Sir,—Your last editorial (HI 26.4, July/August 2018) provides an interesting summary of the evolution of Irish society and its relationship with Catholicism. From a position of being overly deferential towards Catholicism, the majority of Irish people have now gone full circle and adopted a child-like, naïve faith in secularism. Much thinking in this country is … Read more
Sir,—In your last issue (HI 26.5, July/August 2018), your feature on ‘The curse of St Laurence O’Toole’ by Dr Jesse Harrington omitted an important factor with wide implications. The sister of St Laurence O’Toole, Mór O’Toole, was married to the then powerful king of Leinster and Uí Chennseligh, Diarmuid Mac Murrough.—Yours etc., NICHOLAS FURLONG, FRSAI … Read more
Sir,—We are Joe Duffy and Freya McClements, two journalists and authors who are writing a book that remembers the children—aged sixteen and under—who were killed during the period known as the Troubles. The 14th of August 2018 marked the 49th anniversary of the death of the first child to die in the Troubles—nine-year-old Patrick Rooney, … Read more
Sir,—When the lord lieutenant handed over Dublin Castle on 16 January 1922 he was acting in accordance with the terms of the Treaty, as ratified by Dáil Éireann. As Donal Kennedy (HI 26.4, July/August 2018, Letters) surely knows, Article 17 of the Treaty laid down the procedures for the formation of a provisional administration in … Read more
Sir,—No doubt Padraig Yeates (HI 26.4, July/August 2018, Letters) did not mean to imply that the Catholic Church inspired the anti-conscription strike. However, he stimulates belief that he did mean that by his title and conclusions, as well as by his muddling up of the strike and general anti-conscription campaign (the clergy being active in … Read more