Nick Maxwell Modern Ireland is becoming an increasingly multi-ethnic society, but what is known about the racial mix of earlier eras? Some answers have been provided by W.A. Hart in a ground-breaking 2002 article based largely on evidence from newspapers. But there are other forms of evidence that might also be considered. One visual source is the … Read more
In c. 1690 a ship owned by the merchant company Ferris, Twigg and Cash and under the direction of a Captain Massey sailed from Dublin for the Levant, full of grain and agricultural provisions. On entering the Mediterranean the ship was taken by Barbary pirates.When the ship did not return, it was assumed that the … Read more
There is a perception of early modern Ireland, particularly during the early Stuart period, as riven with sectarian hatred. Certainly a strong case can be made, given the emphasis on the 1641 rebellion and the stark divisions that subsequently engulfed the kingdom. Thus the conclusion that it was a highly polarised society seems virtually inescapable. … Read more
‘Schizophrenia of aspiration’? In his thought-provoking address to the Merriman Summer School recently, speculating on the possibility of Irish unity, former Stormont civil service mandarin Sir Kenneth Bloomfield remarked on the ‘schizophrenia of aspiration’ of newly independent Ireland. While aspiring to unity, the new state asserted its independence by policies that he described as ‘non-Britishness’, … Read more
Irish archaeologists are currently engaged in major new investigations into the remains of ancient Ireland and its connections with the Roman world (NUI Galway, ‘Ireland and the Roman World’; Discovery Programme, ‘Late Iron Age and Roman Ireland’; University College Dublin, ‘Iron Age Ireland: Finding an Invisible People’). These projects will provide a new framework for … Read more