If you enjoyed the first instalment of David A. Wilson’s Thomas D’Arcy McGee biography (HI 16.6, Nov./Dec. 2008, reviews, p. 65), you’ll want to take a look at this second and concluding volume. Picking up the story from McGee’s 1857 arrival in Montreal, the author remains fundamentally sympathetic to his subject while avoiding the temptation … Read more
Francis Wheatley’s painting of the Volunteers commemorating King William’s birthday at College Green (4 November 1779), drawing readers to reach for this engaging book, has become the iconic depiction of Ireland’s ‘golden age’ of patriotism. Mirroring the harmonious lines of the Georgian streetscape forming its backdrop, this pictorial narrative of Protestant commemoration fused with a … Read more
The old bridge at Ennisnag, crossing the King’s River outside Stonyford, is located approximately six miles south of Kilkenny and lies on the original road connecting Kilkenny to Waterford. The bridge was bypassed in 1827 when the ‘new’ Ennisnag Bridge, a three-arch ashlar structure, was built downstream.The downstream face shows a picturesque bridge that appears … 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