One hundred years ago this week, on 22 June 1921, the official opening of a new parliament within the the United Kingdom took place. After elections on 24 May across the newly created entity of “Northern Ireland” (made up of…
Category: Decade of Commemoration
Also known as the “Decade of Centenaries”: all about the events that occurred in Ireland between 1912 and 1923, and the way these historical events are being marked and discussed in Ireland today.
Book Review: Bitter Freedom: Ireland in a Revolutionary World 1918-1923
Bitter Freedom: Ireland in a Revolutionary World 1918-1923 Maurice Walsh Faber & Faber So much has been published about the Irish revolutionary period (1910-1923) over the course of the last few years that one has to be selective about…
Dates, dates, dates…
Prompted by my ongoing quest to identify the “six times [meaning six rebellions] during the last three hundred years” referred to in the 1916 Proclamation, “Mixed messages” (@SignsThe Reading) was kind enough to send me some photos of monuments in…
For all those getting a bit fed up with commemoration
Have you looked at this photo?
The photo reproduced here shows Patrick Pearse surrendering to Brigadier-General William Lowe on Saturday, 29th April 1916: the effective end of the Easter Rising. The location was Moore Street. If you look closely, it becomes apparent that there is a…
The Proclamation: Promise or Rhetoric?
Over a year and a half ago I wrote a post which posed the question “Was Patrick Pearse bad at maths, or at history, or at both (or at neither)???” You can read the full post here, but in brief…
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…
The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence 1918-1923, by Charles Townshend
The Times Higher Education Supplement has a review by Marianne Elliott: The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence 1918-1923, by Charles Townshend | Books | Times Higher Education.
Treaty Port handover ‘just like yesterday’
Several of the Irish newspapers have been reporting another anniversary (though not a centenary, for once!): 75 years since the handing over to Irish control of what were referred to as “the Treaty Ports”. These were three deep-water navy bases…
Book Review: The Outrages
The Outrages 1920-1922: IRA & Ulster Special Constabulary Pearse Lawlor MERCIER PRESS Cork According to the publishers: The Outrages gives an account of the major incidents, now slipping from local memory, as the War of Independence escalated from attacks on…