The Quit Rent Office holds records relating to some of the Crown’s former land revenues, natural assets and franchises in Ireland between the 1660s and the 1930s. In 1923 the records were transferred to the Irish Free State. After 1943 the historic Quit Rent Office records were transferred to the Public Records Office (now the … Read more
As we move through the ‘decade of commemorations’, the problems in ‘remembering’ the Irish Civil War become apparent. Civil conflicts pose challenges to communal remembering of the past owing to their inherently divisive nature and thus are often considered best forgotten. This is ably illustrated in one of the troubling legacies of the Irish Civil … Read more
Our tale begins just after the Great Famine, when many landlords were desperate to get rid of their estates and there were people like John George Adair only too happy to buy this land cheaply. Adair wanted a hunting estate and so he bought 20,000 acres under the shadows of Muckish and Errigal mountains and … Read more
From the 1770s onwards, as the laws restricting Catholic enlistment were relaxed, increasing numbers of Irishmen joined the British forces. Many enlisted in the European regiments of the East India Company (the British trading organisation that ruled India until 1858). The British needed increasing numbers of soldiers to acquire and maintain distant colonies, and Ireland … Read more
Abigail Francis Woods’ Relationship with Charles Stewart Parnell, Ireland’s “Uncrowned King” Over his seventeen year career (1874-1891), Charles Stewart Parnell achieved more influence than any Irish politician before him. He led the Irish Parliamentary Party, which sought Home Rule for Ireland, and he presided over the Irish National Land League, which battled landlords and their … Read more