one must note the opening sentences with care: ‘This book originates in a personal memoir by Comdt. Art Magennis of his service with the 35th Irish Battalion in Organisation de Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC) … Read more
LEO KEOHANE Merrion Press €20.25 pb, €49.95 hb ISBN 9781908928931 Reviewed by Angus Mitchell Of the many strands of radical thought to be reckoned with in the ideological crossfire of Ireland’s revolutionary years—nationalism, socialism, feminism, anti-imperialism, modernism, internationalism, pacifism and vegetarianism—the relevance of anarchism is notably understudied. Part of the reason is due to the … Read more
KEVIN MYERS Lilliput Press €20 ISBN 9781843516354 Reviewed by Myles Dungan Sometime back in the 1970s a seventeen-year-old UCD scholarship candidate faced the might of Prof. Kevin B. Nowlan and Prof. F.X. Martin in an oral examination. Early on in the inquisition he was asked by the affable Prof. Nowlan, ‘Can you name any Irishmen … Read more