Sir,—The last few months of 2017 witnessed the passing of two giants of Irish historiography. Donnchadh Ó Corráin—interviewed in the last issue (HI 26.1, Jan./Feb. 2018)—died in Cork on 25 October, and then on New Year’s Eve came news that Francis John Byrne, another colossus of early Irish history, had died on the previous day. … Read more
Another look at the 23 April 1918 general strike against conscription. By Padraig Yeates As the Voice of Labour, the organ of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, put it at the time, ‘In numbers, in spirit, in determination, in resolve, in decision, Labour in Ireland has done nothing in its history to equal … Read more
By Lar Joye Early in 1918 the British government announced that it would introduce conscription to Ireland, forcing young men to join the army or face a jail sentence. This action united Irish nationalists, who circulated anti-conscription cartoons and buttons, and signed pledges promising to assist young men to avoid service. The British Army was … Read more
‘The head of a landlord in one hand and the tail of a cow in the other—these are the arguments to use when you argue with an Englishman.’ By Phelim Brady Given Michael Collins’s reputation as the ‘Irish Pimpernel’, it might surprise some to learn that he was once arrested in broad daylight in the … Read more
The political conversion of Orangeman Frederick Youell. By Quincey Dougan In its 21 January 1909 edition, the Belfast Weekly News contained an editorial entitled ‘The Vanguard County’, a report on the proceedings of the recently held meeting of the County Grand Orange Lodge of Leitrim, and it was unusual in that it also included portraits … Read more