BIRTH OF THE BORDER:the impact of partition in Ireland CORMAC MOOREMerrion Press€19.99ISBN 9781785372933 WITHOUT A DOG’S CHANCE:the nationalists of Northern Ireland and the Irish Boundary Commission, 1920–25 JAMES. A. COUSINSIrish Academic Press€24.95ISBN 9781788551021 Reviewed by Martin Mansergh It should be said at the outset that both books are excellent and informative, while coming at the … Read more
The weaponry of the IRB in the 1880s. BY ROBERT DELANEY In December 1881 a police raid on a property in Brabazon Street in Dublin uncovered a substantial cache of weapons and ammunition that were part of the Irish Republican Brotherhood’s (IRB) secret arsenal. Six months later, the police in London made an even larger … Read more
A strong undercurrent of feeling against the medical establishment led to a steady refusal to go to hospital. BY GILLIAN ALLMOND In October 1830, alarming reports began to reach Belfast of an outbreak of ‘cholera morbus’ in Moscow. The Asiatic cholera, as it was also known, killed with dramatic suddenness, its cause was unknown and … Read more
BY DECLAN BARRON Ireland in the 1820s was divided on the question of religious liberty. In 1825 the Protestant establishment in Dublin formed the Royal York Club to conserve the status quo and prevent Catholic Emancipation. The following year Daniel O’Connell formed the Order of Liberators to honour supporters for standing up for Catholic rights, … Read more
By Joseph E.A. Connell Jr The violence of the War of Independence was at first deeply unpopular with the broader Irish public, but attitudes changed gradually in the face of the British government’s campaign of widespread brutality, destruction of property, random arrests, reprisals and unprovoked shootings. The small groups of Volunteers on the run were … Read more