Hart to Heart

BH: Tell us a little about your background. PH: I’m a Newfoundlander, which no doubt gave me some insight into sectarianism and nationalism, thanks to denominational education and our status as a former country and generally pissed-off part of Canada. Newfoundlanders have a strong sense of identity, and there are Newfoundland clubs, bars and newspapers … Read more

Repelling the Repealer: William McComb’s caricatures of Daniel O’Connell

On 16–19 January 1841, as the Whig government of Lord Melbourne tottered towards collapse, Daniel O’Connell visited Belfast to address a Repeal meeting. He was accompanied by the Protestant Repealers Robert Dillon Browne (MP for Mayo) and Thomas Steele (the ‘Head Pacificator’), and by his son-in-law Charles O’Connell (formerly MP for Kerry). O’Connell came at … Read more

‘On the inside sitting alone’: pioneer Irish women doctors

Ireland in the late nineteenth century was still largely rural, with gross poverty and marked social inequalities. Most women were illiterate; health was poor; infectious diseases and multiple pregnancies were common. Unemployment was high, and there was massive emigration (higher among women) to England and the Americas. English fashions and ideas percolated slowly to Ireland, … Read more