The controversy over judicial garb was indicative of two larger issues—judicial independence from the executive and Irish freedom from Britain. The former was important to unionists because they were relying on independent courts to protect their rights. In their opinion, judges could not be independent if their dress was determined by the executive. On the … Read more
Like most places in Ireland, Athy, Co. Kildare, boasts hundreds of nicknames, some unique to the individual, some family nicknames, others specific to a townland or street. When renowned photographer John Minihan presented his Athy collection to Samuel Beckett, the playwright observed that they were both capturing the same angle of the soul. The photos … Read more
Throughout the 1880s Parnell was renowned as Ireland’s ‘uncrowned king’, while his personal life was dominated by his furtive relationship with the attractive wife of a parliamentary colleague, Captain Willie O’Shea. When Parnell was cited in the O’Shea divorce case in November 1890, his political world fell apart and Irish nationalism was plunged into turmoil … Read more
When I last visited Galway City’s museum it was in an ancient single-storey building beside the Spanish Arch. It was run by an amateur committee and, like most such museums, had a dusty, dark atmosphere with lots of objects out on display, some in cases, many not. The information was typed on slips of cardboard … Read more
Sir, —In the article ‘At O’Neill’s right hand: Flaithrí Ó Maolchonaire and the Red Hand of Ulster’ by Benjamin Hazard (HI 18.1, Jan./Feb. 2010), there is a sidebar discussing one of the traditional explanations for the Red Hand of Ulster, namely the story about a chieftain who, when his rival was leading in … Read more