Nick Maxwell By Joseph E.A. Connell Jnr Broadcasting in Ireland began in 1926 with 2RN in Dublin. From that date until June 1960 the broadcasting service operated as a section of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs; those working in it were directly employed by the Irish government and were regarded as civil servants. The radio service … Read more
By Ciara Fahy The Forster and Kelly family papers, preserved in Clare County Archives, document more than three centuries of Irish history. They include leases, wills, correspondence and estate accounts, but it is the rent books and ledgers that most clearly show the everyday running of estates in north Clare and the gradual decline of … Read more
By Sarah Arnold and Kasandra O’Connell Film-maker Flora Kerrigan, born in Cork in 1940, attended Crawford Art College before becoming an active member of the Cork Cine Club in the late 1950s and 1960s. Over eight years, she crafted remarkable animation and live-action shorts on 8mm film, earning international accolades and an airing on RTÉ. … Read more
By Fiona Fitzsimons The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, swept away the existing system of county government, grand juries and Poor Law boards. It introduced a new two-tier structure of local government, with county and city boroughs on the first tier, and urban and rural districts below them. It introduced democratically elected councils to manage … Read more
By Damian Murphy The ecclesiastical origins of Kildare date back to the late fifth or early sixth century and the foundation of a monastery by St Brigid, whose church was described by Cogitosus (fl. c. 650) as ‘very lofty, adorned with paintings [and] containing three oratories’. The original church survived sixteen assaults by the Vikings … Read more