I love the contradictions in Irish/ Northern Irish history, and the way that these things twist and conjoin on occasion.   Try this one. Just before WW1, on Friday the 24 th , and Saturday the 25 th April 1914, the protestant (and supposedly loyalist) Ulster Volunteer Force smuggled an entire boat load of arms and ammunition into Larne.   Their goal was to fight against any attempt by the British government to force home rule (based in Dublin) on the province of Ulster.   Smaller boats distributed the arms to Donaghadee, and after this initial unloading the ship crossed Belfast Lough to Bangor to unload more weaponry.   The ships correct name was the Clyde Valley, and some enterprising soul bought it as a hollow wreck in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s and brought it to Carrickfergus where it remained tied up for years while funds were sought to restore it.   The fundraising failed and it was eventually scrapped.   I remember as a child being at a...

Happy Easter everyone.  I thought it would be good to post this since it is both timely, and has absolutely nothing to do with the current crisis..  It comes from one of a series of books published by The Times newspaper (The Times History of the War).  These were published as WW1 was still in progress, so give a good contemporary account of events that were still then withing Britain.  There is a lot of detail here. Enjoy.