FITZPATRICK, Sir Bernard Edward Barnaby (1848–1937), second Baron Castletown, landlord, soldier, sportsman and adventurer, was born on 29 July 1848 in London, only son and eldest of six children of John Wilson Fitzpatrick, first Baron Castletown, soldier and landlord, of Abbeyleix, Queen’s County (Laois), and Augusta Fitzpatrick (née Douglas) of Coote Hill, Co. Armagh. He … Read more
Sir,—In her article ‘A dynamic Irishman in Paris: Patrick d’Arcy, 1725–79’ (HI 18.2, March/April 2010), Mary Stratton Ryan quotes an 1845 article from the Freeman’s Journal to the effect that ‘A mason employed at the ancient chapel of St Philip du Roule has discovered a leaden coffin of ancient form [inscribed with the name of … Read more
Bleeding poets Daniel Reardon New Theatre, Dublin, Feb.–March 2008 by Eamon O’Flaherty An imaginary encounter between three poets in a public house in Dublin at the height of the Great Famine forms the basis of this comedy of ideas from Daniel Reardon. The New Theatre is an intimate space, and this suits the claustrophobic atmosphere … Read more
In the mid-nineteenth century a new kind of Turkish bath was pioneered in Ireland, one that on the Continent is still called the ‘Roman-Irish bath’. This Victorian ‘improved Turkish Bath’ was modelled on the Roman system and relied on a flow of dry rather than moist air in the series of progressively hotter rooms in … Read more
John A. McCullen’s Illustrated history of the Phoenix Park does exactly what it says on the tin. A detailed description and time-line of the landscape management and design of Dublin’s Phoenix Park, it is published in a lavish large-format volume, and gorgeously illustrated with over 240 maps, plans and full-page colour prints. McCullen is chief … Read more