Sir,—Your editorial ‘Judging the Catholic Church’ (HI 26.2, March/April 2018) is reasonably fair and nuanced, which is certainly not the norm in such commentary over the last 20–30 years. The usual approach is to attack the Church at its most vulnerable points. This stands in sharp contrast to classic Catholic apologetics, where the great Catholic … Read more
A chara,—Tony Canavan (HI 26.2, March/April 2018, Bite-sized History) poses a question that will become even more relevant over the next year or so—where and when did the War of Independence start? The claim that the armed action by Donegal Volunteers in freeing two republicans on 4 January 1918 signalled the start of the war … Read more
Sir,—I wish to respond to some of the points made by D.R. O’Connor Lysaght (HI 26.3, May/June 2018, letters) regarding my article ‘A sheep in wolf’s clothing no match for the wise serpent’ (HI 26.2, March/April 2018). First, at no point did I say that the Catholic Church ‘inspired the stoppage’. Second, Rayner produces no … Read more
Sir,—Barry Keane (HI 26.2, March/April 2018, letters) expresses concern that the issue of the sectarian nature of the 1922 Dunmanway massacre has resurfaced. He again says, ‘It’s time to give it a rest’, especially as he reckons that it was indeed sectarian but that the motives of the killers are unclear and will remain unproven. … Read more
Sir,—Emily Mark-Fitzgerald (HI 26.3, May/June 2018, What’s On Film) has got both the quotation and the attribution to A.M. Sullivan wrong. The actual sentence from a Times of London editorial of 1847, which I read myself while researching a short biography of Terence Bellew McManus in the late ’60s, reads: ‘Thanks to a bountiful providence, … Read more