Nick Maxwell In the decade after the passing of the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act of 1838, the workhouse system was rolled out across Ireland. Irish workhouses were created to house the destitute poor. In the second half of the nineteenth century their remit extended to public health. The surviving Irish Poor Law Union (PLU) records describe not … Read more
‘To General Strickland, Victoria Barracks, Cork We are holding Mrs Lindsay and her chauffeur, James Clarke, prisoners. They have been convicted as spies and are under sentence of death. If the five of our men taken at Godfrey’s Cross are executed on Monday morning they will be shot immediately. I enclose a personal appeal from … Read more
‘If a police barracks is burned or if the barracks already occupied is not suitable, then the best house in the locality is to be commandeered, the occupants thrown into the gutter. Let them die there—the more the merrier. Should the order not be immediately obeyed, shoot and shoot with effect. If the persons approaching … Read more
IN DECEMBER 1914, THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT APPOINTED THE HISTORIAN, STATESMAN AND DIPLOMAT JAMES BRYCE TO INVESTIGATE GERMAN ATROCITIES IN BELGIUM. THE RESULTING REPORT REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST DIVISIVE DOCUMENTS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR. The report, or Blue Book, by the committee charged with investigating alleged German outrages is widely acknowledged as having been … Read more
Collon Church is a prominent landmark that dominates the southern approach to the village. Commissioned by Speaker John Foster (1740–1828) of Collon House and designed by the talented amateur architect Revd Daniel Augustus Beaufort (1739–1821), the church is in the Perpendicular Gothic style and appears to have been modelled on the chapel of King’s College, … Read more