“Keeping up the Flame”

In August 1898, when the centenary celebrations of the Rebellion of 1798 approached their climax, George McSweeney wrote: ‘of all the leaders of the United Irishmen perhaps there was no […]

1798 in the North

On 26 May 1798, the very day on which rebellion erupted in Wexford, a despondent Wolfe Tone offered to serve Bonaparte in India. He had just heard the rumour that […]

An Unfortunate Man

On 7 June 1798, Father James Coigly, a shadowy United Irishman from County Armagh, was hanged on Pennington Heath. On hearing this news in Paris, Theobald Wolfe Tone, no friend […]

Informers, Informants & Information

In the 200 years that have elapsed since the 1798 Rebellion the reasons for its failure have been frequently addressed by historians. That the rebels were unable to take Dublin […]

Visual Politics: the Representation of Ireland 1750-1930, Fintan Cullen. (Cork University Press, £25) ISBN 185918 023 X

For most people, historical knowledge is constituted by the oral and the visual. The oral tradition transmits a sense of tradition and belonging creating an identity which is buttressed by […]