Nick Maxwell

By Elizabeth Malcolm The boycott in late 1880 of Captain Charles Boycott, the English-born agent for the earl of Erne’s Lough Mask estate in south-east Mayo, is still remembered today mainly because it introduced a useful new word into the English language. Historians writing about the 1879–82 Land War, such as Samuel Clark, J.S. Donnelly … Read more

By Clare O’Halloran ‘The stupendous power of steam has, within a very few years, annihilated all previous calculations of time and space.’ The sentiment of this breathless opening line of an all-but-forgotten 1844 history of Drogheda by the barrister and historian John D’Alton was a commonplace of the early age of steam transportation and especially … Read more

By Rob Christie The Moravian village of Gracehill, near Ballymena, Co. Antrim, was established in the 1760s, based on the teachings of two Czech theologians and philosophers, John Huss (1372–1450) and John Comenius (1592–1670). Comenius is considered to be the father of modern education. The Moravians were one of the earliest groups to break with … Read more

By Fiona Fitzsimons The Valuation Office Archives have an unparalleled coverage of 100% of all households in rural districts, falling to 65% in urban parishes, with evidence on living conditions, housing, employment, land tenure and land ownership. These records are the backbone of family and local history research in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ireland. The Valuation … Read more