It is strange that a life like James Connolly’s has not inspired more documentaries, but the fact remains that this new DVD stands almost alone in its field. One of its notable features is evident early on: a strong emphasis on Edinburgh, where not alone Connolly himself but his socialism was born and reared. Scottish … Read more
The 31st International Eucharistic Congress, held in Dublin in 1932, is one of the most remarkable public events to have taken place in Ireland in the twentieth century. It generated a level of enthusiasm among Irish people that has few real parallels. With extremely favourable weather conditions prevailing in the run-up to and during the … Read more
In 1891 the RSAI initiated a photographic collection, which today consists of over 20,000 photographs, negatives and lantern-slides. Perhaps the best-known images are from a relatively small collection known as the ‘Darkest Dublin’ photographs. These were submitted to Dublin Corporation’s housing inquiry of November 1913 by John Cooke, who gave evidence on behalf of the … Read more
In 1934 the National Athletic and Cycling Association suggested hosting a women’s 100 yards sprint as part of their national championships. The response to this innovation reveals a lot about the position of women in Irish society at that time. Discussion frequently centred on the attire to be worn by sportswomen. Given the restrictions on … Read more
The first Irish census was taken in 1821, and thereafter censuses were taken at ten-yearly intervals until 1911. The only census records to survive in their entirety are those for 1901 and 1911. The records for 1821–51 were lost in the destruction of the Public Record Office at the beginning of the Civil War in … Read more