Listen to author Colum Kenny in conversation with History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, as he discusses the story of a remarkable man’s efforts to help starving people during the Irish Great Famine. He reveals their terrible experiences inside and outside one of the national ‘workhouses’ and throws new light on the relationship between class, religion and poverty … Read more
To what extent did the military tactics of Thomas Ashe’s (5th) Fingal battalion of the Irish Volunteers in 1916 prefigure those of the IRA in the War of Independence, 1919-21? To what extent did the sack of Balbriggan in September 1920 provide the template for subsequent reprisals by Crown force? To discuss the role of … Read more
According to British Prime Minister David Lloyd George Irish nationalists were ‘natural propagandists’. How accurate was this description? How did they breach what Arthur Griffith called the ‘paper wall’ of British news coverage? How important was the new medium of film? And what was the role of women as both the disseminators and objects of … Read more
Author Bryan MacMahon in conversation with Tommy Graham (editor, History Ireland) In West Kerry between 1825-45, the work of Protestant evangelicals was widely hailed as a model of a successful missionary campaign; however, it evoked a furious response from Catholic priests. The war of words between clergymen of both persuasions was fomented by rival local … Read more
Kilkenny was described by Ernie O’Malley as ‘slack’ during the War of Independence. Was this really the case? Kilkenny has a notable revolutionary history—as crucible of the Tithe War (1830s), birthplace of one the founders of the IRB, James Stephens (1858), and a rebel turnout, albeit small (1916). Also, the attack and capture of Hugginstowm … Read more