GREATRAKES, Valentine (1628–83), healer, was born on 14 February 1628 in Affane, Co. Waterford, the son of William Greatrakes, farmer, and his wife Mary, third daughter of Sir Edward Harris, chief justice of Munster. The Greatrakes were among the smaller English Protestant landed families who settled in south Munster in the 1580s. Valentine attended the … Read more
John Derricke’s twelve woodcuts are the most famous images of the Elizabethan conquest of Ireland. The Irish chief and his entourage feasting in the open air, Sir Henry Sidney departing Dublin Castle, the English army on the march and the submission of Turlough O’Neill are amongst the images most frequently used to illustrate history books, … Read more
In an era of unprecedented public interest and pride in Ireland’s Jewish heritage, it is sad to report the avoidable destruction of one of its outstanding monuments. The demolition, in October 2006, of a barn near Millisle on the Ards Peninsula has removed from the landscape Northern Ireland’s most significant Holocaust memorial. During its construction … Read more