Ireland and the Great War: Memory, History and Politics

Prof Richard Grayson is Head of History at Goldsmiths, University of London. Belfast Boys: How Unionists and Nationalists Fought and Died Together in the First World War was published in 2009. Currently working on Dublin during the Great War and At War with the 16th Irish Division: The Staniforth Letters

Across the water: personal and political reflections on holding dual British-Irish citizenship

After the Brexit vote, Richard S Grayson (Goldsmiths, University of London) became an Irish citizen, meaning that he has dual British-Irish citizenship. This was partly from his desire to retain a European identity. More importantly, it reflected a Northern Irish ancestry which, before and after partition, was intimately bound up with the rest of the island. He suggests that for those with ties to Ulster, holding dual citizenship may help to break down barriers between the Republic and Northern Ireland

From Genealogy to Reconciliation: Public Engagement with Remembrance of the First World War in Ireland

Over the past two decades in Britain and Ireland there has been a significant growth in opportunities to engage in genealogy and it is now arguably a form of cultural activity in its own right. This growth has been driven by and contributed to a range of television programmes and monthly magazines. Such growth has rested on the rapid expansion of sources available on the internet. These developments have enabled those in Ireland (north and south) who wish to examine their ancestry to do so. Meanwhile, as a consequence of the Northern Ireland peace process nationalists and republicans who have not previously wished to discuss their forebears’ role in the British military are now more willing to do so. This article examines the ways in which this has happened, offering seven categories for the types of work which have taken place and continue to do so: official, museums, regimental associations, books of honour, memorials, community and centenary. It argues that genealogy can reveal shared experiences across sectarian divides and this helps to complicate simplistic narratives. Such complication can have a powerful role in reconciliation

Change and continuity in the Liberal Democrat election campaign of 2005

The Liberal Democrat campaign of 2005 was judged by the public to be the most effective of the three main campaigns. It also delivered tangible gains: more seats and more votes for the second successive election. However, the campaign has been criticised, and there has been disappointment within the party that the gains were not greater. This article considers why the party's 2005 campaign was largely the same as in 2001, examining how far the party changed in the intervening years. It begins by highlighting policy changes and then argues that although policy changed significantly, the party's overall message remained basically the same. The nature of the party's election strategy and tactics are then examined, followed by an assessment of how the party might develop its approach in future

Leo Amery's imperialist alternative to appeasement in the 1930s

native tactics were significantly different from government policy. As such, aspects of the anti-appeasement case should be seen as being more nuanced than previously recognized, and the imperialist dimension of it should be understood

Initial Public Offerings of Ballplayers

As a field study of choice under uncertainty, we examine baseball teams' investments in amateur players. Though most prospects fail to deliver any return on their multi-million dollar signing bonuses, returns on the minority who succeed easily offset these losses: the expected annual yield on the median first-round draftee is 33 percent. However, the pattern of returns is inconsistent with market efficiency. Yields are lower for high schoolers than collegians (27 percent vs. 43 percent), lower for pitchers than position players (24 percent vs. 41 percent), decline for later round long-shots, and may be negative under competitive bidding.Market efficiency; Bounded rationality; Prospect theory; Winner’s curse

Introduction: The Irish Soldier in the British Army, c. 1680-1922

The papers in this volume are a selection of those delivered at a conference at the National Army Museum in London in July 2022, held to mark the centenary of the disbandment of the ‘southern’ Irish regiments on the creation of the Irish Free State.  This introduction summarizes each paper, situating them in analysis of past historiography on the Irish soldier in the British Army.  It argues that while the First World War still looms large in that historiography, researchers are now more often moving beyond it, while also analysing matters such as class, gender and global contexts

Presenting Physical Things Digitally: New Collecting Practices

The motivations for collecting and the idiosyncrasies of physical and digital collections have been long studied. However, how they are presented in the digital space is an unresolved challenge. To help better understand this problem from a design perspective, we built Thinga.Me. Thinga.Me is a system which allows users to capture photographs of physical objects and then cut them out, place them into digital collections, and share them. By segmenting the object from the background the interface creates the illusion of a physical item, giving a sense of carrying your stuff with you in your pocket. Following two years of development, iteration and feedback, we discuss uses of the app and the implications it can have for changing the way we reflect on physical things in our lives. In particular, we focus on how digital collection are presented and displayed in a realistic way as a way of providing more meaning and helping shape users’ identities. Demonstrating the importance of visual design choices, our results lead to considerations on how to most appropriately display physical objects in the virtual world, whilst avoiding the uncanniness some might experience when interacting with skeuomorphic collections

Presenting Physical Things Digitally: New Collecting Practices

The motivations for collecting and the idiosyncrasies of physical and digital collections have been long studied. However, how they are presented in the digital space is an unresolved challenge. To help better understand this problem from a design perspective, we built Thinga.Me. Thinga.Me is a system which allows users to capture photographs of physical objects and then cut them out, place them into digital collections, and share them. By segmenting the object from the background the interface creates the illusion of a physical item, giving a sense of carrying your stuff with you in your pocket. Following two years of development, iteration and feedback, we discuss uses of the app and the implications it can have for changing the way we reflect on physical things in our lives. In particular, we focus on how digital collection are presented and displayed in a realistic way as a way of providing more meaning and helping shape users’ identities. Demonstrating the importance of visual design choices, our results lead to considerations on how to most appropriately display physical objects in the virtual world, whilst avoiding the uncanniness some might experience when interacting with skeuomorphic collections

Ireland’s New Memory of the First World War: Forgotten Aspects of the Battle of Messines, June 1917

The narrative of the 16th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) divisions fighting side-by-side at Messines in June 1917 plays a major and valuable role in cross-community reconciliation on the island of Ireland. However, there is no sustained historical analysis of precisely who (in terms of geographic origin) was serving in the two divisions by June 1917. This article does that, concluding that around one-third of the men in each division had no Irish connection. This opens up the prospect of nuancing the Messines narrative so that it might play a part in British-Irish reconciliation