The Path to Freedom: Articles and speeches, by Michael Collins (Mercier Press, £6.99)

The contemporary Irish interest in the reprinting of Michael Collins’ notes of August 1922 was not lost on Mercier Press. On the back of their book are Collins’ remarks about the vain efforts to bring about a truce with the British in December 1920: The actions taken indicated an over-keen desire for peace, and although … Read more

The Illustrated London News: the work of Aloysius

Speaking in the Houses of Parliament in 1886 T.P. O’Connor, one of Parnell’s closest associates, forecast what Ireland would look like under Home Rule. He described ‘a nation of small farmers—one vast universal petite bourgeoisie’. In support of his characterisation he goes on to exhort his listeners to Go to the Royal Academy and look … Read more

The Men of No Popery: the Origins of the Orange Order

We’ll fight to the last in the honest old cause, And guard our religion, our freedom and laws. We’ll fight for our country, our king and his crown, And make all the traitors and croppies lie down. As the television documentaries, radio programmes and newspaper features marking the bicentennary of the French revolution rolled on … Read more

Maynooth: a Catholic Seminary in a Protestant state

The foundation of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, in 1795 represented a revolution in the history of Irish Catholicism. The penal era was drawing to a close, but the French Revolution and the loss of the continental colleges threatened the supply of priests to Ireland; of 478 seminary places in Europe before the revolution, ninety per … Read more