Was The IRA Defeated? Or How Did The Troubles End
Dr Thomas Leahy is a lecturer in British and Irish Politics and Contemporary History at Cardiff University, and the authorContinue Reading
Category: History
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey Versus William F. Buckley Jr
I thought some of my fellow political anoraks might be interested in this appearance by a young Bernadette Devlin McAliskeyContinue Reading
A Partisan History Of The Name IRA
The historical lecturer Séan Ó Duibhir has an interesting if flawed review on the RTÉ website of the many insurgentContinue Reading
Irish Iron Age And Medieval Helmets
Some of the oldest descriptions of military helmets in Irish literature can be found in the earliest versions of theContinue Reading
Sendero Luminoso, Peru’s Shining Path Movement
Back in the day I’d occasionally find myself in the kitchen of a student house-party ambushed by a killjoy MaoistContinue Reading
Schola Gladiatoria: The Magnificent Chu Jian, A Modern Replica Of An Ancient Chinese Sword
Some regular readers might be aware of my interest in prehistoric and Medieval warfare, particularly during the Late Roman andContinue Reading
The Hidden Hand: Official Sinn Féin – The Workers Party And Irish Journalism
Village Magazine, which has gained a reputation over the last few years for shining a light on some of theContinue Reading
The Detestable Race. Beatrice and Sidney Webb In Ireland
For the last few weeks I’ve been doing some research on the complex origins of socialism as a political andContinue Reading
Was The IRA Defeated?
One of the great modern myths of the Troubles, the insurgency and counterinsurgency conflict that raged in the British-ruled northContinue Reading
Brexit Cinema: Dunkirk, 1917 And The Myth Of Britain’s “Good” Empire
Research by the polling company YouGov has found that over two-thirds of people in Britain believe that the country’s formerContinue Reading
1911 New York City In 4K, 60FPS Colour Film
Featured below is a fascinating eight minutes of film recorded on the streets of New York City in 1911 byContinue Reading
Renegade Cut: Rambo – Hollywood Vietnam
Another excellent video essay from the pop-culture commentator Leon Thomas of the YouTube channel Renegade Cut examining how American cinemaContinue Reading
1996 Documentary: Dublin’s Rampant Drug Problem
From a 1996 current affairs feature by ABC News in Australia, a reminder of the relatively short period in IrishContinue Reading
Fine Gael Government To Honour The Black And Tans And Auxies In State Ceremony?
I’m very much in two minds about the announcement of an official state ceremony to be held in Dublin CastleContinue Reading
Must Farm Bronze Age Settlement
An omnivorous tapeworm up to ten metres long lurking in the coils of a human intestine, consuming all that theContinue Reading
John T Koch: Thinking About Indo-European And Celtic Myths
The video below is from a lecture by the American historian John T Koch, summarising the evidence for linking Europe’sContinue Reading
Brexit Leader Jacob-Rees Mogg Defends Use Of British Concentration Camps
From 1900 to 1902, during the height of the Second Boer War between the expansionist British Empire and the allied EuropeanContinue Reading
Invasion Literature Becomes Invasion Cinema, Prefiguring Trump And Brexit
In many ways the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871 was one of the most influential political events in the lives of an entire generationContinue Reading
Medieval Irish Shields And European Shield Types
The oldest Irish term for a set of weapons is gaisce, a compound of two separate words: ga “spear” andContinue Reading
Was JRR Tolkien, The Author Of The Lord Of The Rings, A Racist?
Was the British fantasy author JRR Tolkien a racist? That is the issue being debated in the wake of lastContinue Reading
No Man’s Land. News Footage From The UK’s Former Hard Border In Ireland
With a significant number of anti-agreement politicians and journalists in the United Kingdom continuing to dismiss the risk of aContinue Reading
Edward Carson: Ulster And Ireland, Puppets In The Political Games Of The Conservative Party
The problem with selective quotes is that they tend to create a selective view of the person being quoted. ThisContinue Reading
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