One Sunday afternoon in 1907 in the Bronx, New York a group of Irish-Americans gathered to discuss politics. A mixture of recent immigrants and second generation Irish Americans they gathered at the Gurely-Flynn household. The Gurley-Flynn’s were in many ways what we might assume a stereotypical Irish American family to be in the early 20th century. The mother, Anne Gurley was from Galway, while the father, Thomas Flynn was the son of Irish Emigrants from Mayo. The Flynn’s like many Irish Americans traced their family roots to Irish rebels, Tom Flynn’s grandfather “Paddy the Rebel” had supposedly participated in the 1798 rebellion in Ireland. Continue Reading »
with permission of willmcq
This footage is a drive through Dublin city centre in 1974. The most striking difference is the streetscape which has been transformed in the last 40 odd years. As far as I can make out the first building that has survived intact pops up at 1-15 – the Ulster Bank on Suffolk Street? The footage also shows how differently people moved around Dublin in 1974. This journey is now impossible as Grafton Street has since been pedestrianised. To find your bearings the journey starts on St Stephens Green and moves on to Grafton street.
Things to look out for
54 sec – The Green Motorbike annd sidecar parked on Grafton street
1:26 – The cyclist notices the camera
1:32 The central Bank is only being constructed.
2:38 The trees on O Connell street have since removed and then replaced.
2:43 The famous James Larkin Statue has not been erected.
2:58 The bus is driving through the site of the Spire today. Talbot street was not yet pedestrianised so Traffic could turn right from O Connel street (now impossible).
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Posted in 20th Century | 1 Comment »
US Presidents have a long tradition of forging links with Ireland. In the last six decades numerous presidents have played up their Irish ancestory with many visiting Ireland in an effort to appeal to the Irish American electorate. Perhaps the strangest link though has to be that of President John Quincy Adams. He never visited the country and paid little atention to Irish politics yet he penned an extensive epic poem on medieval Irish history.
Adams was president between 1825–1829, long before Irish Americans were a politically significant power block in the United States – large scale Irish emigration would only begin during the famine in the late 1840′s. It comes as a surpirse then that in 1832 Adams wrote and published a lengthy epic poem on the Norman Conquest of Ireland entitled “Dermot Mac Morrogh or the Conquest of Ireland; an historical tale of the twelfth century”.
Dermot mc Morrogh spelled Diarmuid mac Murchadha or Dermot MacMurrough was the Gaelic King who sought Norman military help to restore him the Kingship of Leinster after being deposed by the High King. When this help materialised it quickly became a full scale invasion.
What makes this poem unusual and surprising is that Quincy Adams had no connection to Ireland whatsoever. His father the US President John Adams and mother Abigail Smith were both of English Puritan Ancestry. Aside from this he showed little interest in the country or its politics and apparently prior to the writing the poem he had scant knowledge of Ireland and had to educate himself when writing the poem. If you know about the origins of the poem please comment below.
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Posted in 19th century, Irish America, Irish American, Irish history, Medieval Europe | Tagged John Quincy Adams | Leave a Comment »
They say a picture says 1000 words so I am hoping these might scrape a few hundred together at least, since I have no time to write an article. I am currently busy writing an audiobook that was originally about the Black Death (1348-49) but has now expanded to incorporate the affects of the Bruce invasion and the 1315-18 famine aswell.
Mont St Michel is probably the most impressive medieval site I have ever seen and without doubt the most expensive. A mixture between the set of “Lord of the Rings” and “The Name of the Rose” it is awe inspiring. Situated in Northern France the monastery was built on a rocky outcrop in a bay in Normandy and was fortified during the 100 years war giving it a militaristic appearance at times. Its architecture is incredible particularly the cathedral supported on the summit. On a visit there last summer I took these pictures.
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Posted in Archaeology, French history, Irish history, Medieval Europe, Medieval history, Medieval Monasticism | Tagged Mont St Michel | 1 Comment »
Episode 10 sees the emergence of a titantic struggle between the two major players of the late 10th century – the O Neill High King, Maelseachnaill II and Brian Boru, the King of Munster. This war was without question one of the greatest conflicts in early medieval Ireland.
In a story full of intriguing naval attacks, sieges and deceit the superpowers of 10th century Ireland, unleash their devastating military power on each other with fascinating consequences. This episode also takes a look at daily life in Ireland around 1000 CE recreating the sights and smells while looking at the strange diseases that could kill you if war didnt get you first!
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The Pursuit of Power (Part III) A New Millennium and A New King (980 – 1000)
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Posted in Irish history, Gaelic Ireland, Medieval history, early medieval, Podcast, O Neills, Medieval Europe, Dublin, Archaeology, Annals, 10th century, Brian Boru, Dal Cais, Episode 10 | 2 Comments »
In 1961 the Evening Standard Newspaper celebrated its centential with a special supplement looking at Dublin over the previous hundred years (1861 – 1961). This supplment contained these fascinating early photos of Dublin before and after Independence in 1921. The change in Dublin’s streetscape is dramatic, illustrating what the city was like when it had a functioning public transport system and before cars were invented. Only one of the photo’s was dated and I can only date those relating to the Civil War. If you can help date the others please leave a comment below. There are higher resolution pictures of the originals in the slideshow at the end of the post
Continue Reading »
Posted in 19th century, 20th Century, British Army, Civil war, Dublin, Dublin history, IRA, ireland, Irish history | Leave a Comment »
Built by Edward III in the 13th century, Caernarfon castle is one of the most impressive castles in Britain. Situated in Gwynedd on the north-west coast of Wales it is an enormous structure unlike any castle still standing in Ireland. Along with with several other castles in the region including Conwy and Beaumaris it was constructed in reaction to Welsh revolts in the 13th century.
Costing an astronomical £20,000 at the time Edward felt it was a better use of resources than endless wars. Although never completed Caernarfon is a truly enormous construction and is only second to Conwy in its imposing nature. The design was influenced by the walls of Constantinople which Edward had seen when on crusade.Like all Edward’s castles in North Wales, Caernarfon was built with defence in mind and is situated on the coast so it could be supplied from the sea in a siege. Due to the fact Caernarfon was never complete we get an insight into how medieval castle walls were constructed as you can see in the virtual tour below.
The slide show moves quite fast, but if you click stop you can manually move through the photos at your pace
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Getting to North Wales from Ireland is relatively easy. Several ferry services run from Dublin to Hollyhead daily and from there it easy to take a train to Bangor. At Bangor you can either get a bus to Caernarfon castles or continue on the train to the equally amazing Conwy Castle
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Posted in 14th century, Archaeology, ireland, Irish history, Medieval Europe | Leave a Comment »
Photo: Franc Myles
This find by archaeologist Franc Myles in May Lane Smithfield, Dublin deeply personalises the past, highlighting what must have been a tragedy in a now long forgotten family’s life. Following on from the find of other human remains on Friday on the same site, the remains of this child was excavated over the weekend.
Speaking of the find Franc said
“The second remains excavated under May Lane were those of a child, aged perhaps 4 or 5. The child had been wrapped in a shroud and then placed in a small coffin, sometime between about 1650 and 1680. He or she was buried in St. Michan’s church yard (it’s obviously much smaller now) at the same level as the first, adult burial, but slightly further to the east. Where child burials are perhaps especially poignant, this wee one had the hands placed over the pelvis with the thumbs seemingly extended, the tips touching each other. DCC and the contractors have redesigned the level of the pipe to run above the burial soil and hopefully we’ll allow any other bodies rest where they are.”
Franc will be writing an extensive article about the find on his blog www.wastedonarchaeology.wordpress.com
Posted in 17th century, Irish history | Leave a Comment »
Nenagh Gaol (thank to Irishfireside)
In March 1858, two brothers mounted the scaffold in Nenagh Jail in North Tipperary for the murder of John Ellis. One of the brothers, 19 year old Daniel Cormack pleaded “Lord have mercy on me, for you know, Jesus, that I neither had hand, act nor part in that for which I am about to die”. Despite his plea for clemency and the widespread belief of their innocence illustrated in a petition of over 2,000 signatures, Daniel and his 23 year old brother William were executed. The two brothers, originally from Loughmore, were then buried in a grave in Nenagh Gaol (left). Many people who suffered a similar fate were lost to history but remarkably although it would take 52 years the Cormacks would be buried in their local area, exonerated and their story would gain international fame in the process.
Posted in 19th century, 20th Century | Tagged Cormack, john Ellis, Kitty Cormack, Loughmore, Nenagh Gaol, William Cormack | Leave a Comment »
I’m currently writing an audiobook on the Black Death in Ireland. The audio will focus on one particular town – Kilkenny. In focusing on a specific area I hope to detail what the impact of the plague was on individual people something that is too often lost in statistics and the incomprehensible death rates.
Due for release in late Octber, the story of the plague is intrinsically linked to the history of the 14th century which is one of war, famine and the devastating impact of a changing climate. This culminated with the outbreak of the Black Death in Ireland in 1348 making the combined events one the greatest crises in human history since the last Ice Age. One event that was indicative of the increasing harshness of 14th century Ireland was the burning of Petronella di Midia for Witchcraft in Kilkenny in 1324. Listen to this podcast produced for Heritage week in 2010 to get a flavour of 14th century Ireland and what you can expect from the audiobook.
Dont forget Heritage week is on this week http://www.heritageweek.ie/
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http://irishhistorypodcast.ie/more-podcasts-on-irish-history/
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Posted in 14th century, Dublin history, Gaelic Ireland, Irish history, Podcast | Leave a Comment »
Over the past 20 years the number of archaeological excavations soared in Ireland. This is almost exclusively because of the building boom. Many people have argued that this was good for archaeology and our understanding of the past. Having worked in the industry I can convinced the opposite is true. The last 20 years have seen unprecedented destruction of archaeological sites across Ireland that were poorly excavated, poorly reported and are now gone forever.
I am not opposed to building on the remains of the past – every society in history has done it but this should be done within reason and properly recorded. In Ireland, the money invested in archaeology was wasted and many of the processes that lead to the current financial mess also changed archaeology into what was effectively a demolition industry. I think this happened primarily for the following 8 reasons. I would be really interested to hear what you think or your experience was.
Posted in Archaeology, Irish history | 13 Comments »
When we think of the Knights Templar, we picture the Middle Eastern Crusades or Dan Browne’s fantasy novel the The Da Vinci code. However this fascinating organisation were very much part of European society in the 12th and 13th century with houses, called preceptories, in most kingdoms in Medieval Europe. After the Norman Invasion of Ireland the Templars became a part of Norman society here for nearly 150 years. However like their counterparts across Europe the Templars in Ireland were rootlessly suppressed amidst bizarre allegations between 1308 and 1310.
Posted in 14th century, Dublin, Dublin history, early medieval, Gaelic Ireland, Irish history, Medieval Europe, Medieval history, Medieval Monasticism | Tagged Crusades, Knights Templar | 2 Comments »
Over the last week archaeologists have begun to excavate the remains of a shipwreck from the Spanish Armada. Lying off the coast of County Donegal, the timbers, musketballs and pottery found so far reveal a tantalising glimpse of what else may lie on the sea bed. In this podcast, first released in 2010, you can hear how ships from the Spanish Armada came to lie off the coast of Ireland, what has been found on excavations to date and what else we can expect to turn up.
The Podcast was made in 2010 to celebrate National Heritage Week. This year National Heritage Week is coming up between the 20th and the 28th of August. There is loads of great events on over the 8 days . To find a full list of events check out http://www.heritageweek.ie/
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Special: The Story of Ireland’s Spanish Armada Shipwrecks (2010)
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I am currently working on a short audiobook on the Black Death in Ireland. Set to the backdrop of 14th century war, famine and the impacts of a changing climate the book will be several hours long and will be available for a small fee in October 2011. Stay tuned for more updates.
Posted in 16th century, Archaeology, ireland, Irish history, Spanish Armada, Spanish History | Tagged Archaeology, Armada, Co Donegal, Spanish Armada | 1 Comment »
Over the past two days I visited the oldest buildings in Dublin – that is Christchurch Cathedral, St Patricks Cathedral and St Audeons Church. While I get through the queue of articles I need to write check out this video tour of the crypt in Christchurch cathedral, the oldest structure in Dublin dating from at latest the 12th century. As you can see its well worth a visit….
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
The photos below were taken in Ireland between 1860- 1880. They come from a collection released by the National Library which also included those in this post. 1860-1880 was a period of change in Ireland where the modern world co-existed with lives that had changed little in centuries and this is evident throughout these photo’s. The first picture is the Royal George a coast guard in Ireland which looks like something right out of the battle of Trafalgar.
HMS Royal George
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Dunmore cave, Co Kilkenny is pretty unique. Aside from its impressive geological features, it is one of the few places in Ireland where archaeology and history match up perfectly shedding light on a particularly dark chapter in the caves history.
Deep in a dark recess of Dunmore cave the discovery of human remains and viking coins verify a grim entry from the Annals of the Four Masters about a massacre in 930. This discovery gives a terrifyingly vivid insight into early medieval ireland, often difficult since much of the landscape has changed so much.
Posted in 10th century, Annals, Archaeology, early medieval, episode 3, Gaelic Ireland, Irish history, Medieval Europe, Medieval history, Vikings | Tagged Dunmore Cave, Kilkenny, massacre | Leave a Comment »
In the 1970′s the skull and jaw of a Barbary Ape were discovered at the Iron Age site of Navan Fort (Eamhain Mhacha) in Armagh, dating from sometime between 300-100 B.C.E. The Ape, or at least its skull and jaw had travelled thousands of kilometres across Iron Age Europe and Africa to Ireland.
When we put this in the context that the Romans were still fighting wars a few miles from Rome itself at this stage, its seems incredible and mysterious that an ape’s skull should arrive in Ireland at this point. There’s a real temptation to write a history/archaeology mystery piece about this, but the story is probably far more straight forward, indeed the focus on the mystery aspect tells us more about how we view the world than what past societies were like!
Posted in Archaeology, Gaelic Ireland, ireland, Irish history, Prehistory | Tagged Barbary Ape, Carthage, Navan Fort | 1 Comment »
Episode 8 sees medieval Ireland stand of the edge of a precipice. A rootless struggle for control of the O Neill kingdom breaks out in the North, while in Munster a new comer to the podcast – the Dal Cais challengthe King of Munster for power in the South. While Ireland is on the verge of chaos we look at these wars and how people struggled through a very tough period of not only war but famine, hard winters and an out break of leprosy and dysentery. By the end of the show Medieval Ireland will have changed and Brian Boru will have started his rise to power……
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The Rise of Brian Boru and the Dál Cais (944 – 980)
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Glossary of individuals featured and further reading
Posted in 10th century, Annals, Archaeology, Brian Boru, Christianity, Civil war, Dal Cais, Dublin, Dublin history, early medieval, Economy, Episode 8, Irish history, Medieval Europe, Medieval history, Podcast, Vikings | Tagged Amlaib Currain, annals of the four masters, annals of Ulster, Brian Boru, Gaelic society, Irish history, O Neill, Tara | Leave a Comment »
This is what episode 8 - The rise of Brian Boru and the Dal Cais currently looks like. If you’ve been following the updates on twitter and facebook you’ll know episode 8 its proving particularly hard to complete. Last night I finished a recording and sent it to the editor-in-chief, my brother for review, so fingers crossed.
One of the things that delayed the production was that I completely changed my opinions on the subject when I was asked to review a book on Brian Boru for the the great website The Irish Story. If you want to get some idea where I am coming from on the topic, check out the review and lots more at The Irish Story.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Its almost impossible to comprehend how much Ireland has changed in the last 150 years. This selection of photos from a National Library collection released in 1981 give a rare glimpse into Ireland between 1860-1880.
Many of these pictures are of tourists. The late 19th century had seen tourism take off in Ireland (exclusivley among the wealthy) with the expansion of rail lines into the west.
Unfortunately because of the focus on wealthy tourists, the vast majority of the people of Ireland are not represented in these photos. Ordinary Irish peasants only feature when they interact with the tourists.
All the photo’s were taken between 1860-1880. To put them in context many of the people in these photos were survivors of The Great Famine (1845-51)
Posted in 19th century, famine, Images, Irish history | 6 Comments »
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