Nick Maxwell Northern Ireland’s oldest woods have been a well-kept secret for many years. Remarkably, there has never been a comprehensive record of the country’s ancient woodland, meaning that this rare resource is afforded little or no protection. Now, thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Environment and Heritage Service, the Woodland Trust is … Read more
A unique and historic occasion occurred in Aughavale cemetery near Westport, Co. Mayo, on 7 August 2004. For the first time since the foundation of the state an Irish minister for defence dedicated the grave of an Irish soldier in the British Army, Sergeant-Major Cornelius Coughlan. Cornelius Coughlan was born in June 1828, and … Read more
Seventy-five years ago, on Sunday 24 June 1929, celebrations to mark the centenary of Catholic Emancipation ended in Dublin with a Pontifical High Mass in the Phoenix Park attended by 300,000 people, and a procession to Watling Street Bridge followed by Benediction. According to the newspapers of the time everything went like clockwork, due no … Read more
Mrs Mary Delany once wrote: ‘Got up at nine, and read a lecture to my family on the advantages of rising early! For want of the usual bell that used to call them up they are later and later’ (15 January 1770). Mrs Delany’s own accounts show that her household in Delville, outside Glasnevin in … Read more
Listeners to Seán Óg Ó Ceallacháin’s broadcast on Sunday nights of the nationwide GAA club results might be familiar with the name ‘JK Brackens’ of Templemore, Co. Tipperary, named after one of the founders of that organisation. While Bracken was a notable figure in his time through his interesting and turbulent career in the GAA, … Read more