Now That’s What I Call a Tribunal

Contributed by Myles Dungan

The Moriarty Tribunal can’t quite seem to make up its mind whether or not it has dialled the last number in its mobile phone contacts book. The Mahon Tribunal started as the Flood Tribunal and may well be called something entirely different by the time we get to read its report.

Lets hope when the distinguished jurists who have been listening to some of the most excruciatingly detailed evidence ever laid before four wigless judges is of more consequence than a Commission report laid before the Houses of Parliament in Westminster 120 years ago this month. Because the Report of the Special Commission into Parnellism and Crime – better known as the Times Commission in honour of the village idiot who paid the bill – set the bar for the anti-climax. It was as if Apple had promised the iPad but Steve Jobs had, instead, launched a new, but ground-breaking, electric toothbrush.

It began with a whimper on 7 March, 1887 with an anonymous piece in the Times promising startling revelations about the connection of the Irish party leadership to violent agrarian crime. Three articles later the series was fizzling out altogether in a welter of sheer tedium when the Times played its trump card on 18 April by publishing a facsimile of what purported to be a highly embarrassing letter from Charles Stewart Parnell. This signed and dated note seemed to offer succour to the Invincibles for the Phoenix Park murders.

‘A History of the World, not the History of the World.’ A History of the World in 100 objects

Contributed by Léan Ní Chléirigh

BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum have launched a new series of programmes in which they will attempt to tell the History of the World through 100 artefacts found in the collections of the British Museum. Each artefact will form the basis for one programme lasting 15 minutes. Being a huge fan of Museums, Radio 4 and the 15-minute programme, this was easily the most exciting thing which happened to me all year.

The project, however, is not without its difficulties. The immediate one which springs to mind is the right of the British Museum to many of the artefacts which it displays. So far none of the objects discussed have a British provenance. When the show was previewed in the Times, the majority of the comments came from African readers quite reasonably asking for their stuff back from the British Museum. Neil MacGregor, the director of the British museum and presenter, has foreseen this problem and he promises that this subject will be tackled in the series. In the mean time he asked Egyptian author, Ahdaf Soueif what she thinks. Soueif’s attitude is fairly conciliatory; that the presence of Egyptian artefacts in museums all over the world reminds people of the common human history which we all share.

Interview: Dr Conor Kostick, historian and children’s author

Interview date: 29 September 2009

What book do you wish you had written?
I’m with Cathy Hayes on this one: A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

What would you do if you were not a historian?
Well, I divide my time between history and writing fiction as it is, so ‘author’.

When was the last time you looked at wikipedia?
Sometime during the week. Its very handy for authors wanting to get technical details right, like how a combine harvester works. I don’t use it as a historian, it is not yet reliable enough, but a generation from now perhaps …

History in times gone by

By Kevin O’Sullivan

I’m not really one for an old adage, but sometimes you have to admit when coincidence throws one your way. An example from this week: in my spare time I’ve been reading Michael Kennedy and Deirdre McMahon’s Reconstructing Ireland’s Past: A History of the Irish Manuscripts Commission (2009); while doing some research on famine memory I came across Cormac Ó Gráda’s brilliant article (published here and later reprinted here) on the commissioning of Robert Dudley Edwards and T. D. Williams (eds), The Great Famine (1956); and, in the midst of all the talk about the end of the National University structure and Batt O’Keeffe’s continuing hints about rationalisation in the university sector, into my path fell a copy of the University College Galway calendar from the middle of the 1970s. All a reminder that what we do, as historians, has changed so much in the last one hundred years. Things come in threes, etc.

As historians, we spend a large amount of time procrastinating about institutional memory – or lack thereof in the financial institution that’s now literally your local bank – so no harm for us to know a little about our own profession, where we come from and the spirits that guide us. In that vein, I’ve reproduced below a list of instructions and history courses from UCG in 1974-75. There is a lot that is familiar, some surprisingly so (the emphasis on local history, for example), some courses that are intriguing, and quite a few that hint openly at their convenors. To over-use a phrase, plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose.

HISTORY

First Year

Pass and Honours

(1)  The history of Ireland from the twelfth to the end of the nineteenth century.

(2)  The history of Europe from the twelfth to the end of the nineteenth century.

Lists of textbooks which are recommended for study

What a (t)wit!: Swift, Stella and the phrenologists

Contributed by Ciaran Toal

At a meeting room above Sackville Street in late August 1835 the skull of Jonathan Swift sat on a table alongside that of his friend Stella.  In turn, the gathered phrenologists, who believed character and mental ability could be read from the shape of the cranium, rose to make their pronouncements.  The leader, George Combe, went first.  He noted that if Swift’s skull had ‘been the cranium of a common man…he would have been hanged.’  Stella’s skull, the phrenologists claimed, showed characteristics of benevolence, wit and appropriation, but also destructiveness and amativeness.  Swift, by contrast, demonstrated signs of a love of children and hope, but a lack of benevolence.  Perhaps most importantly the phrenologists were able to claim that, with regards to wit, he was rather ‘small’.

All about my mother

By Juliana Adelman

I know that in the professional era of history, we are correctly reluctant to allow our personal lives to enter into the history that we write.  Nevertheless, there are very personal reasons that we choose our topics.  Of course, twists and turns on the career ladder (read: need to find job doing some kind of history, any kind) tend to have important effects.  But when we have the chance, we all come back to the topics that we love.  And why do we love them?  I thought I’d get the ball rolling on what I hope might become a discussion or a dialogue by sharing some thoughts on how I ended up doing what it is that I do.  As the title suggests, I blame my mother.

Pue’s Recommendations for February

Juliana Adelman I am currently reading It’s a Don’s Life, derived from Classicist Mary Beard’s blog of the same name. The blog and book are appealingly personal and the topics covered are anything from scholarly to political, all well written.  The National Library of Ireland has started a new online exhibition called ‘Discover Your National Library‘.  It’s not really targeted at academic researchers, but it’s worth a look.  Finally, two friends  recognised that cheesy Victorian period horror about werewolves ought to be right up my alley and alerted me to the opening of The Wolfman (12 Feb).  I can’t wait!

Lisa-Marie Griffith The IFI are running a fantastic free series for anyone in and around the capital this month called ‘Archive at lunchtime’. Under half an hour in length, the programmes include both fictional and non-fictional stories that are aimed at giving the viewer ‘a unique insight into Irish society’. This month they feature the work of Colm O’Laoghaire and begin this lunchtime with Water Wisdom & Irish Gossamer.

Christina Morin This month is a busy one for music in Belfast, and I’m looking forward to experiencing some of the city’s vibrant musical culture with the 7th annual Féile an Earraigh running from 4-7 February. With a great line-up of well-known bands and performers as well as a diverse range of concerts, performances, and activities happening at various venues throughout the city, the festival promises to be a lot of fun. I’m also hoping to catch the London Classic Theatre’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane when I’m in Cork for Valentine’s Day weekend. The play runs at the Everyman Palace Theatre from 2-13 February. While I’m in the soi-disant People’s Republic, I might also take the opportunity of popping into the Lewis Glucksman Gallery for the Thingamajig exhibit running from 23 January-9 May 2010. Exploring ‘the secret life of objects’, the exhibit is free, as is the stroll around UCC’s campus – my old haunting grounds – you can take when you’re finished in the gallery.

Kevin O’Sullivan A history of the world, in thirteen-minute segments, across one hundred objects from the British Museum, hardly sounds like the most compelling of audio experiences, but if you can momentarily cast aside your doubts about the righftul ownership of some of these pieces (appeased by the promise that the series will deal with the issue), Radio 4’s aptly named new series A History of the World in One Hundred Objects well rewards a listen, or a podcast. Speaking of desirable objects, the new edition of Field Day Review arrived in January, its layout and subject-range as striking as ever, keeping its place as a must-read among Irish academic journals. It also includes an eminently readable article on zoological gardens in Dublin by one of the editors of this parish that’s certainly worth checking out. Finally, anyone in Dublin or passing through should jump on the Luas and head up to IMMA to catch Picturing New York: Photographs from The Museum of Modern Art, a striking collection of photographs of the city from the 1880s to today that runs until 14 February (hat-tip to Patrick Walsh for pointing this one out).

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Crisis facing the National Archives of Ireland

Contributed by Peter Crooks

The National Archives of Ireland is soon to become of an institutional casualty of the recession. A proposal to merge the National Archives of Ireland and the Irish Manuscripts Commission into the National Library of Ireland (note the preposition) was announced in October 2008. Draft legislation is now nearly complete. If the government moves swiftly, it may secure the passage of this ghastly proposal through the Oireachtas in time to mark the 90th anniversary of the Four Courts bombardment of 30 June 1922, which destroyed the old Public Record Office of Ireland, and with it the accumulated records of seven centuries.

This is hardly the best way to commemorate the nation’s great archival tragedy. But is it possible to generate sufficient awareness to force the government to think again? When the merger was first announced, the attention of the public was understandably on bread-and-butter issues. Now the crisis facing the National Archives has gained some attention owing to the revelation that records from 1979 due to be released under the 30-year rule cannot be processed. This provoked a flurry of correspondence in the Irish Times. Then, on 20 January last, the crisis facing the archives was raised in the Senate.

The exchange between Senator Fergal Quinn and Deputy Martin Mansergh, Minister for State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (though not the Minister with direct responsibility for the Archives), repays close reading.

The Kindle reader: how does it fare for historians?

Contributed by Sarah Arndt

This Christmas brought me the newest version of Amazon’s digital book reader the Kindle. It was purchased as a solution for my increasingly problematic collection of books.  Many in academia can sympathize with my obsessive purchasing of books, and my inability to part with any – no matter how old or unread.  However the Kindle, though extremely useful in many ways, is not likely to completely take the place of traditional books purchases.

Its use as an academic tool for researchers and students depends on what types of materials you regularly read, and your willingness to upload different formats. While Amazon advertises over 400,000 titles available digitally, few if any of the specialist history books required by researchers and students are available. The history section mostly focuses on various strands of American history.  Having said this, any PDF document can be read on the Kindle making it ideal for reading online articles, older digitized books and theses which otherwise have to be read on the computer.  MS Word documents can also be converted and read on the Kindle.  Readers can add their own notes to any book or document, and look up the definition of any word, although these features are a bit awkward to use.

Perhaps its biggest personal selling point is for casual reading.