Nick Maxwell From Memoirs, a personal appearance on her balcony opposite White’s: ‘The next day, as I was sprinkling some flower pots, which stood on very broad leads, under the dining-room window, Colonel Duncombe, the Duke of Bolton, and the Earl of Winchilsea stood filling out wine, and drinking to me: So I took up the pen … Read more
At a meeting held in Dublin on 15 February 1698, the superiors of the Franciscan Order agreed to adhere to the act of banishment issued a few months earlier, ordering Catholic religious orders out of the country. The third point on the agenda was the question of material goods belonging to the friars. It was … Read more
There is an irresistible passage in Laetitia Pilkington’s 1748 Memoirs. It is her version of the dramatic moment when she was discovered by her husband, in the marital bedroom, with another man. The door was broken down (unnecessarily, since it wasn’t locked) and twelve witnesses piled in. ‘I own myself very indiscreet in permitting any … Read more
On the night of 21 January 1981 the IRA broke into Tynan Abbey, south Armagh, and killed Sir Norman Stronge, eighth baronet, and his only son, James, before setting the 231-year-old mansion alight. Stronge, 86 at his death, had once been the Stormont MP for mid-Armagh (1938–69), fulfilling the duties of Speaker of the House … Read more
In June 1947 the Irish economy continued to display the effects of wartime dislocation: rationing, rising inflation, falling living standards and frequent strikes. Ireland also shared many of the prevailing European economic trends: increasing reliance on the dollar area for imports and a worsening balance of payments position. While the war had left Ireland with … Read more