The historic links between Spain and Ireland are intellectual, economic, political, religious and especially military. However there are no racial or genetic links. The Gaelic Irish we can categorically state do not have Spanish origins. When the Lebor Gabála Érenn—the Book of Invasions—was composed as an integrative myth for the peoples of Ireland with the … Read more
The ground shifts constantly: comparisons and contrasts between the conflicts in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country always run the risk of burial in the next seismic shift in events. Many Spanish observers are hostile even to attempting such an exercise. We do not see the least connection between the two conflicts. To attempt to … Read more
The Spanish Civil War was one of the most controversial conflicts of the last century, producing an immense historiography comparable to more decisive events such as the Russian Revolution. This is all the more surprising given Spain’s reputation at the time as an isolated backwater. When the war broke out in July 1936 The Times … Read more
It is generally accepted throughout Argentina that that nation had two founding fathers: General San Martin, who led an army in an epic crossing of the Andes in 1817 to strike at the economic and political heart of Spanish colonial power in South America; and William Brown, a hitherto obscure Irish merchant sea captain. Brown’s … Read more
Alexander O’Reilly was born in 1723 in Baltrasna, County Meath, and baptised on 24 October. Military tradition ran in the family; his grandfather John O’Reilly was a colonel in the army of James II, whose regiment—‘O’Reilly’s Dragoons’—fought at the siege of Derry. He died on 17 February 1716. His wife was Margaret O’Reilly of County … Read more