The top Irish Story features of 2011
At the start of the new year, we review our most viewed of our articles and interviews published in 2011.
The top ten most viewed articles were;
- Life and Debt – A Short History of public spending, borrowing and debt in independent Ireland.
- The Big House and the Irish Revolution – the story of the destruction of the homes of the landed gentry in 1919-23.
- The Upton ambush – a piece on an action during the Irish War of Independence.
- The Tailtean Games – Cathal Brennan looks at Ireland’s answer to the Olympics, 1924-1936
- March 5, 1867, The Fenian Rebellion
- Book review: The Year of Disappearances, Padraig Og O Ruairc critiques Gerard Murphy’s controversial book. Murphy’s response here.
- The Munster Plantation and the MacCarthys, 1583-1597, how the MacCarthy clan dealt with colonisation of the southern province.
- March 1923, The Terror Month, a month of atrocity in the Irish Civil War
- The Anti-Jazz Campaign, Cathal Brennan looks at why Jazz music was once thought to be ‘the greatest danger to Irish civilisation.
- April 26, 1916, The battle at Mount Street Bridge, the bloodiest fighting in the Easter Rising.
Honourable mentions must also go to Rhona McCord’s very stimulating articles on 1920s Dublin, The IRA Campaign against Moneylenders in 1926 and A Garden City on the housing scheme at Marino, and Joanna Pierce’s piece on Castles in Medieval Ireland.
Cathal Brennan had an interesting article on how Edward VIII’s abdication helped to sever the links between Ireland and the British Commonwealth. Also popular was John Dorney’s recollection of the February 2006 riot in Dublin and his essay on Sean McDermott and the Easter Rising.
Our top 10 most listened to audio interviews recorded in 2011 were;
- Brian Hanley on Fianna Fail
- Madame, Mistress and Martinet, James Ward’s documentary on 19th century landlord and murder victim Sarah Kelly.
- Padraig Lenihan on the Battle of Aughrim 1691
- John Borgonovo on the Battle for Cork in 1922
- Perspectives on the Easter Rising Part I – Rebels – featuring Ferghal McGarry and Padraig Yeates.
- John Dorney interviewed about the Ballyseedy Massacre of 1923.
- Perspectives on the Easter Rising Part III, Aftermath – featuring Ferghal McGarry and Padraig Yeates.
- Bankruptcy Bailouts and Brass Money, Harman Murtagh on 17th century finance.
- Perspectives on the Easter Rising Part II -Combat, featuring Fearghal McGarry and Padraig Yeates.
- The Home Front – Padraig Yeates on Dublin in World War One.
Many thanks go out to all our wonderful interviewees.
A happy 2012 to all our contributors and viewers!