On 22 August 1922, Michael Collins was killed at Béal na Bláth, Co. Cork. But what if he had survived? Would he have become a military dictator? (Was he one already?) Would he have been more or less ruthless than his successors in prosecuting the Civil War? Would he have torn up the Treaty and … Read more
It is nearly 40 years since Margaret Ward’s pioneering Unmanageable Revolutionaries: Women and Irish Nationalism, 1880-1980 (1983) first appeared. How has women’s history, and history written by women, fared in the meantime, particularly in this ‘decade of centenaries’? Join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion with Síobhra Aiken, Leeann Lane, Sarah-Anne Buckley and Margaret Ward. Recorded at the … Read more
Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1808–1879) was a baron of the Habsburg Empire and head of the London branch of the prominent Rothschild banking family in the mid-nineteenth century. Apart from his financial undertakings he was also known as a philanthropist. Elected to parliament for the first time in 1847, he was not permitted to take … Read more
Born in West Cork in 1890, Michael Collins joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) as a teenager while working as a clerk in London. He fought in the GPO in 1916, and rose to prominence by the War of Independence, combining the positions of Dáil minister for finance and IRA director of intelligence. How can … Read more
By John M. Regan This article first appeared in: THE SPLIT-Treaty to Civil War 1921–23 published by Wordwell as a supplement to History Ireland in 2021 priced €12. Copies are still available. IN THE SMALL HOURS of 23 August 1922, news arrived at Government Buildings in Dublin’s Merrion Street that Michael Collins had been killed … Read more