Sir,—In a previous letter (HI 27.3, May/June 2019), Padraig Yeates seemed to assert that the Irish bore chief responsibility for the 1919–21 war with Britain. Now (HI 27.5, Sept./Oct. 2019) he states merely that the said war was the main cause of partition. This is an improvement; it is still mistaken. The war was simply a … Read more
Sir,—I read with more than passing interest the fine summary of the potential negative implications of open access publishing, especially page charges, by Jacqueline Hill (HI 27.5, Sept./Oct. 2019). She describes, without exaggeration, the consequences for academic researchers trying to publish when not in receipt of research grants to cover these page charges. Although not … Read more
Sir,—Tony Tracy’s article on Hollywood’s view of Parnell (HI 27.5, Sept./Oct. 2019) brings to mind an anecdote by León Ó Broin. A senior civil servant by day, in his leisure time he wrote books, including a biography of Parnell in Irish. His next-door neighbour was Jimmy Montgomery, the state’s film censor and a noted wit. … Read more
Sir,—There were many myths and legends that became attached to the story of the defence of her besieged castle by Lettice Digby, Baroness Offaly (HI 27.5, Sept./Oct. 2019). These myths themselves have been theorised as suggesting a certain discomfort among male historians with the heroic actions of a woman at a time when heroic action was … Read more
Sir,—In an otherwise interesting article about the Radical Club, Brian Trench feels the need to exploit Liam O’Flaherty in making an anti-Soviet political point—citing O’Flaherty’s 1931 text I went to Russia to prove that the author was ‘disillusioned’ with the Soviet Union. This assertion misses the point of O’Flaherty’s satire completely, taking a text that … Read more