Japan has always been seen as an inscrutable nation. More so than the Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean people, the Japanese have maintained a reputation for being insular, self-contained and private. This inscrutability is visible in their language, culture and mannerisms, but it was never as clear as during the period of Sakoku (‘chained country’). Sakoku … Read more
In the mid-nineteenth century, shows featuring people with unusual physical attributes or abilities peaked in terms of commercial success. Favourite exhibitions included mermaids, Siamese twins, bearded ladies, giants and dwarves. One of the most popular was ‘General Tom Thumb’, so named because of his diminutive stature. Managed by the flamboyant Phineas Taylor Barnum, he achieved … Read more
In 1883 Tom Thumb died of a stroke. He was aged 45. His friend Barnum commissioned a life-sized statue to be placed above his grave in Connecticut. Tom Thumb’s passing was noted with sadness in Ireland, the Freeman’s Journal averring that ‘he was the most notable dwarf of the century’. Lavinia lived until 1919. Although … Read more
Charles Sherwood Stratton was born in Connecticut in 1838 or 1839. He had stopped growing at seven months old (although some reports suggest at the age of two). Unusually, he was perfectly proportioned, both as a child and as a man, and this was part of his attraction. It seems that Stratton suffered from hypochondroplasia, … Read more
Outside of Wexford, Carlow was one of the biggest centres of rebel activity in Leinster in 1798, and tales of the rebellion and its suppression at a local level are still emerging. The story of Revd Robert Rochfort (1775–1811) of Clogrennane, Co. Carlow, is a case in point. An investigation into his life and early … Read more