AMONG THE TEN PROFESSIONAL AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES ASCRIBED TO WILLIAM WILDE ON HIS MEMORIAL PLAQUE AT 1 MERRION SQUARE, DUBLIN, IS ‘HISTORIAN’. William Wilde’s Celticism, his archaeological, antiquarian and topographic interests, and his knowledge of folklore and language informed his work as a historian. Wilde appears to have distanced himself from Ireland’s contentious political history, … Read more
EDEL BHREATHNACH Four Courts Press €24.95 ISBN 9781846823428 For those of us preoccupied with Irish history it is a sobering experience to look up the word ‘Ireland’ in a History of the world only to find that it’s not there. For students and teachers of modern Irish history it is doubly chastening to discover that, … Read more
The ambiguous relationship between Britain and Ireland was exacerbated during the Second World War. The Irish Free State (referred to as ‘Eire’ [sic] by the British from 1937) was part of the British Commonwealth but more than any other member of that body she remained tied to Britain. Almost all external trade was with Britain; … Read more
In September 1949 Dr Wenceslao Oliveros arrived in Ireland on a scientific mission to visit UCD and its president, Michael Tierney. Richard Mulcahy, minister for education in the first interparty government, had been in correspondence with his Spanish colleague, José Ibáñez Martín, and had approved the trip, despite Oliveros’s acquired reputation. Dublin welcomed the arrival … Read more
Seventy-plus years ago—February 1944—and it is at last clear that the Allies are going to win the Second World War (1939–45). In Eastern Europe, the Red Army’s march west is gathering pace. In Italy, the Allied offensive at Monte Cassino is under way. And in Northern Ireland, in anticipation of D-Day, the number of British … Read more