Arts and minds – Frank McNally on the uneasy relationship between Irish politics and art

How the plea for Irish independence made its way to Paris

Sean T Ó Ceallaigh and George Gavan Duffy attempted to win France over to the cause

State papers: Irish officials found no evidence Easter Rising got papal blessing

Count George Plunkett claimed he met Pope Benedict XV in week before Rising

Diarmaid Ferriter: Ireland’s complex ties with Catalonia

Republicans have a long history with Catalan nationalists, despite their significant differences

Michael Collins and my grandfather: A meeting in Leitrim

Police records reveal a McGreevy family connection to the ‘Big Fellow’ in 1917

Joseph Plunkett’s role in Rising remembered by his school

Stonyhurst archivist seeks to explain mystery surrounding Plunkett’s part in 1916 rebellion

Enda Kenny presents Barack Obama with hand-printed Yeats for St Patrick’s Day

Poetry volume presented by Taoiseach to president made by grandniece of 1916 leader

How the stage was set for armed revolution in Ireland

In a second, edited extract from his book Vivid Faces, historian Roy Foster considers the role of theatre in shaping the minds of the revolutionary generation