BY THE SUMMER of 1912 it seemed most likely that there would be a Home Rule parliament in Ireland and Irish women were determined to ensure they would win the right to vote in the first election to that parliament. Their campaign was stepped up and took on a new militancy 100 years ago. Free article

ON MAY 12th 1920, dozens of Irish republican prisoners were entering their 20th day of hunger strike in Wormwood Scrubs in England. At the same time there were numerous reports in the British media that ‘special forces’ were about to be sent to Ireland to deal with the intensifying IRA campaign against Britain’s continuing brutal occupation of Ireland – this was despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of Irish people had voted in favour of Irish independence in 1918. Free article

IF A RANDOM SAMPLE of Belfast people was asked to name the most important event of 1912, it is highly likely that the majority of them would cite the sinking of the RMS Titanic. This is partly a consequence of the present saturation coverage of Titanic commemorations and partly a pre-existing, enduring interest in the story of the doomed vessel, the most famous ship in modern-day history. Free article