The ‘oral-bishop’: the epicurean theology of Bishop Frederick Hervey, 1730–1803

Two summers ago in Derry, a portrait of the eighteenth-century earl-bishop Frederick Hervey was stolen from St Columb’s Cathedral and placed on a bonfire in the Bogside, to be consumed along with Rangers football paraphernalia and other artefacts of Protestant culture and identity. As the BBC news correspondent pointed out at the time, Hervey was … Read more

Creating facts on the ground:the destruction of Clandeboye

One of Ireland’s most important parliaments was held in Dublin in 1541. This declared Henry VIII to be ‘king of Ireland’ and made all Irishmen, whatever their origin, Gaelic or Norman, his subjects with equal rights under common law. It enacted the ‘surrender and regrant’ legislation and, while English was the official language, much of … Read more

‘Framing’ the Anglo-Norman invasion:Robin Frame on medieval Irish history and why it matters

In 1969 a 26-year-old Belfast boy with a distinguished undergraduate record applied for a lectureship at the University of Durham. Robin Frame was then at work on his doctoral dissertation in Trinity College, Dublin, and had one published article to his name. That might have been one article too many for H.S. Offler, then professor … Read more