Tag: History
St Patrick’s Confessio
The following is a 2004 translation of our national saint’s autobiographical Confessions by Pádraig McCarthy — Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Phádraig daoibh go léir! My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all...
How Pádraig Pearse Imagined Ireland in the Year 2006 (1906)
The following are extracts from a 1906 essay entitled ‘In my Garden’ from the August 4th edition of An Claidheamh Soluis. The full corpus of the magazine archive is freely available and dutifully digitised by means of the Conradh na...
The Economics of a Free Ireland — Michael Collins
Idealised as the architect of a free and democratic Ireland by some, and despised by others as being a political sellout, very little attention has been given to the written works of Michael Collins. Not just a gunman, his economic...
The Hallucination of ‘Ulster’ — Tom Kettle
An accomplished poet, economist as well as Home Rule politician, Tom Kettle was an up and coming figure in moderate Irish nationalism before his death at the Somme while serving with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1916. With the centenary...
Sinn Féin and Distributism — Aodh de Blácam 1921
One of the more forgotten names of the revolutionary period, Aodh de Blácam played a role in both the Gaelic Revival and War of Independence before proceeding to be heavily involved in early Fianna Fáil and Clann na Poblachta respectively....
Why James Connolly Objected to Ireland Accepting Refugees in 1914
The following is an extract of a debate as reported by Arthur Griffith in his nationalist periodical ‘Éire’ from November 19th, 1914 chronicling a discussion at the Dublin Trade’s Council about the issue of Belgian refugees arriving into Ireland following...
The Lough Sheelin Evictions and Emergence of Ribbonism: Dr. Thomas Nulty
An economic scholar in his own right Dr Thomas Nulty was a 19th century Bishop and academic noted for his contributions to economic school of Georgism, early on in his career however he served as a parish priest in the...
Terence MacSwiney Centenary: Modern Ireland and Historical Revisionism
Today marks the centenary of Terence MacSwiney’s death while in prison during the War of Independence. A playwright, poet, mayor of Cork and IRA commander, MacSwiney passed away after 74 days on hunger strike, bringing worldwide attention to the nationalist...
The Five, and Potential Six, Eras of Irish Nationalism
To anyone that has read a broad history of Ireland, there is a noticeable trend that appears. Ever since the British set foot on our shores, there has been a certain mindset among the Irish that can be characterised as...
The Limitations of Moral Force Politics : Terence MacSwiney
This Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Terence MacSwiney, nationalist playwright and Cork mayor who died following 74 days of hunger strike at Brixton in 1920. The below extracts are taken from his posthumously published ‘Principles of...