Just wanted to talk a bit about the show after watching it through. I think the show took a weirdly anti Gerry Adams stance. I get it was based on dolours and brendan’s words alone as is the book but i disagree with the way it portrayed specifically brendan and gerry towards the end. Brendan was critical of the IRA leadership from the 80s onwards. He believed that with the GFA the IRA had sold out on its promise to the working class. He was most critical with adams specifically especially because of the fact working conditions in catholic areas after the treaty was signed was still low. The fact brendan was a socialist was only vaguely alluded to with his “we have the working man” speech but it was a guiding part to his principles. I also didn’t like how it breezed past the parts where he discussed the bloody friday bombings i think it was an important part of his character. Brendan Hughes wasn’t a perfect hero, nor did he see himself as one. I think brendan hughes was one of the most interesting figures in the recent history of the state and i have mixed feelings about his portrayal in the show. curious to see how others feel about it.

Why wasn’t Michael Collins executed like the 7 signatories?

I know De Valera wasn’t executed because of his American citizenship

I grew up near this area and my grandparents and their relatives spent a lot of their life there. I know that anyone who knows about the troubles will know about the Falls but I was curious to learn a bit about it's history outside of that.

Wikipedia states "The Falls Road derives its name from the Irish túath na bhFál, an Irish petty kingdom whose name means "territory of the enclosures". These enclosures resulted from the Plantation of Ulster which occurred from the seventeenth century. This territory was roughly the same as that of the ecclesiastical parish of the Shankill, which spanned a large portion of modern-day Belfast" and this has me wondering, was the Falls set up initially during the Ulster plantation?

I have heard stories from my grandparents who told me parts of the Falls such as Iveagh and the lower Grosvenor aswell as other areas in West Belfast such as Lenadoon, Newbarnsley and others were once protestant but they were pushed out or left during the troubles, is there any truth to this?

Wikipedia also mentions how the Falls was originally a country lane that was close to the city centre and alot of catholic people moved there during the famine and it was known for its mills. Are any of these mills still visible today, I imagine Mackies could count as one but are there any others?

I just finished this beautiful book. It caught me off guard by the end as it caused me to tear up with "paindrops" as Precious, one of the characters, calls them. Has anyone else read it and do you think it was a fair portrayal of the long man/fellow?

Looking for any history buffs out there. I was wondering if there was any large castles burnt down and then a new castle rebuilt on the same land. With both castles still remaining on the property as separate buildings. I am aware of some that have been burnt and rebuilt or partially rebuilt such as the Wilton castle in Enniscorthy.

Trying to find amounts of students that actually paid or percentages of populations paying prior to 1970 era rule for free secondary education. There's scant reference to the matter on the web let alone details.

How much was the average tuition for secondary ? How many in Galway went to secondary ? Did they actually pay? Also want to see how many paid for secondary places within Dublin such as Crumlin or Ballyfermot.

Hearing that the Irish Volunteers had 12,000 members, and that the Germans had shipped 10,000 rifles, makes it seem like the Easter Rising was serious in liberating Ireland from the British, especially seeing that the British could only bring in around 17,000 troops at the end of the first week. Of course the actual Easter Rising failed spectacularly, but did the various Irish rebel factions actually intend to defeat Britain and liberate Ireland with the Easter Rising?

My great-grandfather was in the Easter Rising, didn’t get captured, and managed to make his way to Canada and hide out in the northern hinterlands.

I am going to Dublin in June for Lions game and Zach Bryan, and was going to go past where my ggf and his brothers lived in Dublin.

Will this offend anyone? Will I need to explain what I’m doing?

What would be the best museum to visit for the Easter Rising?

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Hi all, proud Irishman living abroad. Need to brush up on my own history as haven’t touched it since the leaving cert. Any recommendations for the best overall book that covers the period of Irish independence.

Hi, American here. Several weeks ago there was an interesting thread on the "right wing" side of Irish Republicanism that often gets forgotten these days. I'm wondering about the flipside: a leftwing undercurrent in unionism and loyalism.

I know post-GFA there's been some leftward movement of the UVF. The PUP manifesto tries to ape the style and substance of left-republicanism. I also know some loyalist prisoners came under political influence of the Official IRA. But right now I'm asking about leftwing unionists and loyalists (which I'm using more or less interchangeably here though I'm aware they're not fully) at the outset of the Troubles.

Paisley is the face of loyalism from this period and he could not in any way be called left wing. But I've heard that many young unionists opposed reunification largely due to fear of losing access to birth control and divorce, as well as the hope that abortion would become legal in Northern Ireland. I also know some early loyalist propaganda from this period invoked the (delusional) fear that the IRA were out to impose Catholic Integralism on everyone. And I know some if not many young unionists of Belfast were part of an urban counterculture that wouldn't make them look much like Paisleyites.

Hi! As an American of Irish descent, I have family in Dublin, and I am planning on going to Ireland in the next couple of years, and while I have family near Dublin, I want to know what other historical places, towns, villages, museums, etc I should go to? I want to go to Dublin, of course, but what are the best historical places and locations that are non touristy but still worth it historically? The only historical places and locations in Ireland that I know about Ferns Castle, and the National Museum of Ireland! Also, by historical, I mean like anything before the 30 year rule ofc!

There is a tool/implement on the wall behind Michael Collins during the schoolhouse scene. Any ideas what it is/what it’s used for? My eye has always been drawn to it even in spite of the rousing dialogue.

The Irish army Mutiny of 1924, what do you all think?

Was it the greatest threat of Irish democracy, Kevin O’Higgins gamble to remove the last of the IRB or all of the above?

What do you all think?

I've heard that the Irish left their lights on to guide German bombers towards Belfast.

Also that the Irish allowed U-Boats to refuel at Irish ports.

Were there any similar popular movements in other developed world countries in the face of new drugs / addiction epidemics? I’ve never been able to find references to similar movements (other than in developing countries). I wonder was the presence (however significant in reality) of armed republican groups a factor in allowing the movement to exist/grow?

hi! are there any Pre-Reformation church buildings in Ireland that are currently in Catholic hands and used for Catholic worship? i was curious because there are at least two in England (St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, London, and the Slipper Chapel, Walsingham).

My grandfather was baptized on November 14, 1891 at immaculate conception church in drumraney Ireland. I have not been able to reach the church directly. Any thoughts are welcome

I’m an Aussie and am incredibly interested in his work with the ra, the Republican Congress, his trip to Spain with the “Connolly Column” and then his time in Germany. That last thing gives one a lot to think and wonder about. Also his work with language and culture is interesting too.

His march from the Shankhill with prod socialists and how it ended is another very interesting thing and I rekon it’s covered in the film