When Brian Boru was killed at the Battle of Clontarf he left two sons chall-enging each other for the succession, half-brothers of whom the older was Donnchad, son of the famous Gormlaith (d. 1030). There followed a type of civil war within Dál Cais, culminating in 1023 in the treacherous killing of the younger brother, … Read more
In anticipation of the possibility of Home Rule, Edward Carson and James Craig founded the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in early 1913. Their intention was that unionists in the north would prevent the enactment of Home Rule. In March 1914 the third Home Rule Bill was introduced into the House of Commons. Because of the … Read more
On 23 September 1978, the famous ‘Save Wood Quay’ protest march took place in Dublin city: c. 20,000 people took to the streets in an extraordinary show of public sentiment that is still firmly lodged in the collective memory today. At issue was the decision by Dublin Corporation (as it then was) to construct its … Read more
Against a backdrop of political uncertainty regarding Home Rule, and with soon-to-be-armed volunteers appearing on Irish streets, North and South, the Battle of Clontarf was presented as a definitive victory for a native Irish force over a foreign aggressor. The Irish Volunteer and Clontarf The first edition of the Irish Volunteer appeared on 7 February … Read more
History painting—the most important, albeit conservative, manner of European painting—was occasionally subverted in Ireland for anti-establishment purposes. James Barry’s St Patrick Baptizing the King of Cashel (1763), Daniel Maclise’s Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (1854) and John Mulvany’s Battle of Aughrim (1885) all show the inherent versatility of the genre in presenting alternative views of … Read more