The roads of early twentieth-century rural Ireland may have been safer for the fact that Parnell did not live to see the advent of the motorcar. According to a society hostess acquaintance, he was ‘always in a hurry; he could never wait for anything; to wait for a train was anguish to him, he would … Read more
All historical study is principally concerned with analysing the structures and processes of power. Maria Misra’s history is an eloquently spun meditation on the great shifts in political, religious, territorial and cultural control that have contributed to the emergence of modern India as an economic superpower. The first half of the book spans the rise … Read more
Most of the Irish who were in India in the early phases of the British occupation went there in the military or civilian service of the London-based East India Company. Missionaries and planters followed in the nineteenth century. India was a place where vast fortunes could be made. Successful Irishmen included James Alexander and Robert … Read more
The origins of the Dromana Gate on the periphery of the Dromana Forest, near Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, can be traced back to a papier-mâché-detailed canvas-covered timber structure erected in 1826 by the tenants of Villierstown to welcome home the newly wed Henry Villiers-Stuart (1803–74), Lord Stuart de Decies, and Theresia Pauline Ott (d. 1867). It … 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