Recently published books, of interest to our readers. Continue reading
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Sympathetic biography of ‘the powerful enigmatic Mannix’
Brenda Niall’s biography of Mannix takes a personal, indeed quite an intimate, approach to Mannix. It is certainly not uncritical…. Continue reading
Seán O’Faoláin: Literature, Inheritance and the 1930s,
..his study covers what could arguably be the most significant and influential period of O’Faoláin’s writing and fledgling political and journalistic life. Continue reading
From Art to Execution
In the early hours of 4 May 1916, Willie Pearse and three of his colleagues were executed by firing squad for their part in the Easter Rising. His more famous brother, Patrick, had been executed with two others on the previous day and, in total, sixteen of the rebels met their deaths in the same way. Continue reading
An Irish-Speaking Island
The 19th century is commonly regarded as the century in which the Irish language suffered a calamitous collapse: a century in which it survived on the margins, largely irrelevant in politics, in law, in education. English (it is argued) was the vehicle of modernisation, Irish increasingly the language of the poor, the old, the ragged tellers of ancient stories. Continue reading
Death or Liberty
In December 1796, the Britannia set sail from Cork under Captain Thomas Dennot with Surgeon Augustus Beyer on what would be one of the worst voyages in the history of transportation. Continue reading
Responsibility in Revolutionary Times: the case of Thomas MacDonagh
‘Dear boy, you’ll be shot’, Edward Martyn’s comment was sadly prophetic as MacDonagh left his last business meeting with colleagues in the Irish Theatre. Continue reading
Miniatures from the hand of a ‘Descendancy’ Nationalist
Hubert Butler’s essays have an elegiac quality: he mourns a class he thinks might have enriched the nation by building more robust debates around topics like religion and class… Continue reading
Éamonn Ceannt
Ceannt came to his nationalism slowly, mostly via his interest in the Irish language and Irish music. Continue reading
Roger Casement in the 16 Lives series
Angus Mitchell lives and works as an historian in Ireland; he was born in Africa and educated in England, and from 1992-98, he lived and worked in Brazil. What better credentials to write authoritatively about the internal milieu of Casement’s professional career? Continue reading
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