The Inquisitions are ‘treasury’ documents, recording the rights and privileges of the crown over land held by tenants-in-chief in Ireland. The Inquisitions Post Mortem were surveys undertaken by the court of chancery or exchequer at the time of death of the landholder. The earliest start in 1276 but there is a notable gap between the … Read more
An exhibition—‘George Catlin: American Indian Portraits’—opened earlier this year in the National Portrait Gallery, London, with the bull buffaloes of British art criticism, Brian Sewell and Andrew Graham-Dixon, locking horns over whether the self-taught Pennsylvanian was any use as a painter. The show has since moved to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. It is … Read more
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
The Casino at Marino, north Dublin, is one of the finest garden temples in Europe. It was built in the 1760s in the grounds of Marino House, a hunting lodge inherited by James Caulfield (1728–99), first earl of Charlemont. Caulfield was a major patron of the arts and spent nine years on a Grand Tour … Read more