In 1870 William Kinsella, a man regarded to be one of the last survivors of the 1798 rebellion died. Kinsella lived most of his life in Castlecomer, a mining town in North Kilkenny. Although difficult to prove at the time he was most likely the last survivor of the rebellion. His life was extraordinary. He… Read more »
St Patrick Days is supposedly a celebration of what it means to be Irish. However behind all the celebrations, this idea of Irishness is something that had been contested on many St Patricks days. Below are four letters published in the Irish Times around St Patricks in 1912, 1932, 1972 and 1992. They illustrate that… Read more »
Wednesday 31st August 1960 is a day Dalkey Literary, Historical & Debating Society probably don’t like to mention much. That evening the society, based in one of Dublins most affluent suburbs, had as their guest speaker none other than former Nazi commando Colonel Otto Skorzeny. Skorzeny, dubbed by the US General Dwight D Eisenhower as… Read more »
The Phoenix park is one the largest walled city parks in Europe. Situated on the fringe of Dublin city centre, the park was opened to the public in 1745. Since then it has seen numerous monuments and buildings erected and has seen its fair share of controversy. 1. The Wellington Monument
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 more »
IRA, Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, Constance Markevicz, Eamon de Valera, Kevin O Higgins, Liam Mellowes, Mary McSwiney, Rory O Connor, WT Cosgrave, Sinn Fein
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 more »
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, IWW, James Connolly, James Larkin, Liam Mellows, Motehr JOnes. eamon Devalera, Thomas J Hagerty
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWUferyKCww&w=420&h=315] 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… Read more »
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 more »
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 more »
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 more »
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 more »
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… Read more »
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 more »
The mysterious discovery of the skull of an ape at the prehistoric site of Navan Fort in Ireland in the 1970s provoked widespread interest. Given most people generally traveled small distances over their entire lives in the Iron Age the skull perplexed many. How could this have happened? A lost civilisation or prehistoric technology previously… Read more »
While passing through Leighlinbridge I came across a ruinous tower house called the Black castle so I grabbed a few pictures for a quick post……. The Black castle is situated at Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow commanding a dominant position over the river Barrow. The Barrow was immensely important in medieval Leinster acting as both an important route way and a… Read more »
Last weekend I went to Galway with the intention of visiting Galway’s medieval sites and writing up something about it. Galway and the west of Ireland lived up to its reputation: it has loads of really amazing historical sites but it also rains a phenomenal amount aswell. Given I was naively optimistic, without a rain… Read more »
