BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Four 10 September–22 October 2019 (seven episodes) By Brian Hanley It is as well to admit at the outset that critiquing a television documentary could leave a historian open to the accusation of being jealous of the access to a popular audience enjoyed by a documentary-maker. As it happens, most … Read more
Down County Museum The Mall, Downpatrick, Co. Down mail@downcountymuseum.com downcountymuseum.com By Tony Canavan Down County Museum occupies a building of historical significance. It was originally the county gaol, which opened in 1796. Hundreds of United Irishmen were imprisoned here after the 1798 Rebellion and many were hanged from gallows at its entrance. In 1803 Thomas … Read more
LIAM CAHILL Orla Kelly Publishing €15 ISBN 9781912328413 Reviewed by: D.R. O’Connor Lysaght D.R. O’Connor Lysaght’s The story of the Limerick Soviet appeared recently in its fifth edition. The Limerick Soviet of 1919 was a major episode in the Anglo-Irish War. It involved the population of Ireland’s fourth largest city, with 14,000 participating actively. Yet … Read more
ROBERT LYNCH Cambridge University Press €24 ISBN 9780521189583 Reviewed by: Martin Mansergh Martin Mansergh is a former politician and NI adviser. There is a growing literature on the border and partition, stimulated as much by their central role to date in the drama of Brexit as by the looming centenary. This book has the stated … Read more
EOIN O’DUFFY Reconquista Press €15 ISBN 9781912853076 The Salamanca diaries: Father McCabe and the Spanish Civil War TIM FANNING Irish Academic Press €19.95 ISBN 9781785372773 Reviewed by: John Dorney Irishmen fought on both sides of the Spanish Civil War (1936–9). These two recently released books shed light on the larger Irish intervention, that led by … Read more