David C. Hanrahan (Sutton Publishing, £20) ISBN 0750933275 Thomas Blood was born in County Clare around 1618, but he spent his early years in England until 1648, when he returned to Ireland to fight for Cromwell. Rewarded with land for his service—service which was rumoured to include several daring spying missions—he lost it all on … Read more
David Edwards (Four Courts, £45) ISBN 185182578 This is the book many historians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have been waiting for—a thorough, detailed and well-researched analysis of a single Irish lordship in the turbulent years between 1515 and 1642. This era probably represents one of the greatest periods of political, cultural, religious … Read more
Making the best use of a relatively small exhibition space, Conflict contains hundreds of artefacts from the Neolithic period to the present. The visual aspect of the exhibition is most striking, and the artefacts—from flint arrowheads, swords and helmets to rifles, uniforms and gasmasks—are all displayed to good effect. The visitor is able to view … Read more
History Ireland, since it was first published over a decade ago, has sought to address as many aspects of Ireland’s past and its interpretation as possible. The review of at least a sample of the flood of books on Irish history has been a consistent feature of the magazine, but books have to compete ever … Read more
Brenan, John (1768–1830), physician and satirist, was born into a minor landed Catholic family from Ballaghide, Co. Carlow. The details of his early life are hazy, but from about 1801 he was practising medicine in Dublin. He claimed to be the first person to use turpentine against puerperal fever, having observed its benefits in 1812 … Read more