Religious homogeneity helped contribute to the relative political stability in the Irish Free State during the 1920s. Politico-religious rivalry in the North on the other hand was a major cause of endemic sectarian tension. There were 3,171,697 Catholics living in Ireland, according to the 1926 census — 2,751,269 in Saorstát Éireann [Irish Free State] and … Read more
Sa lá atá inniu ann, de dheasca an dul chun cinn atá déanta ar stair shóisialta, tá stairaithe ag dul thar fóir ag scaradh coincheap mar thóraíochas agus rapairíochas ó phríomheachtraí na haimsire. Ní thiocfadh staidéar a dhéanamh ar choincheap mar seo gan mórghluaiseachtaí na haoise a thabhairt san áireamh. Is fiú, fosta, príomhfheachtais mhíleata … Read more
The year 1849 was a year of portents. Some, such as the reappearance of the potato blight in May or the record number of evictions (13,384), were harbingers of the suffering and social upheavals to come. Two events in that year, however, both of which took place in County Kilkenny, marked an equally noteworthy but … Read more
The troubles of the last twenty five years have served to focus the minds of Ulster people on their history. They are more conscious than ever of their ancestors-Gaelic, Norman, English, Huguenot, Lowland Scot, Highland Scot. But that consciousness has neglected and all but forgotten one particularly influential immigrant group. Most often they are … Read more
In 1913 Lord Northcliffe, proprietor of the Daily Mail, offered a prize of £10,000 for the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic by a ‘heavier than air’ machine. A seventy-two hour time limit was set under rules drawn up and administered by the Royal Aero Club. The competition was suspended for the duration of the … Read more