By Brian Girvin In his lifetime Owen Sheehy Skeffington (1909–70) was a remarkable figure. Though little known today, he was at the forefront of establishing liberalism as a major force in Ireland between the 1940s and the 1960s. This was an extremely conservative period in Irish life, but Sheehy Skeffington questioned and challenged Church and … Read more
By John Mulqueen In May 1945 many in German uniforms who fought to the end in Berlin were not German: Estonian, French, Latvian and Scandinavian Waffen-SS soldiers tried in vain to halt the Red Army juggernaut. The smallest section in the military wing of the SS, the British Free Corps, also played a role. There … Read more
By Martin Tyrrell The writer Máirín Mitchell (1895–1986) is remembered, if at all, for her 1937 book Storm over Spain. It was one of the scores of books published during the Spanish Civil War, when public interest in that country was at an understandable high. In the event, the book was a commercial failure, never … Read more
By Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh The word ‘iconic’ is used far too often, but there are times when it applies. Ever since James Connolly had the slogan ‘We Serve Neither King Nor Kaiser But Ireland!’ hung on Dublin’s Liberty Hall in 1914, it has had considerable influence. The photograph of Citizen Army members mobilised in front … Read more
The execution of a National Army officer a century ago followed two shocking killings in rural Kerry in the months after the end of the Civil War. By Owen O’Shea The attitude and approach of the National Army and the Free State government to the notorious behaviour of many senior army figures in County Kerry … Read more