SUGRUE, Michael ‘Butty’ (1924–77), circus strongman, entrepreneur and boxing promoter, was born 27 July 1924 in Gortnascarry, near Killorglin, Co. Kerry, one of six children of Timothy Sugrue, a farmer, and his wife Eileen Reilly of Gortnascarry. Known as ‘Butty’ because of his squat and powerful stature, upon leaving school he was employed as a … Read more
Rabies is an infection associated with a wide range of wild and domestic animals. After dogs, cattle were the most commonly affected animals in Ireland in the late 1890s, mostly having been bitten by rabid dogs. The rabies virus is shed in the saliva of infected animals and may be transmitted by animal bite or … Read more
The official organ of the government of the Republic of Ireland is Iris Oifigiúil, which is in effect a state newspaper for the publication of important public notices. Those notices that name and shame large-scale tax defaulters are usually given extensive coverage in the media. Iris Oifigiúil commenced in 1922, the first year of the … Read more
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was the first superstar of northern European art. Vasari’s Lives of the artists (1568) describes Dürer as a ‘truly great painter and creator of the most beautiful copper engravings’. In typically chauvinist manner, the Florentine artist-historian further states that if Dürer had been born a Tuscan and had learned Italian technique fully, … Read more
James Barry remains the most ambitious, controversial and important painter that Ireland has produced. He was also a neo-classical painter of major international significance, although not often given his due as such. His reputation for eccentricity, for extreme political views, and for intemperate and paranoid confrontations with the art establishment still overshadows his considerable achievements … Read more