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
Sir,—Twenty-five years on, the latest argument between Prof. David Fitzpatrick and Dr Andy Bielenberg about Peter Hart’s research identifying high levels of sectarianism in Cork during the War of Independence and its aftermath is disquieting and disappointing. Fitzpatrick ignores the volumes of evidence uncovered since the publication of Hart’s The IRA and its enemies. His … Read more
Sir,—Tony Canavan told the story of the painting of William of Orange hanging in Stormont since the 1930s, which caused controversy owing to the inclusion in the painting of Pope Innocent XI (‘A papist painting for a Protestant parliament?’, HI 16.1, Jan./Feb. 2008). Episode three of the first series of the BBC’s Britain’s Lost Masterpieces … Read more
Sir,—With regard to Tony Canavan’s review of the Central Bank Visitor Centre (HI 26.1, Jan./Feb. 2018) and the design of the new coinage for the Irish Free State, my impression was that W.B. Yeats, given his family connection to visual art and his pre-eminence as a poet, overshadowed everybody on the committee, including the secretary … Read more
Sir,—I read with interest the article ‘What happened to Redmond’s National Volunteers?’ (HI 26.1, Jan./Feb. 2018). The article seemed to be preoccupied with the internal administration of the movement. References to the movement in Dooley’s, Finnan’s and Meleady’s biographies of John Redmond paint a different picture of his efforts to use the Volunteer movement to … Read more