Patrick d’Arcy was born on 27 September 1725 in Kiltulla Castle, four miles south-east of Athenry, Co. Galway, the third son of John d’Arcy and his wife Jane, daughter of Robert Lynch of Castle Carra, Co. Mayo. The family were Catholics and ardent Jacobites and as a result suffered under the Penal Laws. In order … Read more
If every new political movement in Ireland puts the issue of the split as the first item on the agenda at its first meeting, then it can sometimes seem as though all historical debates on this island (at least, all debates about the history of this island) begin with an attempt to establish ‘who started … Read more
In the late twelfth-century Anglo-Norman marriage market, the teenage Isabel de Clare was a very desirable prize. Under Anglo-Norman feudal law, the marriage of her parents, Strongbow and Aoife, and the related succession agreement between Strongbow and Isabel’s maternal grandfather, Diarmait Mac Murchada, united the holdings of the two families. But when Strongbow died in 1176 there … Read more
The official denunciation of former Lord Deputy Perrot refers to his proposals to poison the Wicklow warlord Feagh McHugh O’Byrne. This, however, was a show trial, steeped in lies and propaganda. The assassination of troublesome Irish leaders made sound sense to English administrators in Ireland, not least because it was cheaper than waging expensive and … Read more