The Freeman’s Journal was published in Dublin continuously from 1763 to 1924. In its early years it was associated with the ‘patriot’ opposition in the Irish parliament—most notably Charles Lucas, Henry Grattan and Henry Flood. Lucas is generally credited with having founded the paper, though its first editor was Henry Brooke, well known as an … Read more
In the autumn and winter of 1956 a popular mass movement rose up against the ruling communist dictatorship in Hungary and sought to introduce a multi-party democracy and to take the country out of its military alliance with the Soviet Union. For a few heady days it seemed that this movement would be successful, as … Read more
Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that is spread through person-to-person or faecal–oral contact. The effects of the disease range from mild to severe, from a minor transient illness to extensive long-term paralysis and even death. The virus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of … Read more
Alexander Mitchell, eighth son of William Mitchell and Jane Ferguson, one of thirteen children, was born in William Street, Dublin, on 13 April 1780. His father was inspector-general of barracks in Ireland, a duty that took him all over the country. When at home he relaxed by playing the violin and the harpsichord and often … Read more
The last few years have seen a sudden resurgence of interest in the history of polar exploration, focused mainly on the major Antarctic expeditions of the early twentieth-century ‘heroic period’. Yet these expeditions represented the end of a long history of polar exploration, and twentieth-century explorers based their methods on the experiences of an earlier … Read more