Nick Maxwell George Wardell was born in Toronto in 1840 to a landed family with connections in Canada, Britain and Ireland. He came from a family with a rich military tradition, following in the footsteps of his father, Major William Wardell, a veteran of several wars, and his grandfather, Lt.-Col. Wardell. George Wardell’s journey to Isandlwana began … Read more
THE RECENT ACQUISITION OF THE FAMILY PAPERS OF A LESSER-KNOWN BRITISH ARMY OFFICER BY MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WILL ADD GREATLY TO THE RICH HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE ANGLO-ZULU WAR By Luke Diver On 22 January 1879, the Zulus handed the British Army one of its heaviest defeats at the battle of Isandlwana. This battle, shrouded in … Read more
ON THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH—3 NOVEMBER 1815—OF THE YOUNG IRELANDER By Anthony Russell John Mitchel was acclaimed by Patrick Pearse, who declared Jail Journal to be ‘the last of the four gospels of the new testament of Irish nationality, the last and the fieriest and the most sublime’. De Valera revered Mitchel, and … Read more
In November 1836, fifteen-year-old Jenny Verner, whose family had been involved in setting up the Orange Order, eloped to Chester with the 21-year-old son of a Presbyterian minister, John Mitchel. They were caught by Jenny’s father, Captain James Verner, but on 3 February 1837 John and Jenny were married in Drumcree Church of Ireland church. … Read more
Irish Schools’ Registers By Fiona Fitzsimons The Irish Schools’ Registers are deposited in the National Archives of Ireland. (These are separate and distinct from the National School Registers [ED/2] 1832–1963, which are essentially minute books of proceedings relating to individual schools and don’t record children’s names.) The earliest registers date from the 1840s, although the … Read more