The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) plays an important part in the story of Thady McMahon and his relationship with his associates and patrons from amongst Dublin’s intellectual élite. The RIA was established in 1786 for the purpose of ‘promoting the study of science, polite literature and antiquities’. At the time of McMahon’s arrest, George Petrie … Read more
Essex’s son is much better-known than his father. Robert joined the Elizabethan court in the mid-1580s and quickly cemented his position as a favourite of Queen Elizabeth’s. Following the death of his stepfather, Robert Dudley, first earl of Leicester, in 1588 Essex gradually ascended to become the leader of England’s war effort in the First … Read more
Though it ultimately ended in total failure, Essex’s ‘Enterprise’ nevertheless played an important part in the development of Tudor colonisation in Ireland. When the first major plantation was undertaken by the Tudors in Laois and Offaly in the 1550s it was organised by the government, but it proved a stop-start affair that did not prosper … Read more
1969 Terence O’Neill resigned as Unionist leader and prime minister of Northern Ireland. He was succeeded by Major James Chichester Clarke, who defeated Brian Faulkner by one vote
ARNOLD HORNER Wordwell Books €30 ISBN 9781999790 Reviewed by Matthew Stout Matthew Stout lectures in the School of History and Geography, Dublin City University. Arnold Horner is a giant in the field of Irish historical geography and he is revered by two generations of geography students at UCD as an inspirational teacher. In recent years … Read more