Nick Maxwell The current boldness of racist groups in the United States reminds us that the history of minority rights in that great country is a troubled one. By Mark Phelan For nineteenth-century Irish immigrants to the USA the path to acceptance and integration was difficult, with the result that prejudice and adversity are common … Read more
A complex, sophisticated instrument that can deliver a unique form of traditional music. By Terry Moylan In early December 2017, at their general assembly in South Korea, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) inscribed uilleann piping in their Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It joins an extensive list … Read more
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