Delegates from almost every county in Ireland attended a re-enactment of the Catholic Convention in Tailors’ Hall, Back Lane, Dublin, on 5 December 1998. The original Convention, dubbed the ‘Back Lane Parliament’ by its detractors, met in the same place on 3-6 December 1792, to organise the Catholics of the country and to … Read more
Sir,—In his excellent essay, ‘A Tale of Two Generals’, Jim Smyth states(p.36), ‘captured French soldiers were treated as bona fide prisonersof war, and returned fairly promptly to France’ after the battle ofCulloden in April 1746. It is sadly not the case that all the ‘French’prisoners taken were accorded prisoner-of-war status and returned toFrance. The following … Read more
Sir,—I hold no brief for ‘Butcher’ Cumberland. But Jim Smyth’s ‘Tale ofTwo Generals’ (HI Autumn 1999) is too simplistic by far. It is widelyacknowledged today—and not just by those whom Smyth calls‘apologists’—that, after Culloden, Cumberland offered an amnesty to allJacobites who would lay down their arms: an offer that they rejected orignored (John S. Gibson … Read more
Readers of Cormac Ó Gráda’s interesting article on Irish names (HISummer 1999) might also like to know of Richard Breen’s rich account ofnaming in Tuogh, County Kerry (comparing this also with information onTory Island). He shows what a lot of social and local information wasderivable from naming and nicknaming practices, and how they set uprelationships—of … Read more
Sir,—I am currently processing General Dan McKenna’s papers which havebeen entrusted to me by his family. Any additional information,anecdotal or otherwise, on this great Chief of Staff would be more thanwelcome. He tipped the scales in securing ‘dicey’ situations, allowingus to remain neutral and free from invasion. The relationship between the down-to-earth Ulsterman Dan McKennaand … Read more