The Belfast Tunnels 1920-22

In the summer of 1922, police and soldiers carrying out raids in the Grove Street area (off North Queen) reported that “…the search revealed that the yards on the Grove Street side were tunnelled the whole length of the street, and access to Grove Street could be made from Vere Street through another tunnel.” (Belfast

Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla

This is the text of the Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla as circulated by a Brazilian radical, Carlos Marighella, in 1969. It is reputedly based, in part, on his analysis of IRA tactics in 1919-21. Many on the left, in particular, believed that the model applied and promoted with some success by Mao, Guevara and

…to resist, to join together, occasionally to win…

“I don’t want to invent victories for people’s movements, but to think that history writing must simply recapitulate the failures that dominate the past is to make historians collaborators in an endless cycle of defeat.  And if history is to be creative, if it’s to anticipate a possible future without denying the past, it should, I think,

Was ‘troubles’ related death toll as high as 30,000?

How many people died in the recent conflict in Ireland? You’d think this would be a relatively easy to answer question. But depending on how you decide to define a death as conflict-related, the total, which is usually given as around 3,700, is probably at least 5,733 and may be as high as 30,000. A

Mná an IRA: films to watch @IFI_Dub

Some great viewing here (whether you are locked down or not)! There’s a new collection of films released on the IFI Player, (and they are free to view – internationally)! The Loopline Collection Volume 2 includes footage of Republican Women in a series called Mná an IRA, a documentary series on Irish craft and folklife

Security policy and history writing (some questions and answers).

I did an interview recently with Christopher Owens which was published a few days ago on Anthony McIntyre’s The Pensive Quill platform. Christopher picked up on some interesting points (these largely follow on from his review of Belfast Battalion). Here’s a sample from it that, by accident, covers a key point with a strong contemporary resonance

A Couple of Essay by Niall Meehan

Here’s a post from Niall Meehan with links to a couple of essays, The Embers of Revisions (by Niall) and The Wind That Shakes The Barley (by Brian Murphy): For those interested in politics and history in Ireland from a left-wing perspective, please find attached a recently published pamphlet on Irish history and politics with

why republican groups are so fractious…

It has long been a cliché that, historically, the first thing on the agenda in any Irish republican organisation is a split. But like many clichés it has an element of truth to it. Most people are probably unaware that the Irish Citizens Army, as well as Republican Congress, organised in Belfast in the 1930s.

…to resist, to join together, occasionally to win…

“I don’t want to invent victories for people’s movements, but to think that history writing must simply recapitulate the failures that dominate the past is to make historians collaborators in an endless cycle of defeat.  And if history is to be creative, if it’s to anticipate a possible future without denying the past, it should, I think,

Was ‘troubles’ related death toll as high as 30,000?

How many people died in the recent conflict in Ireland? You’d think this would be a relatively easy to answer question. But depending on how you decide to define a death as conflict-related, the total, which is usually given as around 3,700, is probably at least 5,733 and may be as high as 30,000. A