Sir,—In Gareth Mulvenna’s interesting article (HI 25.1, Jan./Feb. 2017), the Tartan gangs of Belfast, which flourished in the 1960s and ’70s before being subsumed into the UDA/UVF, are presented as part of a loyalist backlash, a violent reaction to nationalist/republican violence. This ignores the actual origins of the ‘Troubles’. Unionist unrest dates back to the … Read more
Sir,—Joseph Mannion (HI 25.2, March/April ’17) suggests that Sir Francis Shane’s ‘unwavering allegiance to the crown transcends the social and ethnic divisions of the period, [and] challenges traditional perceptions of contemporary Irish society’, as Shane, who came from a Gaelic Irish background, was, in the words of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, ‘a faithful and assured instrument … Read more
Sir,—With reference to the above-named piece by Eddie Bohan, the Helga could not have fired on the wireless school in Sackville Street or adjoining buildings. A couple of completely undamaged blocks between the Helga’s position opposite the Custom House and Sackville Street testify to this. The proposal presumably goes with the often-repeated statement that she … Read more
Sir,—It was with interest that I read Gavin Foster’s article about the IRA campaign against cinema during the Civil War (HI 25.2, March/April 2017). As someone who has been researching the role of newsreels and press photographers during the 1912–23 period, I am pleased to see some attention being paid to the often-forgotten role played … Read more
Sir,—Arthur Griffith was in many ways an estimable human being. In five sixths of a page, Colum Kenny has shown this (HI 25.2, March/April 2017). Unfortunately for him, very little of his argument is relevant to this writer’s proposition, which is that Griffith’s ‘single-minded nationalism’ was quite inadequate for the problems of Ireland in his … Read more