The Military Strategy of the Wexford United Irishmen in 1798

until recently historians of 1798 regarded the rebellion in Wexford as a spontaneous popular reaction to unwarranted government repression and not part of a larger United Irish conspiracy. Scanty references […]

The Sense of the Past by Seamus Heaney

Its former green is blue and thin,And its once firm legs sink in and in;Soon it will break down unaware,Soon it will break down unaware.At night when reddest flowers are […]

McDOWELL AT EIGHTY

DD: How important was family background and schooling in the development of your historical interests?   RBMcD: I was born in the middle of the middle classes, so from the […]

Making a Hole in the Moon: the rescue of Princess Clementina by Tony Canavan

On a cold April morning in 1719 a carriage containing an Irish lady and her maid, escorted by her husband and four companions, left the fortress city of Strasbourg to […]

JFK in Ireland

Before President John Fitzgerald Kennedy visited Ireland, there was considerable behind the scenes diplomatic and security manoeuvring. Six months before the visit, Secretary of State Dean Rusk paid a flying […]