Sir,—Michael Robinson’s ‘Broken soldiers’ (HI 24.2, March/April 2016) was a most interesting read. His observation that ‘medical officers were not initially paid for a man rejected’ on examination for recruitment raises the question: did they eventually get paid and, if so, how much? He further informs us that for each recruit passed fit the medical … Read more
Sir,—In his review of Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh’s I mBéal an Bháis: The Great Famine and the language shift in nineteenth-century Ireland (HI 24.1, Jan./Feb. 2016), Proinsias Ó Drisceoil makes a number of extremely valid points, amongst them (a) that the Irish colleges in Europe did their best to keep the language alive and (b) that … Read more
Sir,—David Snook’s letter (HI 24.1, Jan./Feb. 2016) is further confirmation of the need for research to get to the truth about the sinking of the Lusitania. But this cannot start until the promise of cooperation by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, made publicly by Minister Deenihan in Cork is 2012, is fulfilled. … Read more
Sir,—I have noticed one or two claims in Patrick Maume’s review of my biography of Arthur Griffith (HI 24.2, March/April 2016) that I think necessitate a response. Irrespective of his strange attempt to pigeon-hole me as an ideologue, he states that I describe various figures in the text as ‘British agents’—something that I did not … Read more