Ireland

John Horne asks why the heroic efforts of the two Irish divisions, the 16th (Irish) and the 36th (Ulster), in the bloody events on the Western Front in 1916, have been viewed so differently both at the time and since.

Peter Marshall explains how a chance reference in an old local history book led him to reconstruct the story of a 17th-century church scandal, and its afterlife in literature, culture and politics.

Kevin Haddick Flynn looks back at the life and times of radical Michael Davitt as Ireland remembers the centenary of his death on May 31st.

Charles Townshend has read hundreds of 'witness statements' from the men and women who took part in the Easter Rising, made available to the public in 2003 after decades in a government vault.

Anthony Fletcher uses the papers of his artistic great-aunt, who, as a young nationalist, wrote an eyewitness account of the Easter Rising, to explore her youthful patriotism and vigorous activism.

Richard Cavendish marks the demise of an important Renaissance figure, on March 20th, 1656.

Brian Girvin explains the tensions between the Irish government and many of the Irish people in their attitudes to the war against Nazism.

Phil Chapple examines a titanic and controversial figure in modern Irish history.

The organisation which would become the poltical arm of the Irish Republican Army was founded as a nationalist pressure group on November 28th, 1905.

Simon Lemieux shows how a synoptic approach enables us to appreciate the true nature of the Irish Question.

Howard Amos interrogates a key text on colonialism and assesses its influence.

Orla Finnegan and Ian Cawood show that the reasons for Parnell’s fall in 1890 are not as straightforward as they may appear at first sight.

Bill Rolston describes the impact of an erstwhile slave, who toured the Emerald Isle speaking out against slavery in 1845.