The Gaelic Athletic Association 1884–2009 Mike Cronin, Paul Rouse and William Murphy (eds) (Irish Academic Press, E29.95) ISBN 9780716530282 This collection of fourteen articles spanning the history of Gaelic games from the medieval period onwards has been issued to mark the 125th anniversary of the GAA, a pivotal force in Irish life about which … Read more
BINGHAM, George Charles (1800–88), 3rd earl of Lucan, soldier and landlord, was born on 16 April 1800 in London, eldest son of Richard Bingham, 2nd earl of Lucan, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of the 3rd earl of Fauconberg. Educated at Westminster School (1812–16), he was commissioned ensign in the 6th Foot in 1816 and … Read more
Ireland’s fascist real McCoy We in Ireland have always prided ourselves on the robustness and durability of our democratic institutions. Of all the European states that gained independence in the twentieth century, ours is the only one to have maintained an unbroken tradition of parliamentary democracy. Running against the grain of a traditional ‘800 years … Read more
Fota House would have been a very different place but for the exertions of John Smith-Barry (1793–1837) of Marbury Hall, Cheshire. Having decided in the early nineteenth century to make Fota his permanent Irish home, in about 1825 Smith-Barry commissioned (Sir) Richard Morrison (1767–1849) and his son, William Vitruvius Morrison (1794–1838), to extend an existing … Read more
Flora Sandes (1876–1956) fought with the Serbian army during the Great War, and was awarded the country’s highest military honour. To the soldiers of Serbia she was nashi Engleskinja—‘our Englishwoman’. Flora was indeed born in Poppleton, Yorkshire, but her family background was whollyIrish. How had she ended up fighting in the Serbian Army? Escape from … Read more