Many countries today face, or will soon face, one of two population problems. Some countries’ populations are growing so rapidly that sheer numbers will endanger their ability to provide schooling, employment, and basic social amenities to their people. Other countries face a situation nearly the opposite. Their population growth is very slow, or in some … Read more
The approach to Grosse Ile is dominated by the fifteen-metre tall Celtic cross which bears this inscription (in Irish). It stands on a rocky promontory, the highest point on the island. Built by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, it was unveiled on 15 August 15 1909 by the Papal Legate before a crowd of 9,000 … Read more
It has been noted as a case of historical negligence that no photographs were taken of the Great Irish Famine even though early photographers had the means. Those given to conspiracy theories suggest that photographs of the starving and the dead were taken but were such an affront to Victorian sensibilities and Britain’s standing in … Read more
The issue of food exports during the Famine has fuelled an on-going debate in the historiography of the crisis. The traditional, popular view has considered the export of food to be a major contributory factor to excess mortality, symbolising a triumph of doctrine over humanitarian considerations. The opposing interpretation has argued that even if all … Read more
Ralahine, Prosperous, Kingwilliamstown, Dolly’s Brae, Ceim an Fhia, Carrickshock: small, insignificant places, yet places with strong resonances in Irish history. Is Ballykilcline, an obscure Roscommon townland containing fewer than five hundred souls on the eve of the Famine, now about to join them? Probably not, for a few reasons. Part of the problem is that … Read more