Sir,—The article by Bryan MacMahon (HI 26.6, Sept./Oct. 2018) accurately highlights the impact of the Abergele disaster on contemporary society. A footnote to this sad tale is that the clerk in charge of the Travelling Post Office (TPO) van was Henry Cole Silk. He was the youngest son of Edmund Silk, attorney and long-standing seneschal … Read more
Sir,—Mark Phelan’s excellently compressed account (‘How the Central Powers were defeated’, HI 26.6, Nov./Dec. 2018) is very informative. However, one contributing factor to large-scale surrenders by German soldiers is not mentioned. British historian Professor Niall Ferguson has drawn attention to the consideration that the cessation by British soldiers, in the last months of the war, … Read more
Sir,—With reference to the excellent article by Leanne Blaney, ‘Motors wanted!’ (HI 26.6, Nov./Dec. 2018), on the use of the motor car in canvassing during the 1918 general election, in a February 1908 cartoon that was part of Sinn Féin’s North Leitrim by-election campaign on behalf of its candidate Charles Dolan, the former Irish Parliamentary … Read more
BY TONY CANAVAN New life for Belfast courthouse A new landmark hotel for Belfast is set to open in the Crumlin Road Courthouse. This historic building has remained derelict for years, with a number of plans published on what to do with it. After all those false starts, however, it seems that developer Lawrence Kenwright … Read more
In recent years the commemoration of those who participated in the First World War has become less contentious. By William Murphy In an initiative that attracted considerable attention, each day for eleven days, concluding on 11 November 2018, the Gaelic Athletic Association both tweeted and published on its website a short profile of a player … Read more