The Irish Story Top Ten articles of 2018

Our most popular articles of 2018. Thanks to all our contributors and visitors. Happy New Year!

Twenty eighteen in Irish history was dominated by several important centenaries, four ground breaking events from one hundred years ago:

The Conscription crisis of April, 1918, in which, mass nationalist mobilization fought off the British government’s attempt to impose conscription for the Great War, see our article; A Declaration of War on the Irish People’ the Conscription Crisis of 1918,  by John Dorney.

Women being granted the vote for the first time, which we marked with this article , Women the Vote and Nationalist Revolution in Ireland, on women’s suffrage and the female republican movement in the Irish revolution, by John Dorney

The End of the Great War in November 1918, which conflict affected Ireland deeply.

And perhaps most importantly of all the General Election of December 1918, in which Sinn Fein swept the polls and went on to declare Irish independence in January of the following year.

These article inevitably generated a great deal of interest, but outside of them we also had a wide range of interesting article. The following were the most viewed general articles in 2018.

Top Ten articles of 2018

1. The Strange Case of Lord Massey and the Kilakee Shooting, July 1922 a tale of murder, Michael Collins and the decline of gentry family, by John Dorney
2. ‘To extinguish their Sinister Traditions and Customs’ the historic ban on the Irish and Welsh languages, A comparison of the treatment of the Irish and Welsh langauges under British rule, by Padriag Og O Ruairc
3. The Boys of the Old Brigade, The Third Northern Division, a survey of the Belfast IRA from 1920 to 1923, by Kieran Glennon.
4. God’s Battle, O’Duffy’s Irish Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-37, when Eoin O’Duffy led a contingent of right wing volunteers to fight for Franco, by John Dorney.
5. ‘Dreaming of an Irish Tet Offensive’, Irish Republican Prisoners and the Origins of the Peace Process, on the planned ‘Tet Offensive’ by the Provisional IRA in the 1980s, by Dieter Reinisch
6. Deliberate Amnesia? The Irish Volunteers Plan to assassinate the British cabinet, 1918  How the Irish Volunteers planned to wipe out the British cabinet if conscription was introduced, by Fergus O’Farrell
7. The Killurin ambush 1922 and the Civil War in Wexford the bloody ambush that sparked months of guerrilla war in the south east, by Aaron O Maonaigh
8. Sixteen Glasgow Volunteers and the Irish Revolution Following the paths of 16 Irish-Scots republicans throughout the Irish revolution, by Thomas Tormey
9. The Emergency, a Brief Overview, Ireland during the Second World War, by John Dorney.
10. Controlling history, Commemorating the First Dail 1926-1969, by Diarmuid Francis Bolger

Today in Irish History, 2018

The Irish Story marked several anniversaries with articles in the year gone by:

1. Today in Irish History, 31 July 1922, Harry Boland is killed by John Dorney
2. Today in Irish History, 14 December 1918, the General Election of 1918, by John Dorney
3. Today in Irish History, 22 August 1922, Beal na Blath, the Shooting of Michael Collins, by John Dorney

Top Ten Reviews

1. Film Review: Black 47, by John Dorney

   

2. The Adoption Machine, The Dark History of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes, by Paul Jude Redmond, Reviewed by Rhona McCord.
3. The Impact of the Troubles on the Republic of Ireland 1968-1979, a Boiling Volcano? By Brian Hanley, reviewed by John Dorney.
4. Everyday Violence in the Irish Civil War, by Gemma Clark, reviewed by John Dorney.
5. Party Politics in a new Democracy, The Irish Free State 1922-1937, by Mel Farrell, reviewed by Timothy Ellis.
6. The Preacher and the Prelate: The Achill Mission Colony and the Battle for Souls in Famine Ireland, by Patricia Byrne, Reviewed by Gordon O’Sullivan.

   

7. Bombs, Bullets and the Border, Policing Ireland’s Frontier 1969-1978, by Paul Mulroe, reviewed by Gerard Madden.
8. The Dublin Docker, working lives of Dublin’s Deep Sea Port, by Aileen O’Carroll and Don Bennet, reviewed by Jim Dorney.
9. Proclaiming a Republic, by Darragh Gannon, reviewed by Daniel Murray.
10. The Quest for the Irish Celt, The Harvard archeological mission to Ireland, 1932-1936, by Mairead Carew, reviewed by Timothy Ellis.

 

Top Interviews and audio

1. Brian Hanley on the General Election of 1918
2. Assassination and Execution, Ireland December 1922
3. Joe Connell on Michael Collins
4. John Dorney on the 1918 Conscription Crisis
5. Farming in Irish history with Micheal O Fathartaigh