“British Isles Euler diagram 15” by TWCarlson – Own work. Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons. Some years ago I created the following guide to the minefield of names for the constituent parts of the, err, am I allowed…
Author: Bruce Gaston
Was Patrick Pearse bad at maths, or at history, or at both (or at neither)???
The 1916 Proclamation is probably the best known piece of writing in Irish history, but recently I was asked a question about it I just can’t answer. In the text, Patrick Pearse1 refers to previous uprisings and rebellions as precedents…
Book Review: Fatal Path by Ronan Fanning
This book was published last year to much acclaim. There were lots of complimentary reviews, and I’m not going to dissent here from the majority view. Ronan Fanning is Professor Emeritus of Modern History at University College Dublin and this…
Aside
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From one review of Ireland and the British Empire (which I’ve just ordered from amazon.co.uk):
Apparently de Valera was furious with Costello when he announced, in 1948, that the newly declared Republic would be leaving the Commonwealth, shortly before India and Pakistan announced that, as republics, they would stay in, on just the sort of terms as de Valera had wanted.
Full book details: Ireland and the British Empire (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series), edited by Kevin Kenny (OUP, 2006)
Evelyn Waugh’s view of the Restoration of Order in Ireland Bill
On 5 August 1920, Evelyn Waugh, then a schoolboy aged 16, went to visit the Houses of Parliament on the invitation of John Molson MP, father of one of his schoolfriends. He managed to get in to witness part of…
“Scots should recall the poverty of the Irish Free State” – FT.com
I’d just been rereading this review of John M. Regan’s book Myth and the Irish State, which in reviewer John Dorney’s words “warns of the dangers of history being contorted to serve the agendas of the present”. And then I…
A Beginner’s Guide to the Irish Volunteers
“Aye, sor! Me, sor! Oi’ll do it, so I will!” What was that? Irish volunteering That’s not funny. Sorry. I’m paying attention now. Ask the standard questions then. What? A paramilitary organisation formed by Irish nationalists. When? November 1913. Where?…
Book Review: Vanished Kingdoms, by Norman Davies
I bought this book on a whim, partly because I guessed (correctly) that it would have something in it about the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is a casual interest of mine. Judging by what I’ve found on the internet, the book…
Free E-Book on Irish History
For St Patrick’s Day only, you can download the Irish History Compressed e-book absolutely free using the coupon code KQ89Z. Get it here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/311082 And if you do read it and like it, please think about posting a review to…
Which three topics really engage Irish Americans?
According to the Irish news website Irish Central: There are three topics that fire the imagination, that really engage Irish Americans – Michael Collins, President John F. Kennedy and the Irish Famine. If you want to create a website with…