The Free Online Irish History Magazine Volume 3, Issue 3. July 2013 A Hungarian View of Northern Ireland: István Bibó on the Conflict Scoláire Staire JULY 2013 and Resolution 1 Contents Volume 3, Issue 3, July 2013 4 Editorial 34 Review The Cups That REGULARS 5 News Cheered, New Tom Clarke bio and f 27 PhD Diary new releases. IN THIS ISSUE i 12 The Grand Tour Correspondence of two Eighteenth-Century Clergymen from the Diocese of Waterford & Lismore 20 A Hungarian View of Northern Ireland: Istvn Bibó on the Conflict 28 Century Ireland, 1913-23: Using the internet to mark the Decade of Centenaries Editor: Editorial Assistants: Review Editor: News Editor: Dr Adrian Grant Dr Joanne McEntee Áine Mannion Gerard Madden Deirdre Rodgers Barbara Curran 2 Scoláire Staire JULY 2013 Scoláire Staire JULY 2013 3 Editorial News It’s that time of success rate when we applied, and therefore History Teachers Slam Quinn Proposals year again, when we were prepared for the likelihood of re- the postgrads and jection. A huge congratulations to all those The History Teachers’ Association of Ireland (HTAI) has postdocs of Ire- who were successful. We here at Scoláire vocally criticised proposals to remove history as a compulsory land finally get the Staire hope that Irish history will feature subject for junior cycle students before a Oireachtas Educa- news they’ve been prominently in the humanities this year tion Committee hearing last month. There are widespread waiting months and into the future. As for the rest of us, concerns that it will cause numbers studying history at sec- to hear. The Irish we’ll keep scoping out funding opportuni- ondary level to plummet, despite Department of Education Research Council ties, trawling through the archives and pub- Principal Officer Breda Naughton’s assertion to TD’s that it announced the results of its postdoctor- lishing as much as we can. It is difficult the would be ‘very difficult for schools not to teach history’ under al and postgraduate funding competitions find anything positive to say about the cur- regulations which compel students to leave school with an on Monday 15 July. I, like ninety percent of rent competitive atmosphere amongst early understanding of the relationship between past and current the postdoctoral applicants, was unsuccess- career historians...but at least there is a lot Ruairi Quinn events. ful. This being my second application, I am of high quality research being published; by now prohibited from applying for the fund- those with and without funding. HTAI President Gerry Hanlon noted that subjects like History and Science could be used to fulfil this re- ing ever again. quirement, however, effectively forcing history as a subject out of schools. Senior academics also appeared For an account of the postgraduate experi- before the committee, with Caitriona Crowe of the National Archives raising the vista of ‘Neil Jordan’s bad This year’s application process was a differ- ence of the IRC competition see Shay Kin- movie’ becoming the key means of Irish children learning about Michael Collins if there was a serious roll- ent affair to previous years. The merger of sella’s PhD Diary on p. 27. back of the availability of history in our secondary schools – the recent declaration by a Direct Democracy IRCHSS and IRCSET and a move to a com- Ireland protestor on RTÉ News that ‘Constant Markievicz gave up his life’ in the Easter Rising would seem to pletely electronic system left many scratch- *** echo her argument! She also queried why Ireland is moving away from compulsory history education while ing their heads. After the arduous process The last issue of Scoláire Staire carried an Britain is moving towards it, and indeed Tory Education Secretary Michael Gove has recently been forced of building an application there was a long advert seeking help with the production of to back down on imposing his planned education curriculum on British children. UCD Professor of Mod- wait, followed by an anti-climatic change the magazine. There was a great response ern Irish History, Diarmuid Ferriter, also criticized Quinn’s proposed move, while Sinn Féin TD, Jonathan in online status from ‘application pending’ to this and I’d like to thank everyone who O’Brien, noted the irony of the state allegedly downgrading history in schools while it put effort into thede- to ‘application unsuccessful’. Although that applied for any of the positions. We now cade of commemorations. During his recent Michael Littleton Memorial Lecture on the Dublin Lockout, anti-climax would probably have been a have an editorial team that is finding its Michael D. Higgins declared that 'Without good history teaching there is no shared understanding of a public great experience had my status read ‘appli- feet and beginning to work together quite past' – hopefully Ruairí Quinn will take note! cation successful’. well. Joanne McEntee, Deirdre Rodgers and Barbara Curran are our new editorial assis- The new application system had its good tants. Áine Mannion will take up the posi- and bad points, although I think overall, it tion of review editor, while Gerard Madden is better than the old paper and email sys- takes on the role of news editor and is cur- tem. For example, applicants were spared rently increasing our presence on the social Military History Summer School at Aughrim the hassle of organising meetings with var- networks. ious academics and administrators in order The third year of the Colonel Charles O’Kelly Aughrim Military History Summer School took to rubber-stamp the hardcopy before both I would like to welcome the new members place in the East Galway village from Friday 12 July to Sunday 14 July in honour of the epon- emailing everything and cramming a bulky of the team and I look forward to work- ymous battle, arguably the most decisive of the Jacobite-Williamite conflict in Ireland. The envelope (complete with writing samples) ing with all of them to ensure that Scoláire event was organized by Dr. Pádraig Lenihan of the National University of Ireland, Galway, a into the nearest postbox. I would suggest Staire can continue into the future. The noted expert on the period, who discussed the folk memory of the battle. that the IRC put a large notice on their support of you, the readers, is also of par- online system next year though, warning amount importance to the success of the Among the other speakers was Éamonn Ó Cíardla, an expert of Jacobitism from the Universi- applicants to compose their responses in a publication. You can advertise your events ty of Ulster and Professor Keith Sidwell of UCC, who is working with Dr. Lenihan in publish- word processor (then copy and paste) rath- etc. at competitive rates, which helps us ing a Latin account of the Jacobite wars. The conference opened with a talk from Julie Cruise, er than adding them directly in the web meet our annual costs. Please continue to Aughrim Interpretative Centre Manager, who discussed an ancestor who was a surgeon at the browser. I turned the air blue for while back submit articles, reviews and other features, battle of Aughrim. The event is named after Charles O’Kelly, who participated in the battle in March when I lost a significant amount and encourage your peers, colleagues and alongside his brother and son despite being 70 years of age and survived to authorise the only of work due to the session timing out and students to do the same. Jacobite account of the battle, Macarie Excidium. the system not informing me of this devel- opment until I hit the save button. Dr Adrian Grant The Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre was also officially opened for the year at the Editor beginning of the event, and shall remain open till the end of August. Further information can It is a huge disappointment to those of us be found at: http://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/battle-of-aughrim-inter- who were unsuccessful but we all knew the [email protected] pretative-centre/49840 4 Scoláire Staire JULY 2013 Scoláire Staire JULY 2013 5 News Banned O’Flaherty Book Launched in Galway The re-release of the first book banned in the Irish Free State, Liam O’Flaherty’s The House of Gold, took place in Galway City Library on Thursday June 13 at 6pm. The book’s reappearance, after its 1930 banning by Irish Censorship of Publications Board for its discussion of themes like priestly lust, greed, and murder, is thanks to publishers Nuascéalta Teo and the Tom and Liam O’Flaherty Society, a group formed to promote the two Connemara-born writers. A scathing portrayal of the Catholic Church and Ireland’s ‘gombeen’ post-1922 ruling class, the book tells the story of Ramon Mor Costello, a businessman who dominates the fictional town of Barra. Ramon is based heavily on Connemara-born Galway businessman Mairtín Mór MacDonogh, a relative of O’Flaherty’s and a fascinating figure who NUIG postdoctoral candidate Dr. Jackie Uí Chionna is currently writing a biography of. The launch, which attracted a crowd of well over fifty people, was first addressed by Councillor and long-time Gaeltacht activist Seosamh Ó Cuaig, who Members of the Tom & Liam O’Flaherty Societyfrom left to right Úna McMahon, Kathleen McMahon (Treasurer), argued that the previously neglected book is indis- Renate Mitchell, Jenny Farrell and Celine Seoighe (commit- pensible in telling the story of the Southern Irish tee members). Fr. Pádraig Standún at the launch. state. He paid tribute to Margaretta D’Arcy of the Tom and Liam O’Flaherty Society for first raising the idea of re-releasing the book, noting that it was arguably Tom and not the much better known Liam NUIG History Society who was the more impressive of the two brothers and that he hoped the society would help increase knowledge of Tom’s work.