Nick Maxwell Making the best use of a relatively small exhibition space, Conflict contains hundreds of artefacts from the Neolithic period to the present. The visual aspect of the exhibition is most striking, and the artefacts—from flint arrowheads, swords and helmets to rifles, uniforms and gasmasks—are all displayed to good effect. The visitor is able to view … Read more
‘At Lincoln Cathedral there is a beautiful painted window, which was made by an apprentice out of the pieces of glass which had been rejected by his master.’ With this parable the budding English historian Thomas Babington Macaulay illustrated the central argument of his 1828 debut essay ‘History’, which advocated that historical scholarship could benefit … Read more
History Ireland, since it was first published over a decade ago, has sought to address as many aspects of Ireland’s past and its interpretation as possible. The review of at least a sample of the flood of books on Irish history has been a consistent feature of the magazine, but books have to compete ever … Read more
In 1978 David Seth Jones completed his PhD, ‘Agrarian capitalism and rural social development in Ireland’, at Queen’s University, Belfast. Since then every serious scholar of modern Ireland has been in his debt. At times a slightly dry work—partly because so much of the evidence is drawn from official enquiries and reports—Jones’ thesis, nonetheless, stated … Read more
Brenan, John (1768–1830), physician and satirist, was born into a minor landed Catholic family from Ballaghide, Co. Carlow. The details of his early life are hazy, but from about 1801 he was practising medicine in Dublin. He claimed to be the first person to use turpentine against puerperal fever, having observed its benefits in 1812 … Read more