Nick Maxwell In 1689 Irish men and women were drawn into the struggle between the Catholic James II and the Protestant William III for the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. This was the most ‘conventional’ war between the Nine Years’ War and the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland, with two major European-scale battles in the field and … Read more
On a cold day in March 1796 Aristide Du Petit Thouars, a ci-devant French aristocrat and naval officer just returned from exile in America, visited the Panthéon in the heart of Paris. In his absence France had undergone the Revolution, but with the Terror over, the Bastille torn down and the five-man Directory in power, … Read more
It is hardly surprising that Irish historians have been reluctant to engage with negative later medieval English perceptions of Ireland (see sidebar below), other than to impugn their veracity. In regard to the English Pale, for instance, studies of interaction between Gaedhil and Gaill have aimed to disprove its status as an international frontier; depictions … Read more
Thomas Aiskew Larcom was born on 22 April 1801 in Gosport, Hampshire, into a military family. From 1817 to 1821 he undertook a soldier’s education and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers as a second lieutenant. He was trained by Charles Pasley and Henry Mudge, head of the Ordnance Survey (OS) of England. Larcom joined … Read more
Historically, nationalists in Ireland have looked to their cousins in the United States for both financial assistance and diplomatic support. This support has never been a foregone conclusion, but at critical moments in Irish history, usually during times of political tension, Irish-America has taken a keen interest in Irish events. During the turmoil of the … Read more