D. George Boyce and Alan O’Day (eds) (Routledge, £17) ISBN 0415174228 The last decade has witnessed an increasing interest in the constitutional and political nature of the United Kingdom. More often than not this has taken the form of a critical assessment of the Union itself rather than an analysis of those who supported it. … Read more
Peter Hart (Oxford University Press, £25) ISBN 0199252580 Tom Barry: IRA freedom fighter Meda Ryan (Mercier Press, £30) ISBN 1856354253 Two new books will stimulate fresh interest and controversies about the IRA in the period 1916–23. Peter Hart’s is very much a statistical history of the Irish Revolution. He has used a wealth … Read more
David C. Hanrahan (Sutton Publishing, £20) ISBN 0750933275 Thomas Blood was born in County Clare around 1618, but he spent his early years in England until 1648, when he returned to Ireland to fight for Cromwell. Rewarded with land for his service—service which was rumoured to include several daring spying missions—he lost it all on … Read more
David Edwards (Four Courts, £45) ISBN 185182578 This is the book many historians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have been waiting for—a thorough, detailed and well-researched analysis of a single Irish lordship in the turbulent years between 1515 and 1642. This era probably represents one of the greatest periods of political, cultural, religious … Read more
Making the best use of a relatively small exhibition space, Conflict contains hundreds of artefacts from the Neolithic period to the present. The visual aspect of the exhibition is most striking, and the artefacts—from flint arrowheads, swords and helmets to rifles, uniforms and gasmasks—are all displayed to good effect. The visitor is able to view … Read more