‘Dublin Castle has fallen!’—the handover, 16 January 1922
Under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a Provisional Government, led by Michael Collins, was to oversee the transition of power until the Irish Free State formally came into being in December 1922...
16 Jan 20221h 13min
Robert Barton—forgotten man of the Irish revolution?
Of the five plenipotentiaries who signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921 most attention has been focused on the motivations and actions of Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith—and on ‘the ple...
31 Dec 20211h 6min
Dev and the Banner 1917–1926
On 10 July 1917 Eamon de Valera won a by-election in East Clare, one of a series of victories for Sinn Féin in the run-up to their landslide victory in the general election of December 1918. He would ...
17 Dec 20211h 3min
Pandemics then and now—a reassessment of the 1918 flu in the light of Covid
As we enter the third year of the Covid crisis, people the world over are now familiar with the concept and the reality of a ‘pandemic’. But how does it compare and with the previous pandemic—the ‘Spa...
14 Dec 202155min
The Treaty—good deal or bad deal?
Was the Treaty ‘Home Rule for slow learners’? Why was Eamon de Valera not part of the Irish delegation? Was the subsequent Civil War inevitable? Was it a good deal or a bad deal? To address these and ...
6 Dec 20211h 1min
Colmcille 1500—man, myth and memory
Columba or Colmcille was born 1500 years ago in Gartan, Co. Donegal, and claimed descent from the legendary High King of Ireland, Niall of the Nine Hostages. He entered the church, became a missionary...
12 Nov 20211h 1min
Ireland and the ‘Greater War’ in Europe—compare and contrast
While there were optimistic hopes that the First World War or ‘Great War’ would be ‘the war to end all wars’, post-1918 Europe, including Ireland, instead experienced a ‘Greater War’—a series of civil...
5 Nov 20211h 10min
‘Grand and Royal’—a history of Irish canals
One of the unsung successes of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was the establishment of the all-island body, Waterways Ireland, with responsibility for canals and waterways. But what drove the construc...
29 Okt 202158min
