With the removal of its legal tender status after 9 February 2002, the Irish pound slides into probable oblivion. Its existence can be said to have begun in 1460, when the assertive Drogheda parliament unilaterally reduced by 20 per cent the silver content of the penny in Ireland. There were no pound coins yet in … Read more
The Gaelic kingdom of Uí Chennselaig, which was controlled by a dynasty of the same name, is substantially represented by the modern county of Wexford. Some of the ten divisions, or tuath, into which Uí Chennselaig was divided are represented by the baronies of Bantry, Shelburne, Shelmalier, Forth and Bargy. From the tenth century onwards … Read more
Study of the Black Death in Ireland is fraught with difficulties: the few Irish chroniclers and annalists tell us relatively little about it; a further complication was the almost continuous warfare and the consequent economic decline already underway well before the arrival of plague in 1348. Nevertheless, there is enough evidence to suggest that the … Read more
Sir,—I found it odd that you did not aska historian to review The Catholics of Ulster by Marianne Elliott whois not only a noted historian but one of History Ireland’s patrons. Others better qualified or at least possessing ‘the nobility of theGaelic mind’ (to use just one of Mons. Murray’s unhistorical phrases)will, no doubt take … Read more
While the history of death and burial has over recent years become well established in Europe, it has, for many reasons, made little impact on Irish historiography. This is unfortunate for, as Susan Fry points out in the preface, many aspects of social, cultural and religious life in the past may be illuminated through study … Read more