As often in the past three years, I am compiling my briefing notes for students in the intention of putting them online as a book. These are draft notes for one of this term's courses, copied from my main blog. Ireland is an old island which currently contains a young republic and a culturally divided area of British jurisdiction. Consequently, there is a great deal of ‘term shifting’ which goes on in descriptions of the place. Some people feel comfortable thinking in terms of counties, some in provinces, and some in geographical descriptions. Given the historic and current disputatiousness of the Irish, otherwise innocuous terms carry meanings; to call the country ‘Eire’ rather than ‘the Republic,’ to use the terms ‘the State’ or ‘The North’ is to make a conscious decision of which those outside of Ireland’s internal debates are often unaware. Some cities have three names, all of which, in the right circumstances, could start a fight. Paradoxically, however, the association of...
This is a collection of personal and largely unedited observations covering the years from 2006 to now; I assert my copyright but am fine with links and footnotes. Some posts are obviously much more researched than others, and any errors are wholly mine except where I have innocently disseminated or linked to other bloggers or commentators.