Ireland is shaped like a pancake if a 1468 map is to be believed. Drawn by Italian cartographer Grazioso Benincasa, it has 57 identifiable modern place-names, such as Porto Rosso (Portrush), Drogda (Drogheda) and Bre (Bray), along with some rivers and offshore islands. Benincasa did not draw the map based on his own survey but … Read more
January 8 Thur 8pm Mount Merrion Historical Society, Community Centre, North Avenue. Monkstown–Dún Laoghaire, Tom Conlon. Adm. ?4/?2 student. 9 Fri 8pm Military History Society of Ireland, Griffith College, South Circular Road. Who became an officer? Irish recruitment to the British armed forces, 1922–49, Stephen O’Connor. 13 Tues 7pm Tallaght Historical Society, County Library. The … Read more
In the early twentieth century, the newspapers they read defined Irish people. The Anglo-Irish establishment read the Irish Unionist Irish Times. When the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) split over Parnell’s relationship with Katherine O’Shea, the paper’s readership split as well. While the Freeman’s Journal went with the majority in opposing Parnell, a minority moved to … Read more
Digitised history sites like Trinity’s 1641 Depositions and Letters of 1916 have made it easier for historians to access primary sources from the comfort of their own homes. They are not unique. In the past few years two major digital history portals have emerged—the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and Europeana. The latter, which … Read more
A revolver belonging to Arthur Griffith, founder of Sinn Féin, has come to light and is now in the hands of County Cavan Museum, Ballyjamesduff. When discovered by the sister in charge in St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin, where Griffith died on 12 August 1922, the revolver was handed to the Garda sergeant on duty outside … Read more