In a rush of commemorative activity this summer, we have been enjoined to recall that Magna Carta (‘the Great Charter’)—whose 800th anniversary fell in June 2015—announced a fundamental principle of the rule of law: even sovereigns should be subject to the law of the land. Magna Carta is credited with being the first effective check … Read more
Reviewed by Ruan O’Donnell Ruan O’Donnell is a Senior Lecturer in history at the University of Limerick This welcome addition to Irish republican historiography is long overdue. While Mairtin Ó Catháin, T. Ian Adams, Mary Barrington and Peter Hart are among those to have explored various aspects of the theme in often-important contributions, Noonan brings … Read more
Reviewed by Maurice Coakley Maurice Coakley lectures in journalism and media studies at Griffith College, Dublin What can the past teach us? Professor Bryan Fanning had the idea of examining the work of a dozen authors from the seventeenth century to the 21st to better understand Ireland’s current predicament and possible futures. This had the … Read more
Reviewed by Lar Joye Lar Joye is curator of military history at the National Museum of Ireland (Decorative Arts) Seán Murphy is a retired Irish Defence Forces officer and lawyer originally from West Cork who has written a fascinating book examining the Kilmichael ambush from the point of view of a professional soldier. On 28 … Read more
Reviewed by Sylvie Kleinman Sylvie Kleinman has taught Irish history and historiography at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1925 an academic, critical of the excessive moralising and lack of perspective in classroom teaching, deplored the ‘gush of legend, rhetoric, passion or panegyric’ form of national history that still ran through examination papers. This form of history … Read more