Dr Dominic Corrigan was technically incorrect when he stated that famine and fever were cause and effect, and so, by extension, was Carleton. What we now know, but which Corrigan and his professional colleagues in the pre-Famine period did not, is that fever is caused by germs, specific micro-organisms, and that human head and body … Read more
Two hundred years ago a decision was imminent on one of the great engineering projects of nineteenth-century Ireland. Arnold Horner outlines some key events in the building of Dún Laoghaire harbour, including the crucial role played by the great civil engineer John Rennie. How to access Ireland’s principal city from the sea was a focus … Read more
Rennie was no stranger to Dublin, or indeed to Ireland. A small notebook in the National Library of Scotland records his 1801 impressions of the Dublin harbour area. Three years later, the army commander, Lord Cathcart, showed him the sites that had been selected for Martello towers in the Dunleary area. His Irish projects included … Read more
Chris Lawlor traces the rise of the O’Byrne clan, and particularly the Gabhal Raghnaill sept, during the long sixteenth century, outlining the resistance of Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne and some of his forebears to the Crown. Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne is synonymous with County Wicklow, and was one of the first leaders in that county … Read more
The Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains, in association with the History Department of Trinity College, Dublin, and History Ireland magazine, is offering a prize of €750 for the winning entrant in an essay competition on Gaelic Ireland. Entry is open to all persons over eighteen years who are NOT on the academic staff of … Read more