Nick Maxwell – Page 704 – History Ireland

Thatcher and Thatcherism

A friend of mine got a text the other day—‘The wicked witch is dead’. It wasn’t until she tuned in to the news that evening that she realised that this wasn’t a cryptic reference to the Wizard of Oz but to the death (the result of a stroke) of an 87-year-old woman who had suffered … Read more

On this Day

May 3 1933 The Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act removed the oath of allegiance to the British Crown from the Constitution of the Irish Free State. 5 1953 Robert Lloyd Praeger (87), botanist, best remembered for The way that I went (1939), an account of his travels around Ireland, died. 8 1913 Sigerson Clifford, writer … Read more

The Beautiful Game or the Garrison Game

Donal Fallon (Come Here To Me blog), Brian Trench (Media Officer, Bohemian FC), Tommy Graham (History Ireland), Paul Rouse (sports historian, UCD), and David Toms (Waterford supporter & UCC) address the topic of ‘The Beautiful Game or the Garrison Game?’. This was a very well-attended History Ireland hedge school at Phizzfest, community arts festival, at Dalymount Park, the Home of Irish Football. The event took place in the Jodi Stand’s Block G on Saturday’ afternoon of September 8th 2012.

A pope emeritus?

‘Christ did not come down from the cross’ was the late Pope John Paul II’s response when questions were raised about his failing health and painfully obvious public suffering in the latter years of his pontificate. So how do we explain the surprise resignation announcement of his successor, Benedict XVI, in contravention of papal tradition (some exceptional medieval cases notwithstanding)? The ‘rules were made to be broken’ adage seems to apply—with the evolution of medical science people are living longer, but not necessarily with their full mental or physical faculties. But the same argument could apply to the evolution of social attitudes and the Church’s line on homosexuality, clerical celibacy and women priests.