Life in rural west Tyrone in the years immediately following the Second World War was simple when compared to the present. Homes were small, usually just two or three rooms, whitewashed and thatched. Hearth fires provided heat and cooking facilities and candles or oil lamps were used for light. The countryside at night was dark … Read more
Irish immigrants to American during An Gorta Mor may have found much more than they bargained when they were caught up on the battlefields of the American Civil War. Into their new nation’s internecine struggle stepped two Irish soldiers who left Ireland in 1849 with their parents, Thomas Sarsfield and Winifred (nee McGrath) Real, and … Read more
AS Kerry prepared the 2006 All Ireland final against Mayo, a Donegal man recalled his first trip to a decider 60 years previously which attracted more than 90,000 fans. John Carlin from The Cross left Donegal for the first time ever to make a daunting train journey from Strabane to Dublin to watch Kerry take … Read more
When Croke Park was opened up to rugby and soccer in 2007 I thought of my grandfather, P.J. O’Loughlin, who died in 1965. Originally a Cork man from Newmarket, he moved to a farm in Tomacork near Carnew, Co. Wicklow around 1929. As well as being a farmer, he was a well known auctioneer in … Read more
I was very fortunate that both my grandmothers were still alive while I was studying twentieth century history in college. My maternal grandmother was born the same year the Great War broke out. Although very young at the time, she could remember several incidents from both the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil … Read more