Nick Maxwell Sir,—Brian Murphy of UCD (HI 22.1, Jan./Feb. 2014) has provided a welcome recall of the January 1969 occasion when Joe Clarke heckled President de Valera at the state’s 50th anniversary commemoration of the First Dáil, demanding the release of the imprisoned housing activist Dennis Dennehy, then on hunger strike in Mountjoy Jail. He, however, underestimates … Read more
Brian Boru is the most famous Irishman before the modern era. From fairly modest beginnings he rose to be king of Ireland, dying a fabled death at the Battle of Clontarf on 23 April 1014. He was born about 941, one of the twelve sons of Cennétig (d. 951), king of Dál Cais. A hitherto … Read more
Our new look March/April special issue on Brian Boru is out now. The current mania for commemorations is focusing on events a century ago, but don’t forget what happening a millennium ago: the battle of Clontarf in 1014. There is an impressive national programme of events, the National Museum are weighing in with a new … Read more
March 4/1864 Daniel Mannix, archbishop of Melbourne (1917–63) and staunch Irish nationalist, born in Charleville, Co. Cork. 5/1974 Merlyn Rees appointed secretary of state for Northern Ireland, where all but one of the Westminster seats in the general election the previous month had gone to anti-Sunningdale unionists. 6/1924 The ‘Army Mutiny’ began when the Old … Read more
Those who have experienced the beautiful buildings and smell of wood smoke at Ferrycarrig Heritage Park in Wexford will know the sense of immediacy and delight a well-crafted replica building can bring to the past. Having an outdoor building of this quality close to the medieval excavations of the centre of Dublin was one of … Read more