Sir, —Thank you for publishing the article by David Franklin about Eamon de Valera’s 1920 visit to Birmingham, Alabama, in the last issue (Winter 2004). He makes reference to the murder of Father James Edwin Coyle. A native of Drum, Athlone, Co. Roscommon, Father Coyle spent his priestly life in Alabama from 1896 to 1921. … Read more
Sir, —In Colonel J.P. Duggan’s review of my recent Ireland, Germany and the Nazis 1919–1939 (HI 12.3, Autumn 2004) he courteously suggests that it is a ‘positive contribution’. Nonetheless the review is curious: he reviews a book I might consider writing on Ireland, Germany and the Second World War in the future rather than the … Read more
A chara —I am writing to highlight some discrepancies in Sinead ní Shuinéar’s article, ‘Apocrypha to canon: inventing Irish Traveller history’, in the last (Winter 2004) issue. Ní Shuinéar points to the lack of research in the area of the history of Irish Travellers but is evidently unaware of recent developments in the field. With … Read more