History Ireland Podcasts
Crowd-funding the revolution—the underground administration
New History Ireland Hedge School PODCAST Crowd-funding the revolution—the underground administration Dáil Éireann sought not only to take back the political control lost in the 1800 Act of Union, but also the fiscal and monetary powers lost with the merger of the Irish and British exchequers in 1817. Italso established a parallel legal system, the…
Read MorePrisons and prisoners during the War of Independence
Prisons and prisoners during the War of Independence On 9 September 1921 over fifty IRA prisoners staged a break-out—one of several during the War of Independence—from Rath internment camp in the Curragh, Co. Kildare. To mark its centenary, and to discuss the wider significance of prisons and prisoners in the revolutionary period, join History Ireland…
Read MoreFingal in the Revolutionary Decade
***NEW HISTORY IRELAND PODCAST AVAILABLE NOW*** Fingal in the Revolutionary Decade To what extent did the military tactics of Thomas Ashe’s (5th) Fingal battalion of the Irish Volunteers in 1916 prefigure those of the IRA in the War of Independence, 1919-21? To what extent did the sack of Balbriggan in September 1920 provide the template…
Read MoreThe propaganda war in the revolutionary decade
*The propaganda war in the revolutionary decade* According to British Prime Minister David Lloyd George Irish nationalists were ‘naturalpropagandists’. How accurate was this description? How did they breach what Arthur Griffith calledthe ‘paper wall’ of British news coverage? How important was the new medium of film? And what was the role of women as both…
Read MoreKilkenny in the Revolutionary Decade
Kilkenny was described by Ernie O’Malley as ‘slack’ during the War of Independence. Was this really the case? Kilkenny has a notable revolutionary history—as crucible of the Tithe War (1830s), birthplace of one the founders of the IRB, James Stephens (1858), and a rebel turnout, albeit small (1916). Also, the attack and capture of Hugginstown…
Read MoreThe Truce
A century ago, at noon on 11 July 1921, a truce came into effect in the Anglo-Irish war between theIRA and Crown forces. Why did it happen then—and why had peace feelers in late 1920 failed? What motivated each side to sue for peace? What were their expectations? To address these and other questions tune…
Read MoreGeorge V’s opening of the Northern Ireland parliament
On 22 June 1921 King George V officially opened the Northern Ireland parliament, thusconfirming the existence of Northern Ireland as set out in the 1920 Government of Ireland Act.Moreover, since the formation of the Ulster Special Constabulary in autumn 1920 it also had themeans to defend itself. To discuss these and related matters tune in…
Read MoreMayo in the revolutionary decade
Despite a notable revolutionary pedigree—scene of a French invasion in support of the 1798 Rebellion and cradle of the Land League in 1879—Mayo was a ‘slow starter’ in the War of Independence, with major IRA engagements with Crown forces only starting in the spring of 1921. It was also the scene of major agrarian unrest.…
Read MoreThe burning of the Custom House, 25 May 1921
On 25 May 1921, Dublin’s Custom House, headquarters of the Local Government Board of Ireland,was occupied and then burnt in an operation involving over 100 IRA volunteers. It has long beenregarded as a propaganda coup but a military disaster for the IRA. But are either of these assumptions correct? Did it disrupt British administration? Did…
Read MoreWexford in the Revolutionary Decade
While not in the vanguard of armed activity during the War of Independence, Wexford has the distinction of being one of the few counties outside Dublin that saw action during the 1916 Rising. On the other hand it was also one of the few places where John Redmond’s (a native of the county) Irish Parliamentary…
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