Q 01/05

Which nickname for the RIC's 1920 recruits came from a Limerick hunt's hounds and their mixed uniforms?

A) The Auxiliaries

B) The B-Specials

C) The Black and Tans

D) The Peelers

Answer · why

C) The Black and Tans

The Black and Tans took their name from the Scarteen Hunt, whose Kerry Beagles wore those colours; a recruit's khaki-and-green outfit reminded a Limer...

Q 02/05

Which land agent for Lord Erne in County Mayo, shunned by his neighbours in 1880, gave English a new word?

A) Charles Boycott

B) Charles Trevelyan

C) Richard Bingham

D) William Gregory

Answer · why

A) Charles Boycott

Charles Boycott's ostracism ended with fifty Orangemen harvesting Lord Erne's crops under a thousand police and a regiment of Hussars, at least £10,00...

Q 03/05

Which pope, the only Englishman to hold the office, issued the 1155 bull Laudabiliter on Ireland?

A) Alexander III

B) Adrian IV

C) Innocent III

D) Gregory VII

Answer · why

B) Adrian IV

Adrian IV, born Nicholas Breakspear, issued Laudabiliter in 1155, and English kings cited it for centuries as papal licence to rule Ireland. Whether t...

Q 04/05

Who, while held in Holloway Prison, became the first woman elected to the House of Commons in December 1918?

A) Maud Gonne

B) Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington

C) Kathleen Clarke

D) Constance Markievicz

Answer · why

D) Constance Markievicz

Constance Markievicz won Dublin St Patrick's with 66% of the vote but never took her seat, in line with her party's abstention from Westminster. In 19...

Q 05/05

What official name did Ireland give the years of the Second World War, when de Valera kept the state neutral?

A) The Emergency

B) The Neutrality

C) The Blackout

D) The Long Peace

Answer · why

A) The Emergency

The Emergency was proclaimed by the Dáil on 2 September 1939 and brought sweeping powers, including press censorship, that were not formally ended unt...