Nick Maxwell Irish Film Institute, https://ifiplayer.ie/independencefilms/ By John Gibney Amongst the most famed instalments in Ireland’s cinematic history are George Morrison’s classic documentaries Mise Éire (1959) and its de facto sequel Saoirse? (1961), both produced by Gael Linn and adorned with equally classic soundtracks by Seán Ó Riada. The former explored the independence movement up to … Read more
NMI Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo www.museum.ie, www.nationaltreasures.ie By Tony Canavan I have to admit that I was expecting a lot from this exhibition. It is based on four RTÉ programmes from the four provinces in which thousands of ordinary people brought their ‘treasures’ along for consideration. The resulting exhibition in the National … Read more
The National Library of Ireland recently catalogued and made available the Gough papers, a collection relating to Hugh Gough and his family. The papers reveal much about the life of this ‘illustrious Irishman’ and his lengthy military career. By Fionnuala Walsh In 1986 an equestrian statue depicting Viscount Hugh Gough and describing him as … Read more
The Gough collection was catalogued as part of the 2015–16 research studentship, an annual position in the National Library organised in association with the Irish Committee for Historical Sciences. The Gough papers (MS 50,120) cover topics as diverse as detailed accounts of the various military campaigns in which Hugh Gough served, private family correspondence, drawings … Read more
Gough was proud to be an Irishman and when not serving overseas he settled in Ireland, where he owned significant landholdings by his death. Although he was serving in India at the time, he was aware of the horrific conditions occurring in Ireland during the Great Famine of the 1840s. He wrote to his son … Read more