Sir,—In response to the news item on the national flag and the city of Waterford (HI, March/April 2011), the following account might be of interest. In a letter written aboard HMS Lucifer at Waterford on 19 July 1845, to Rear Admiral Sir Hugh Pigot at Cove, her captain, Commander George Alexander Frazier, reported that … Read more
The Revenue Museum recently featured in a book about the government’s waste of taxpayers’ money but this seems an unfair criticism of an interesting and well-presented exhibition. Sited in the atmospheric crypt of Dublin Castle’s chapel, it occupies a small chamber that makes the best use of its space. As soon as you go through … Read more
The story of Ireland arrived on British and Irish television screens with considerable fanfare, the first comprehensive TV history of Ireland since Robert Kee’s Ireland: a history in 1981. Now, 30 years later, comes a multimillion-euro co-production between the BBC and RTÉ, filmed across the world and fronted by former BBC foreign correspondent Fergal Keane … Read more
Sir,—Can a reader of History Ireland or a member of the Madigan family help me? I am trying to find out where in Ireland the American circus manager Henry Patrick Madigan was born. I have one source—supposed to be very reliable—saying that he was born in Ireland, and another saying that he was born in … Read more
On St Patrick’s Day 1858, in Peter Lanigan’s timber yard, Lombard Street, Dublin, James Stephens formally established the Irish Republican Brotherhood. It was originally named the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, but soon came to be known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). The IRB was a small, secret, revolutionary body whose sole object was to ‘establish … Read more