Francis Hutchinson was no ordinary clergyman. Posterity chiefly remembers him for his condemnation of witchcraft trials in his famous book An historical essay concerning witchcraft . . . (1718). He was one of the first members of the Dublin Society for the Improvement of Husbandry and Other Useful Arts, however, and wrote extensively on social … Read more
As the loyalist murals of Belfast’s Shankill Road and the jerseys worn by Tyrone’s Gaelic footballers show, claims to the Red Hand of Ulster have been contested for centuries. From the earliest times, personal emblems have been used to identify prominent people and their descendants. The lasting use of such symbols extended to civil purposes … Read more
History as fairytale? Elizabeth: the Golden Age Director: Shekhar Kapur by Hiram Morgan Director: Zack Synder by Ciarán Brady This film is great fun but it is not history. It is an Anglo-Protestant present-centred interpretation of history wrapped up in Hollywood glamour, Harry Potter fantasy and Monty Python caricature. It is a sequel to the … Read more
Sir, —The Autumn issue of History Ireland has just come through the letterbox and I happen to have opened it on Áine Maire Chadwick’s letter on White Sorrel, the white horse so famously associated with King Billy. As your correspondent points out, this was not the horse ridden by William at the Battle of … Read more
Born in Kerry, Bernard Connor received his early education in Ardfert and went to university in France, first in Montpelier and then Rheims, graduating there as a doctor of physic in 1693. He travelled widely in his short career. After a brief period practising medicine in Paris, he set out to accompany the sons of … Read more