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Mulcahy and Collins—a conjunction of opposites

Mulcahy and Collins—a conjunction of opposites



Risteárd Mulcahy argues against the popular perception that Michael Collins alone was the inspiration behind the War of Independence, and for a more balanced picture of the army during the 1918–22 period.
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‘Practical anarchists, we’: social revolutionaries in Dublin, 1885–7
‘Practical anarchists, we’: social revolutionaries in Dublin, 1885–7

In Ireland and Britain in the 1880s the Fenians occupied the demonic role of ‘terrorists’ in the recesses of the bourgeois mind, and less attention was paid to terrorists of the radical left. Fintan Lane relates how anarchists, though scarcely noticed, were active and argued openly for social revolution, though not for ‘individual terror’.

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The Friends of Irish Freedom: a case-study in Irish-American nationalism, 1916–21
The Friends of Irish Freedom: a case-study in Irish-American nationalism, 1916–21

Michael Doorley examines the role of the Friends of Irish Freedom, one of a long line of Irish-American nationalist organisations whose support base was very much influenced  by events in Ireland.

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Larcom the cartographer: political economy in pre-Famine Ireland
Larcom the cartographer: political economy in pre-Famine Ireland

Two Royal Engineers, Thomas Larcom and Thomas Colby, dominated the early Ordnance Survey of Ireland. While their main focus was on cartography, they also strove to produce an accurate ‘Memoir’ (text) to accompany the ‘perfect’ maps. What motivated them to undertake this Memoir, an unusual experiment far removed from a soldier’s normal duties and in which they exceeded their formal orders? Patrick McWilliams attempts to answer the question by examining the career of the former.

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A Rough Guide to Revolutionary Paris: Wolfe Tone as an accidental tourist
A Rough Guide to Revolutionary Paris: Wolfe Tone as an accidental tourist

Before his exile to America in 1795, Theobald Wolfe Tone had established a reputation as a skilful pamphleteer. Sylvie Kleinman explores how his secret mission to France and journeys as a French officer (1796–8) allowed him to further respond to this creative impulse, this time as travel writer.

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‘The Widow’s Mite’: private relief during the Great Famine
‘The Widow’s Mite’: private relief during the Great Famine

Christine Kinealy looks at one of the remarkable aspects of the Great Famine—the amount of private relief (over £2 million, or, in today’s terms, €90 million) collected on behalf of the Irish poor, especially following the second crop failure in 1846.

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Census and sensibility
Census and sensibility

Nick Maxwell has been looking up the 1911 Census. Here he muses on its relevance to the general public, dogs, sodomy and the Irish language.

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The Kenny Family 1911
The Kenny Family 1911

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