The Indians’ engagement with Dublin and its people was by turns philosophical and farcical. They weren’t passive bystanders or mere entertainers—they had opinions and voices of their own, including some fabulously gnomic statements. After a heckler at the back disrupted their favourite eagle dance, claiming that the Iowas were locals dressed up and not a … Read more
The Nation was quite smitten and reacted politically, as might be expected: ‘We were greatly pleased with Mr Catlin’s tableaux. His collection of dresses and arms is good, and he understands and explains them well. The representation of the dances and huntings, wars &c., was very clever. The impressive monotony of the mystery-man’s music in … Read more
It is now widely accepted that Theobald Wolfe Tone probably took his own life. Why, then, asks Georgina Laragy, was his reputation amongst his peers not damaged by the then criminal and immoral character of his death? Theobald Wolfe Tone’s place in the pantheon of Irish republican heroes has been secure since his death in … Read more
While the heroic, Roman, suicide was a popular literary and historical ‘type’ in the eighteenth century, Tone was equally familiar with another more ‘romantic’ type of suicide. This was epitomised by the publication of the semi-autobiographical The sorrows of young Werther by Johann von Goethe in 1774. A theatrical version of the novel was performed … Read more
The Remonstrance is preserved in manuscripts of Scotichronicon, a great survey of Scottish history that connects Ireland with Scotland’s struggle for independence. Scotichronicon also includes English and Scottish texts documenting the English crown’s attempt to create an insular empire. The text of the Remonstrance survives because of Scottish interest in its attack on English imperialism; … Read more