WITH THE SEPTCENTENARY ANNIVERSARY OF THE BRUCE INVASION OF IRELAND THIS YEAR, PERHAPS IT IS RELEVANT TO ADDRESS A TOPIC OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE INVASION: THE REMONSTRANCE OF THE IRISH PRINCES. By Stephen Hewer The Remonstrance was a petition sent to Pope John XXII in c. 1317 that contained a list of grievances by Domhnall … Read more
Marginal notes on manuscripts shed light on the life of an Anglo-Norman lord and his relationship with his scribes. By Timothy O’Neill Night is falling on 21 December 1453, and in a castle in County Kilkenny a scribe peruses his manuscript. He writes a note about the heavy rain outside and his hope that his … Read more
In a rush of commemorative activity this summer, we have been enjoined to recall that Magna Carta (‘the Great Charter’)—whose 800th anniversary fell in June 2015—announced a fundamental principle of the rule of law: even sovereigns should be subject to the law of the land. Magna Carta is credited with being the first effective check … Read more
The English crown first intervened in Ireland in 1171. King Henry II came to curb the power of his Anglo-Norman subjects, who were seizing Irish territories for themselves; Diarmait MacMurchada had brought them here in the late 1160s to help him regain the kingship of Leinster. Henry also wished to impose his authority on the … Read more
I first wrote about the Newry museum for this column in 2005. There have been many changes since then. As some readers may know, my first job was as the museum officer in Newry, when I opened the new museum in a converted nineteenth-century coal merchant’s office as part of the arts centre. The museum … Read more