By Joseph E.A. Connell Jr Fasting as a means of coercion was an ancient tradition in Ireland. Irish nationalism renewed interest in the Gaelic past, and W.B. Yeats in The King’s Threshold dramatised the tradition of fasting. The significance of this cultural inheritance is unclear. What is certain is that Irish republicans borrowed the technique … Read more
By Joseph E.A. Connell Jr During the Easter Rising, the 5th Battalion of the Irish Volunteers, under the command of Cmdt Thomas Ashe, carried out a series of raids and reconnaissance movements throughout north County Dublin from Easter Monday to Friday. (After the Rising, the unit became known as the ‘Fingal Brigade’ but was not … Read more
By Micheál Ó Siochrú ‘I am struck by a disinclination in both academic and journalistic accounts to critique empire and imperialism. Openness to, and engagement in, a critique of nationalism has seemed greater. And while it has been vital to our purposes in Ireland to examine nationalism, doing the same for imperialism is equally important … Read more
ROB GOODBODY Wordwell Books in association with Dublin City Council €17.99 ISBN 9781916742130 Reviewed by John Gibney John Gibney is Assistant Editor with the Royal Irish Academy’s Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series and worked as a tour guide in Dublin for fifteen years. It sometimes feels that a proper consideration of Ireland’s industrial heritage … Read more
By Robert Delaney September 2025 marks 100 years since the Irish army first fired artillery in the Glen of Imaal. It was the beginning of the Artillery Corps’ long association with the Wicklow training ground, and it defined the Defence Forces’ approach to artillery exercises for decades to come. The Artillery Corps was established officially … Read more