Day: February 28, 2013

‘A river to hell’: working on Ireland’s inland waterways

From its inception the story of Irish canals was laden with tragedy. Men close to starvation laboured for a few pence a day to dig them, and barge masters sailed fully armed against a backdrop of simmering hostility. Guinness was the major customer of the Grand Canal Company (GCC). In the 1800s they undercut local … Read more

Telling tales: the story of the burial alive and drowning of a Clare RM in 1920

On the morning of 22 September 1920, four volunteers from the IRA’s West Clare brigade gathered at a level crossing at Caherfeenick, near Doonbeg. Presently, they heard an approaching Ford two-seater—the object of their attentions. The driver was local resident magistrate Captain Alan Cane Lendrum MC, a native of County Tyrone, a former rubber-planter in … Read more