Sir,—Frank MacGabhann’s thoughtful letter highlighting historical absurdities in House of Guinness, which I reviewed (HI 34.1, Jan./Feb. 2026, pp 52–3), was most welcome. An apology is owed, as I was actually being as politely sarcastic as my editor would allow when I wrote about viewers being ‘edified’ by the objectionable ‘Fenian babe’ story line. Distorting … Read more
Sir,—You recently published an edited version of the winning essay in the 2025 Irish Chiefs’ and Clans’ Prize in Gaelic History by David Mac Donagh (HI 33.6, Nov./Dec. 2025, pp 16–19). The writers of this letter wish to raise some concerns relating to this paper, the approach to the research, the veracity of the points … Read more
Sir,—I set up a ‘Garda Síochána and Civic Guard Genealogy and History Ireland’ Facebook group as a hobby three years ago, and it now has over 9,200 members from across the world. The aim of the group is to create an online community/forum where members can share their stories of their family history of having … Read more
Sir,—Joseph McKenna lacks several specifics about the name ‘Cairo Gang’ (HI 34.3, May/June 2026, pp 36–7). The names in the oft-mislabelled photo from the Seán Sexton/Getty images collection are indeed from the National Photographic Archives, Beasley papers, and marked ‘special gang F company Auxiliaries’, but the names come from the Frank Thornton album in Military … Read more