Nick Maxwell Since 1844 G&H had been teaching mathematics-based subjects, and after seven years they had a body of experience which they decided to publish. The first volumes of what became G&H’s Mathematical Series appeared in 1851, and the full collection, twelve titles, was ready in 1864, including manuals on Algebra, Arithmetic, Astronomy, Geometry (two volumes), Hydrostatics, … Read more
‘Informer! A horror to be understood fully only by the Irish mind . . . Good God! An informer is the great danger’. (Liam O’Flaherty, The Informer) Probably one of the most notorious informers in Irish history was Leonard MacNally, and he is unusual in that his role was not exposed during his life and … Read more
It certainly was not economically advantageous for MacNally to inform. The pension he received from the government was obviously so meagre that it forced his family into penury after he died and led to the eventual disclosure of his role as informer. With the broad legal experience that he had and the two legal textbooks … Read more
MacNally was a barrister, playwright, United Irishman and notorious informer who was born in Dublin in 1752. His father was a grocer and MacNally also briefly worked as a grocer in St Mary’s Lane off Capel Street. In 1774 he went to London and on 8 June he entered the Middle Temple to study law. … Read more
The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland was a private institution. The Catholic clergy had pastoral duties towards their community but no civil responsibility. From the late eighteenth century, Catholic religious orders involved themselves more in education and welfare, founding specifically Catholic schools and institutions (reformatories, industrial schools, orphanages, asylums and refuges). The basic administrative unit … Read more