‘Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.’ (George Orwell) This is Ireland in 2010, not Nineteen Eighty-Four. Nonetheless, Orwell’s dystopian vision has much to teach a society, such as ours, that professes to be democratic. Freedom of access to the records of the state is a core … Read more
Bhí ann fadó agus fadó bhí. Dhá mbeinnse an uair sin ann ní bheinn anois ann. Dá mbeinn anois agus an uair sin ann, bheadh scéal úr nó seanscéal agam, nó bheinn gan scéal ar bith. Mar bhí sin rí agus bantiarna anseo in Éirinn fadó, agus phós siad. Agus chinn Dia leothab ná raibh … Read more
The Irish Folklore Commission, now the National Folklore Collection, was the first state-funded body to employ full-time collectors of folklore in the field. It is one of the world’s best and largest folklore collections. Owing to the interest of Scandinavian scholars of old and modern Irish and of Irish folklore, the influence of people such … Read more
May 14 1734 Richard Cantillon, Kerry-born economist regarded as the first major economic ‘theorist’ and acclaimed author of Essai sur la nature du commerce en général (c. 1730), was murdered in his London home by his cook. 15 1910 The Association of United Irishwomen, renamed the Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA) in 1934, which sought to … Read more
Frances Browne was born in Stranorlar, Co. Donegal, in 1816. By the time of her death in 1879 she had carved out a relatively successful literary career as a prolific poet, essayist, novelist and writer of children’s stories that had taken her from her quiet village to the bustling cities of Edinburgh and London—despite having … Read more