Book Launch - Dublin 6 October 2026

Please join us to launch Freedom of Speech in the Press in Times of Conflict: Historical Perspectives from Ireland and Europe in the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), 86 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 at 6pm on Tuesday 6 October 2026.

Edited by Prof Richard C. Allen, Felix M. Larkin, Dr Oliver O'Hanlon and Prof Aoife Whelan, the book will be launched by the historian and broadcaster Dr David McCullagh.

The book came about following a conference organised by the Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland (NPHFI). The book's table of contents is reproduced below and you can order a copy of the book on the publisher's (Peter Lang) website. It is the latest in Peter Lang's series on Studies in Franco-Irish Relations. Thanks to Eamon Maher (Series Editor) and Anthony Mason (Peter Lang) for their assistance during the publishing process.

Register here to attend the book launch on Tuesday 6 October at 6pm.

Irish Diary on disappearance of Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt 1967

The Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt (1908-1967) went swimming at a secluded beach in Victoria in December 1967. He was never seen again. Read my Irish Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about the disappearance of Harold Holt.

Photograph of Harold Holt swimming. Image source.

Holt enjoyed swimming and snorkeling. His disappearance was a shock to his fellow countrymen and women and led to a whole range of conspiracy theories (which probably developed further as his body was never recovered despite an extensive search operation). 

At the time of his disappearance, Holt was an experienced politician who was seeking to develop Australia's relationships with other countries in the region and further afield. As a senior minister in Sir Robert Menzies' governments from 1949, he frequently visited London, New York and Washington for meetings of the Commonwealth and international organisations like the World Bank. 

Holt supported sending Australian troops to Vietnam during the Vietnam War and used the slogan "All the way with LBJ" when visiting the White House in June 1966 to show his support of the US President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his approach to the War. You can find out more about Holt's time in office in this resume on the National Archives of Australia website.

Irish Press, 21 October 1966.

Maureen O'Sullivan - Irish-born SOE agent in France in WW2, RTÉ Brainstorm article

Maureen Patricia (Paddy) O'Sullivan (1918-1994) was a courageous Irish-born woman who played an important role in France during the Second World War. I have just written a short piece about her for the RTÉ Brainstorm website. Read it here.

Photograph of Maureen O'Sullivan on front cover of Clodagh Finn's book The Irish in the Resistance.

Maureen was one of many people who worked for the top secret wartime organisation set up by the British to help those living under German occupation during the War - the Special Operations Executive (SOE). She was sent to France during the War to operate a wireless which would transmit messages back to London. It was important to have up to date intelligence about German troop movements etc. in order to plan for D-Day and the Liberation of France. She also trained locals to operate the wireless. 

Clodagh Finn and John Morgan's book The Irish in the Resistance covers the work of Maureen and several other Irish people who were active in the Resistance during the War. I want to thank to Clodagh for her advice when I was writing the RTÉ Brainstorm piece.

Ireland and the Tour de France piece on RTÉ Brainstorm

You will have heard of the Tour de France, I'm sure! The annual road cycling race that runs through France has been drawing spectators since it began in 1903. I just wrote about some of the Irish cyclists who took part in this mythic race over the years for the RTÉ Brainstorm website. Read it here.

Cyclists in the Tour de France in July 1923. Image source.

Dublin-born Seamus (Shay) Elliott was the first Irishman to compete in the Tour de France. That was 70 years ago in 1956 and since then, many Irishmen and some Irishwomen have taken part in the Tour. One Irishman even won the race - that was Stephen Roche in 1987. I watched the Champs-Elysées stage in person a few times. The crowds can be big and the cyclists go so fast that it is hard to see anything but the atmosphere is quite special. 

The women's Tour race has been run in various forms since around 1955 and the latest iteration began in 2022. Let's hope that it and the men's race continue to be enjoyed by spectators for years to come. 

Radio interview with Seán Moncrieff

On Bastille Day 2026, I spoke with Seán Moncrieff on his Newstalk radio show about Samuel Beckett and Mary Elmes. These are just two of the Irish people who put themselves in danger in France during World War Two when they helped the French people by being in the Resistance (Beckett) or by providing needed humanitarian assistance (Elmes). You can listen back to the interview here.

In the Newstalk studio with Seán Moncrieff on 14 July 2026. 

Thanks to Seán for the invite and to Simon Tierney of Newstalk who helped arrange it. I am looking forward to the next interview.

 

Irish in France in WW2 - RTÉ Brainstorm article

For Bastille Day this year, I thought I'd write something about the Irish who gave assistance to France during the Second World War. Some of those who risked their lives as volunteers in the Resistance are well known (like Samuel Beckett) or those who helped out through humanitarian initiatives (like Mary Elmes), but others will not be that familiar to you. Read it here on the RTÉ Brainstorm website.

Samuel Beckett. Image source.

The French Resistance carried out a range of activities including non-violent civil defiance and organised guerilla warfare. They ran underground newspapers and gathered intelligence. It is estimated that between 1 and 3% of the French people took part in the Resistance. Find out more about it here and here. 

Many of the Irish who took part in Resistance activity in France did so as members of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). This was an organisation set up in July 1940 at the instruction of Winston Churchill to help local resistance movements and carry out espionage and sabotage in enemy held territories. You can find out more about the SOE here. According to this article, only 39 women were selected to be part of the SOE Section F or French section. This article by David Murphy contains a good precis of the Irish were part of Section F.

One of those who helped by giving assistance and giving hope was Cork-born Mary Elmes (1908-2002), who carried out essential humanitarian work in France during the War. She helped set up and run refugee camps for people fleeing Franco's nationalist forces in Spain. She provided education for the children in the camps and helped hundreds of Jewish children avoid certain death at Auschwitz concentration camp. She is remembered in her native city with a new pedestrian bridge bearing her name.

Mary Elmes Bridge in Cork city.

Joyce everywhere - Szombathely and the Hungarian link to James Joyce's Ulysses

Bloomsday is celebrated all around the world on this day 16 June. It marks the day on which James Joyce's fictional character Leopold Bloom walked around the streets of Dublin in Joyce's novel Ulysses. I have just written about the link between Ulysses and the ancient Hungarian city of Szombathely. Read it here. 

In the novel, Joyce says that Leopold Bloom's father was a Jew and that he came from the ancient Hungarian city. Events have been held in Szombathely to mark this connection between Ireland and Hungary for the last number of years. You can learn more about the history of the events on this dedicated website. This year a mural inspired by an episode from the novel will be unveiled in the city. The chosen artist is James Earley and you can find out more about his work here.

 

Bronze Ulysses plaque on Dublin's Grafton Street. Part of the Joyce Trail.

In the Brainstorm piece, I mention the quote often attributed to Joyce whereby he is thought to have said that he believed that his work would keep professors busy for years tying to decipher all the puzzles and enigmas that it contained. This is believed to have come from a French translator of Joyce's work and it dates from the 1950s, many years after Joyce said it to the Frenchman. It was told to Joyce's biographer Richard Ellmann. As such, doubts are sometimes cast on whether it is accurate or maybe it was misremembered by the translator with the passage of time. Either way, it would be nice to think that Joyce did say it whether he did or not. Read more about the quote and the possible truth of it here.