Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Irish history’ Category

The 1916 proclamation, the manifesto of the 1916 rebels, states “The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

After the success of the first Viking Dublin walking tour I am organising another tour on Sunday, June 26th. The tour will journey through the remains of medieval Dublin covering the cities origins from its days as an early medieval Gaelic settlement through its violent transformation into a bustling Viking slave port and trading emporium. [...]

Read Full Post »

Imagine how our understanding of the Norman invasion of Ireland might change if we had footage of Strongbow entering Dublin in 1170 or what we might think of Brian Boru if we had footage of his burial at Armagh in 1014. These comparisons highlight the role that film footage will play as we construct the [...]

Read Full Post »

Over the last few weeks I’ve been super busy, but I am hoping to get back to history in the next week. The tour of Viking Dublin which took place on Sunday 10th April went really well. Thanks to everyone who came along. If you are interested in coming on a tour of Viking Dublin [...]

Read Full Post »

On Sunday, April 10th I am organising a walking tour of Viking Dublin where you can  retrace the steps of Dublin’s earliest inhabitants in the modern city today.  This tour will journey through early medieval Dublin looking at the first few centuries of the city’s history during its days as a Viking stronghold. The tour [...]

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »