Friday 8 October saw the culmination of a lengthy campaign for official recognition of the World War II hero, Leading Seaman James J. Magennis VC, in his native city. Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Robert Stoker, welcomed the Magennis family who had come over from Bradford for the ceremony. Ian Fraser VC, DSC, the commanding … Read more
On 19 May 1999 Seamus Hosey (RTÉ) unveiled a monument, designed and sculpted by Anna Bland, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the battle of the Pass of the Plumes (Cashel Cross, County Laois), when an English force under Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, was ambushed and defeated by Owny MacRory O’More. Local historian George … Read more
TC: Could you tell us something about your background? MH: I did my degree in history at the University of Bristol and got my first job as a research assistant in the Imperial War Museum. Military history had been a speciality of mine. From the Imperial War Museum I moved to the Horniman and eventually … Read more
Sir,—I am researching certain aspects of political, personal andcultural life in Edwardian Belfast relating to Roger Casement and havecome across a family that plays a mysterious part in his activities ofthat era, but whose details I cannot trace beyond the publiclyavailable records of censuses, wills, and street directories. The family consisted of the father, William … Read more
Sir,—I agree with Brian Hanley (HI Spring 1999) that ‘the conflictssurrounding Poppy Day in the ‘20s and ‘30s were more complexthan present-day commentators have allowed’.One-hundred-and-seventy-thousand out of 180,000 Volunteers had remainedloyal to their elected political leader in his constitutional approach.A significant number had put their lives on the line on the Somme andother battlefields. Afterwards … Read more