Bookworm

       ‘MARRIED WOMAN GETS DEGREE’ was the immortal headline in a Mayo newspaper in 1955 when local woman Sheila Mulloy (née O’Malley) was awarded a Ph.D for her research on correspondence between France and Ireland during the Williamite War. Over the following years she raised eight children yet still found time to edit … Read more

Museum eye:Ireland in Turmoil: the 1641 depositions The Long Room, Trinity College Library, Dublin http://www.tcd.ie/history/1641 Until 3 April 2011 by Tony Canavan

If you are a first-time visitor to the Old Library in Trinity College, then a ticket for €9 is good value as it includes the Book of Kells exhibition as well as the Long Room, where ‘Ireland in Turmoil’ is located. This marks the transfer to a website of all the 1641 depositions with ‘translations’ … Read more

TV eye:Bóthar na Saoirse Guerilla days in Ireland: Scéal Tom Barry My fight for Irish freedom: Scéal Dan Breen On another man’s wound: Scéal Ernie O’Malley Black Rock Pictures for TG4, autumn 2010 by John Gibney

The Irish revolution produced three memoirs that tower above all others, and each one lends its title to an episode of this useful and engaging series. Tom Barry was the son of an RIC officer who learned his trade in the British Army before deploying his skills in a rather different cause back home. Dan … Read more

Film eye:James Connolly: a working class hero Directed by Brian O’Flaherty, Bruno Dog Productions by Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh

It is strange that a life like James Connolly’s has not inspired more documentaries, but the fact remains that this new DVD stands almost alone in its field. One of its notable features is evident early on: a strong emphasis on Edinburgh, where not alone Connolly himself but his socialism was born and reared. Scottish … Read more