One hundred years ago, on the night of Saturday 13 August 1910, three passengers travelling from New York disembarked from the White Star Line’s steamer Baltic at what was then called Queenstown, now Cobh, with a device that was revolutionising how people viewed the world: the cinematograph or cine-camera. This device had existed for fifteen … Read more
Family and early years Ysidro Francis Edgeworth’s grandfather, Richard, was a utilitarian, following the philosopher Bentham in believing that sensory pleasure and pain are everything and that morally correct actions maximise a population’s happiness, defined as aggregate pleasure minus pain. The moral code should be deduced from this maximisation principle and not from ‘truths’ … Read more
One night in summer 1865, Andrew Byrne returned to his hotel room in New York a little the worse for wear after a night of drinking with friends. Drowsy with wine, he blew out the light without turning off the gas, which filled the room as he slept heavily. Fortuitously, a fanlight over his door … Read more
Youghal, Co. Cork, was one of the most significant maritime centres of medieval Ireland, commanding important trading routes to northern and western Europe. Like other urban centres of the time, it was surrounded by walls punctuated by defensive towers and heavily guarded gates. In time, the town expanded southwards and a new ‘base’ or outer … Read more
Richard Crosbie organised three manned balloon flights in Dublin in 1785, and made a final flight from Limerick in 1786. He is rightly celebrated as Ireland’s first aeronaut, and today there is a memorial to him in Ranelagh Gardens, where his first flight took place. Crosbie was born near Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, c. 1756, descended … Read more