Samuel Neilson was born on 17 September 1761 at Ballyroney, Co. Down, to Alexander Neilson, a Presbyterian minister, and his wife Agnes. He was the second-born of a large family of eight boys and five girls and was educated in liberal arts and mathematics. He married Anne Bryson in 1785 when he worked as a … Read more
Public attitudes towards lesbians or sapphites were ambiguous, as sex between women was not illegal, although sodomy or male homosexuality had been brutally supressed by law since the early fourteenth century. Classed as degrading, degenerate, bestial, immoral and unnatural, it was a serious criminal act for which men were hung, imprisoned, transported, whipped, branded and … Read more
The Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains together with Clans of Ireland (Fínte na hÉireann), in association with the History Department of Trinity College, Dublin, and History Ireland magazine, is offering a prize of €750 for the winning entrant in an essay competition on Gaelic Ireland. Entry is open to all persons over eighteen years … Read more
The Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains and The Clans of Ireland (Fínte na hÉireann) in association with the History Department of Trinity College, Dublin, and History Ireland magazine, are offering a prize of €500 for the winning entrant in an essay competition on Gaelic Ireland. Entry is open to all persons over 18 … Read more
To entice English people, especially merchants, to move to their lands, the earliest conquerors and settlers created boroughs. These boroughs—and the five royal cities of Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick—were granted privileges, confirmed by charter, which allowed them semi-autonomous government and freedom from tolls. Among the lists of burgesses and citizens (the name for … Read more