On 15 June 1843, huge crowds congregated on a racecourse outside Ennis at a ‘monster meeting’ in support of the repeal of the Act of Union. Adhering to a template, the mass rally of rousing speeches was followed by a magnificent evening banquet in the town’s old chapel, where Daniel O’Connell compared the momentum of … Read more
Number 84 Douglas Street is one of a pair of terraced houses in the South Parish of Cork, one of the city’s oldest suburbs. There are many historic buildings in the area, including Cork’s oldest standing structure, the fifteenth-century Red Abbey tower; the South Presentation Convent complex; eighteenth-century terraces along George’s Quay and White Street; … Read more
Sir,—I refer to Jackie Giddings’s letter (Platform, HI 19.5, Sept./Oct. 2011) concerning difficulties she experienced in using genealogy centres and the response from Brian Donovan of Eneclann.Brian is correct in pointing to the lack of significant central funding of, and commitment to, local archives. It is important to state, however, that there are at present … Read more
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