History just passes some people by. The War of Independence, the Treaty and the 1937 constitution mean nothing to the people at Starbucks, the American coffee-bar chain. They recently asked their customers in Ireland to tweet why they were proud to be British for a chance to win a free cup of coffee. Of course, … Read more
The existence of the canonical ‘32 counties of Ireland’ (26 in the Republic and six in the North) is taken for granted by most of us and would appear to be easily verified by glancing at a map. Likewise, despite modernisation, globalisation and large-scale immigration, counties continue to command passionate loyalties and on both sides … Read more
Irish people emigrated to Buenos Aires with an identity as oppressed indigenous people, only to subsequently find themselves cooperating in the dispossession of indigenous Argentines. The settlement of European farmers was central to the consolidation of political power in Argentina. Irish and other immigrants retained their language and customs, acting as a buffer zone between … Read more
Along with his Catholic counterpart Francis Kirwan, Archbishop Daniel is believed to have overseen the rebuilding of Tuam and its cathedral following the destruction of the Nine Years War. According to the Galway historian John Lynch (c. 1599–1677), he identified the famed relics of Tuam’s patron, St Jarlath, when they were recovered from their ruined … Read more
Following the escape of the young ‘Red’ Hugh O’Donnell from Dublin Castle and his near-doomed flight over the Wicklow Mountains at the height of the bitterly cold winter of 1591, a prophecy soon spread amongst the native Irish that his escape heralded an imminent victory over the English. Indeed, while passing through Munster in 1599, … Read more