Elizabeth Bowen’s selected Irish writings

The dust-jacket of Éibhear Walshe’s anthology of the Irish writings of the Anglo-Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) reproduces a portrait of her by Patrick Hennessy, standing statuesquely in pale blue evening dress at the top of the grand staircase of her family home at Bowen’s Court, Farahy, north Cork. Bowen’s face, lit by a shaft … Read more

Der Fuchs von Glenarvon (The Fox of Glenarvon), 1940 by Fergal Lenehan

Groups of Irish nationalists, lighted torches in hand, stride forward and are joined by other Irish nationalists singing in unison about the virtues of ‘freedom’. The scene segues into black-and-white images of the sea hurtling into cliffs and the tide encroaching upon a beach, the ‘freedom’ chorus continuing. Yet the refrain is actually concerned with … Read more

Irish Prison Registers and Landed Estate Court Rentals now available on-line

The Irish Prison Registers 1790–1924, held at the National Archives of Ireland, are one of the greatest untapped resources for tracing Irish ancestors. They contain over 130,000 pages which include nearly three million records of imprisonment providing a wealth of information on each prisoner, including name, address, place of birth, occupation, religion, education, age, physical … Read more

Hilda Tweedy—the original desperate housewife?

Hilda Tweedy, founder of the Irish Housewives’ Association, was born in Clones, Co. Monaghan, in 1911. Recognising the importance of Tweedy’s work, Alan Hayes of Arlen House sought to honour her memory. Hayes’s vision has culminated in an exhibition and a book publication, which will be launched at a symposium celebrating Tweedy’s life and work … Read more