Sir,—Being a child of the early twentieth century, I was surprised, andat first annoyed, to find the Autumn issue of History Ireland a vehiclefor the setting out of Roman Catholic opinion of itself in the newcentury, with historical justifications from the past. As a, what usedto be condescendingly described in the Ireland of my youth,‘non-Catholic’, … Read more
JMcC: Tell us about your background. ED: I was born in Dundalk in 1947. My father worked as a boilermaker for Great Northern Railways. When the railway works closed down we moved to Birmingham. One of the things that has struck me over the last ten years is how much I live out of those … Read more
Sir—I refer to Brian Hanley’s review of Robert A. Stradling’s book onIrish involvement in the Spanish Civil War (HI Winter 1999). In thatbook there is reference to a ‘Michael Cadell’, a member of the SpanishForeign Legion, who became a Catholic when he joined O’Duffy’s brigade.That man was actually Maurice Cadell, from a well-off Scottish family.He … Read more
Sir,—I read Marie Bourke’s article (‘Charles Lambe and the West ofIreland’, HI Spring 2000) with great interest and learned much from it.However, I was, and remain, puzzled about the dramatic painting byLambe on the front cover, Dancing at a Northern Crossroads. My originaldoubts arose from the word ‘northern’. Marie Bourke ties in the workwith Connemara … Read more
Sir,—I am searching for historical or social information about howsingle pregnant girls were helped in giving birth in Dublin around thebeginning of the twentieth century. In particular I have evidence of anumber of births in 1916 at 590 North Circular Road. The person givenas present at the births was a Frances Moran. Dr Barnado’s, ChristChurch … Read more