Declan Keenan’s ‘An inauguration of a MacWilliam Íochtair at Rausakeera, Co. Mayo, during the Nine Years War’ (HI 29.6, Nov./Dec. 2021) included the line (p. 23, top of first column) ‘He [Theobald ne Long (Theobald of the Ships)] had reportedly access to three galleys and a mini-navy comprising hundreds of ships, a rarity in Gaelic … Read more
Sir,—In his excellent article on Delia Murphy (HI 29.6, Nov./Dec. 2021) Aidan O’Hara stated that Seán Ó Siocháin was a ‘former President of the GAA’. This is incorrect, as Ó Siocháin never held the position of President. However, he did hold official positions in the GAA for many years, beginning in 1946 when he became … Read more
Sir,—Seán Beattie (‘The lasting legacy of the last viceroy’, HI 29.5, Sept./Oct. 2021) is not quite correct in saying that Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent was ‘the leading Catholic aristocrat in England’. He was the younger brother of the 15th Duke of Norfolk (who died in 1917), and by 1921 he was the uncle of the … Read more
Sir,—I would like to take issue with Declan Keenan’s article, ‘An inauguration of a MacWilliam Íochtair at Rausakeera, Co. Mayo, during the Nine Years War’ (HI 29.6, Nov./Dec. 2021), in regard to the supposed use of Rausakeera for the initiation rite of Bourke chieftains. I suggest that Red Hugh O’Donnell was a master of the … Read more