By Henry A. Jefferies Generations of students have learned about ‘Silken Thomas’ FitzGerald and his ill-fated rebellion of 1534/5 but were taught nothing about the involvement of his foster-mother, his wife or his stepmother in what was one of the most important events in Irish history. Tudor Ireland, it seemed, was most definitely a ‘man’s … Read more
By Sylvie Kleinman In February 2023, locals assembled in Ballyfermot People’s Park ‘amongst a sea of flags from around the world’ to counter the racism and xenophobia fuelling ongoing anti-immigration protests. Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy would not ‘have other people’ say that the Irish were ‘racists’ or ‘haters’. Their flags projected international solidarity. Coincidentally, the … Read more
Sir,—History Ireland is up to its old tricks again. In the article on Sefraid Ó Fearghaill (HI 31.1, Jan./Feb. 2023, pp 14–17) by Stephen Hewer it is stated that ‘by 1270 the English had been colonising parts of Ireland for over 100 years’. In the same article there are several other references to the ‘English’. … Read more
Sir,—I may be able to identify ‘the enigmatic “Mr Delvin, Ireland”’ who is cited in Fiona Fitzsimons’s article on ‘Home Children—an Irish perspective, 1860s to 1922’ (HI 34.3, May/June 2023) as having brokered in 1899 the emigration to Canada of ‘a group of young women with a median age of nineteen’. Charles Ramsey Devlin (1858–1914), … Read more
Sir,—Martin Green’s ‘James Joyce’s Huguenots’ (HI 31.3, May/June 2023) should have directed readers to Marie M. Léoutre’s thorough investigation of the Earl of Galway’s career, Serving France, Ireland and England: Ruvigny, Earl of Galway, 1648–1720 (Routledge, in paperback since 2020). Also, of all the tantalising allusions to the Huguenots in James Joyce, unfortunately the one … Read more