History Ireland goes global (and bi-monthly)
A medievalist colleague of mine once remarked that in his line of work one event was an isolated incident, two was a trend. In that sense it is only with the publication of this March/April 2005 issue that we can truly claim to have gone bi-monthly. Not only will this meet the demand of the readership for scholarly but accessible writing on Irish history but it will also put the magazine on a sounder financial footing through increased sales and advertising. The greater frequency of publication will not only raise our profile but will also make it possible to provide the historical context to current news, at home or abroad, where appropriate, for example last issue’s brief history of Ukraine.
And that brings us to the other new departure of this and the last issue: both carry articles on non-Irish topics. This is part of our ongoing commitment to meeting the needs of history students and teachers, North and South, particularly in the light of the new history syllabus in the South, half of which is non-Irish. But having breached that barrier we don’t see why we shouldn’t extend the ‘global’ approach to the rest of the magazine with the occasional short piece, feature, or TV or book review on world history.
While it will take a while for the new schedule to settle down, it is our intention that by next year each issue will appear at the start of its two-month cycle. Local history society secretaries take note: make sure you get details of your meetings to us for free listing in our ‘events’ section.
