Sir,—In ‘The Cusack Papers: new evidence on the Knock apparition’ (HI 4.4, Winter 1996), John White claims to have discovered new evidence that promises to ‘challenge our present understanding of Knock’, but he neither clarifies what is ‘new’ about his evidence nor shows how it changes our understanding. A researcher discovering significant original materials on … Read more
Over the past quarter century the Irish land question has been the subject of a barrage of historical inquiry. Traditional nationalist interpretations have been deconstructed and inverted, the class composition and objectives of agrarian movements dissected, and the triangular political relationships between these organisations, landowners and the British government examined in depth. Building on this … Read more
The events of last summer raised many questions about the nature and exercise of certain aspects of unionist cultural traditions in the North. Whilst historically it is the case that only a minority of the Protestant population there has, at any time, ever had actual membership of organisations such as the Orange Order, the Royal … Read more
For the two centuries of its existence Maynooth has been close to the centre of Irish life and controversy. There is not a corner of the island which has not felt the effects of its alumni, or of decisions taken within its walls. Loved or viewed with suspicion, there is no seminary anywhere which has … Read more
Almost 200 years ago my great-great-great-grandfather spent two months travelling round Ireland. His description of the journey was published in 1818 under the title Observations on the State of Ireland principally directed to its Agriculture and Rural Population; in a series of letters written on a tour through that country. I have just spent a … Read more