Sir,—Permit me two observations on your excellent last issue on Strongbow and his companions (HI 27.3, May/June 2019). Prof. Seán Duffy’s Platform piece and your deliberately provocative editorial proclaiming the invaders to be English has surely garnered much reaction. But I fail to see how a mixed band of Norman, Welsh, Flemish and, yes, some … Read more
Sir,—The article on Col. James Fitzmaurice and the Bremen (HI 27.2, March/April 2019) is a very interesting one. The Bremen was a Junkers W33 long-wing monoplane and was based on a typical all-metal Junkers construction with an aluminium skin. The engine was able to reach 310 horsepower. The average weight of a Junkers W33 was … Read more
Sir,—In my review of the late Donnchadh Ó Corráin’s Clavis Litterarum Hibernensium (HI 27.3, May/June 2019) I accidentally attributed the beautiful one-verse poem Isan bhFrainc to the Franciscan poet Pilib Bocht Ó Huiginn, when in fact it was composed by his Dominican contemporary Pádraigín Haicéad. I would ask your readers to treat the lapse as … Read more
Sir,—In the brief but interesting article ‘Seán Hogan rescued at Knocklong’ (HI 27.3, May/June 2019), Joseph E.A. Connell wrote that five men were arrested following the rescue of Seán Hogan at Knocklong on 13 May 1919. In fact six men were arrested. The sixth man was Michael O’Connell, who at that time was the brigade … Read more
Sir,—It is good that Padraig Yeates (Letters, HI 27.3, May/June 2019) ‘would largely concur’ with my analysis and with Martin Mansergh’s observation (Platform, HI 27.2, March/April 2019). However, two points in his letter deserve further consideration. Firstly, there is Dr Yeates’s suggestion that a campaign of civil disobedience in Ireland might have achieved the country’s … Read more