Marie Coleman (Irish Academic Press, E45) ISBN 0716527030 The War of Independence, 1919–21, was anything but a ‘national’ revolt; the areas of activity were in Munster (principally Cork and Tipperary), Dublin and, most interestingly, the small midlands county of Longford. Marie Coleman’s meticulously researched and thoughtful study has filled an important historical lacuna in explaining … Read more
Celebrating transatlantic Waterford —the Waterford–Newfoundland connection Waterford Museum of Treasures The Granary, Merchant’s Quay April–Sept.: Mon.–Sat. 9.30am–6pm; Sun. 11am–6pm Oct.–March: Mon.–Fri. 10am–5pm; Sat. and Sun. 11am–5pm by Johanne Devlin Frew The link between Ireland and Newfoundland is unique in the Irish diaspora. Given that the Irish comprised 40 per cent of its population by 1750 … Read more
PF: To what extent was a sense of Irish ethnicity a factor drawing you towards an academic interest in Irish Studies and particularly Irish migration? KM: Only in retrospect. Being born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, one primarily thought of oneself as being white as against others who were not. There was a much less … Read more
In June 1541 King Henry VIII began to style himself ‘king of Ireland’, abandoning the title of ‘lord’ which English kings had used for four centuries. It has long been assumed that the English kings from Henry II to Henry VII were content to rule Ireland as lords, but the events of the later years … Read more
Is it possible to write famine out of Irish history? Note, the question refers to ‘famine’, not the ‘Great Famine’. The catastrophe of 1845-49 was unlike any previous famine. In the words of Peter Solar it ‘was no ordinary subsistence crisis’. Its singularity notwithstanding, Ireland’s story is often told with famine as a fugue running … Read more