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
Did Bloody Sunday really create ‘a nation in revolt’ that eschewed constitutional politics? By Dan Haverty A close examination of community politics in Derry’s Bogside after ‘Bloody Sunday’ reveals a robust network of citizens’ associations dedicated to non-violent reform. Even after Bloody Sunday (30 January 1972), most Catholic residents continued to support the moderate proposals … Read more
How much did Irish relations with the Commonwealth change after 1949? By Ben Wynne The history of Ireland’s membership of the Commonwealth is well known but the country’s relations with the Commonwealth after 1949 have received less attention. In 1948 the Commonwealth consisted of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and, following … Read more
The Harvard Irish Study, 1930–6. By Anne Byrne and Eoin O’Sullivan Family and community in Ireland, first published in 1940 by Conrad Maynadier Arensberg and Solon Toothaker Kimball, is one of the most influential texts in Irish rural sociology and anthropology. The Harvard Irish Study (1930–6) was composed of three strands—physical anthropology, archaeology and social … Read more
By Fiona Fitzsimons The medieval church practised ‘churching’ as a rite of purification and thanksgiving for the safe delivery of a woman after the birth of her child. It marked the end of the ‘green month’ of the woman’s confinement and her resumption of normal domestic life and sexual relations with her husband. At the Reformation … Read more