Nick Maxwell By Damian Murphy The leafy shores of Lough Ennell, near Mullingar, are the setting for a spectacular sham ruin, Ireland’s largest folly, the rugged silhouette of a medieval palace providing an appropriate backdrop for a true-life Camelotian tragedy that saw the early promise of marriage descend into jealousy and recrimination, with brother pitted against brother—the … Read more
By Brett Bowden I have a friend who likes forwarding bits of internet advice. One nugget of wisdom sticks in my mind: ‘Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.’ Catchy, perhaps, but that is not why it’s called the present. Advice about ‘living in the … Read more
A chara,—Thanks to Peter Murray for a well-written and entertaining piece on the Dublin Corporation employee Stephen J. Hand (HI 33.1, Jan./Feb. 2025). However, there is an error with the identifications in the Ernest Kavanagh cartoon. While that is indeed Lorcan Sherlock on the right, the figure with bowler hat and relying on two walking-sticks … Read more
Sir,—While perhaps not as strident and personalised as Kelvin Angle (Letters, ‘If it quacks like a duck …’, HI 32.5, Sept./Oct. 2024), I would sympathise with his general summary. I believe the term ‘historical presentism’ describes it best. ‘Modern/liberal’ Ireland is held up as a paragon of societal perfection. However, we can only properly critique … Read more
Sir,—In an otherwise informative and apparently well-informed piece on public access to the Durrow high cross, Michael Byrne (HI 32.6, Nov./Dec. 2024) states that ‘Mrs [Alice Stopford] Green visited the monastic site at Durrow, the only one in Ireland founded by St Columcille …’. Surely no one doubts that the foundation at Derry was Columcille’s, … Read more