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‘Cowardly, Cunning and Contemptible’ – The British campaign in Dublin,...
British soldiers in Dublin. The British counter-insurgency campaign in Dublin 1919-1921. By John Dorney. A British Army private, J.P Swindlehurst, stationed in Dublin from January to February 1921...
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Dr Shane Kenna, a tribute.
Shane Kenna. (Photo Courtesy of the National Graves Association). By John Dorney It was with the deepest regret that I learned on Tuesday February 28 of the death of our good friend and Irish Story...
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The Fenians: An Overview
A Fenian flag captured at Tallaght in 1867. On the 150th anniversary of the Fenian Rebellion of 1867, John Dorney gives an overview of the Fenian movement. The word ‘Fenian’ conjures up powerful images...
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Today in Irish History: The Headford ambush, March 21, 1921.
British soldiers in Kerry check under a train. Thomas Earls Fitzgerald on a bloody action in Kerry during the Irish War of Independence. On the 21st March 1921, the most successful I.R.A. ambush in...
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Martin McGuinness 1950-2017
Martin McGuinness in 1972. By John Dorney Martin McGuinness always cut a striking figure. From a youthful, blonde shaggy haired Provisional IRA commander in Derry in the early 1970s to the doughty,...
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Interview: Brian Hanley on Martin McGuinness, his life and times.
John Dorney speaks to historian Brian Hanley on the context to the paramilitary and political career of Martin McGuinness.
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Today in Irish History, 10 April 1923, Liam Lynch is killed.
Liam Lynch The death of Liam Lynch signalled the effective end of the Irish Civil War. By John Dorney A small group of trench-coated men, senior anti-Treaty IRA officers, struggled hastily up the...
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Book Review – Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth
By Mark Williams. Published by Princeton University Press, 2016. Pp. 608. €36.99. ISBN 978-0691157313. Reviewer Caroline Hurley I could have done with Mark Williams’ latest book last year while...
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‘Preserving the spirit of the movement’: The IRA, the Broadway Cinema and the...
The Broadway cinema Belfast. By Alison Martin In comparison to some of the Easter Rising commemorations which took place around the time of key anniversaries, there has been relatively little focus on...
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Civil War casualties in County Tipperary
An anti-Treaty IRA motorised column in Tipperary. By John Dorney The death toll of the Irish Civil War remains one of the least studied but most remarked upon questions in modern Irish history. It has...
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The Free State’s forgotten soldiers: The National Army monument at Glasnevin.
Michael Collins’ grave at Glasnevin, the National Army memorial is inscribed on the low wall around the main grave. (Photo courtesy of wikipedia) National Army dead at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, by...
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Cartoons, Catholicism and Distributism in the Irish Press 1930-1939
By Barry Sheppard The following article will look at several examples of editorial cartoons from the 1930s which were published in the Irish Press newspaper and the newsletter of the British...
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‘Spies and informers beware!’: IRA executions of alleged civilian spies...
An IRA spy label attached to the body of Patrick Larmour. By Padraig Og O Ruairc The ‘intelligence war’ was undoubtedly one of the most important military aspects of the Irish War of Independence and...
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Book Review: Out of the Ashes, an oral history of the Provisional Irish...
By Robert W. White Published by Merrion Press, 2017. Reviewer: John Dorney Robert White is an American sociologist, who over 30 years conducted a series of interviews with members of Sinn Fein and the...
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Book Review: County Louth and the Irish Revolution 1912-1923
Edited by Donal Hall and Martin Maguire Published by Irish Academic Press, 2017. Reviewer: John Dorney This book is a collection of article on the events surrounding the independence struggle and...
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Today in Irish History, 28 June 1922, the First Day of the Irish Civil War
The National Army attack on the Four Courts, June 28 1922 John Dorney on the first day of the Irish Civil War, an adapted extract from his forthcoming book, The Civil War in Dublin Late on the night of...
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‘A policy of Passive Resistance’: Sinn Féin and Abstentionism – an historical...
Arthur Griffith, inspiration of Sinn Fein abstentionism at the Mansion House in 1921. For over 100 years now, elected Irish Republican politicians have refused to take their seats in the British...
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Interview: The East Clare By-Election of 1917, with Padraig Og O Ruairc
A flag from 1917 featuring Eamon de Valera. In July 1917, Eamon de Valera, just released from prison for his role in the Easter Rising, was elected as Sinn Fein MP for East Clare. Here John Dorney...
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Reflecting on The Civil War in Dublin
John Dorney on his new book The Civil War in Dublin the Fight for the Irish capital. Joseph Conrad began his famous short story ‘Heart of Darkness’ with his lead character on board a ship steaming into...
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Irish Clans in the Sixteenth century
A representation of Gaelic Irish family By John Dorney The word clan seems to have entered English via Scots Gaelic, where it was used to describe the social organisation in the Highlands, where it...
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