Many of the National Library’s most valuable collections pertaining to the Irish struggle for independence were catalogued in the 1930s and ’40s, when the institution’s expertise and resources were at a premium. As a consequence (as many readers may have discovered), the catalogue descriptions of some material pertaining to seminal revolutionaries, including Patrick Pearse, Bulmer … Read more
Sir Peter Tait was born in Scotland in 1828 but moved to Limerick at a young age. At the age of sixteen he became a shop assistant in the Cumine and Mitchell department store but lost his job when trade slackened, forcing him to display the first signs of his entrepreneurial ability. He purchased a … Read more
The existence of the canonical ‘32 counties of Ireland’ (26 in the Republic and six in the North) is taken for granted by most of us and would appear to be easily verified by glancing at a map. Likewise, despite modernisation, globalisation and large-scale immigration, counties continue to command passionate loyalties and on both sides … Read more
In Dublin there were six liberties, all of which were originally under ecclesiastical control (and the first three of which give their name to the modern district in the city’s south side). St Sepulchre, ruled by the archbishops of Dublin, was created before 1199 and consisted of three parishes in the city and extensive lands … Read more
Along with his Catholic counterpart Francis Kirwan, Archbishop Daniel is believed to have overseen the rebuilding of Tuam and its cathedral following the destruction of the Nine Years War. According to the Galway historian John Lynch (c. 1599–1677), he identified the famed relics of Tuam’s patron, St Jarlath, when they were recovered from their ruined … Read more