By Marie Bourke The monumental history painting The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (pp 36–7) by Daniel Maclise has an iconic status at the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI). Maclise captures the marginal moment of Strongbow’s marriage to Aoife, which became regarded as an event of political and symbolic importance in marking the establishment of … Read more
Nobody knows for sure if William Diggin began his 1913 emigration with a ride aboard the Lartigue monorail from Ballybunion to the mainline train at Listowel. The monorail began operating between the two north Kerry towns in 1888 and attracted more than 72,000 riders in 1913. But no passenger lists survive for the railway like … Read more
JFK and Ireland In what may or may not be a coincidence, this year of ‘the Gathering’ coincides with the 50th anniversary of the official visit to Ireland of President John F. Kennedy. From a diplomatic point of view it was a triumph for the Irish state, breaching as it did the diplomatic isolation that … Read more
When my granddad was a lot younger than he is now, he was in the navy in around the 1950’ He was in the royal navy but he wasn’t fighting or anything like that. He mapped/charted and also patrolled the local coast. The furthest they would go out would be from anything to 10 or … Read more
Oh, The story’s I could tell you about my mother and her siblings. The things that they would get up to is hilarious. Hmmm, where shall I begin… The Solid Sweets. One day my mum, (Annette) and her two sisters, (Gwen, Bernadine) where really bored. They went into the house and tried to look for … Read more