Nick Maxwell By Ruairí Nolan The first and still one of the most comprehensive of the biographies of Lord Edward Fitzgerald is that by Thomas Moore from 1831. It utilises a plethora of correspondence to fill in the contextual gaps of his narrative, giving us a great insight into the life of a man constantly at odds … Read more
By Fiona Fitzsimons Between 1536 and 1870 the Church of Ireland was the established State church. It provided sacraments and religious services for the faithful, and local government in the parish. It levied tithes for the support of its clergy, and parish cess to fund the church’s ecclesiastical and secular functions. The cess was collected … Read more
By Dermot McGuinne By the year 1641 William Bedell, bishop of Kilmore, had completed a translation of the Old Testament into Irish. His intention was to have the work printed, but owing to the absence of a suitable Irish-character typeface he sought to have a new type prepared. Consequently, at his own expense, he sent … Read more
By Jim Smyth The 19th of November 2023 marked the 225th anniversary of the death of Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763–98), founding member of the United Irishmen, agent to the Catholic Committee, envoy to revolutionary France, appointed ‘chef de brigade in the service of the republic’. Over the course of three days, beginning in Clifton House, … Read more
Sir,—In browsing through the November/December issue of History Ireland, I noticed that a drawing of Edward Martyn (p. 34), illustrating Charles Lysaght’s fascinating article on the take-over of the Kildare Street Club in 1922, was wrongly attributed to Jack B. Yeats. The drawing is in fact by Jack’s father, John Butler Yeats (1839–1922). Yeats senior … Read more