Gerard Moran and Nollaig Ó Muraíle (eds), Mayo history and society (Geography Publications, €60 hb, 920pp, ISBN 9780906602683). Jonathon Cherry and Brendan Scott (eds), Cavan history and society (Geography Publications, €60 hb, 920pp, ISBN 9780906602683). Brian Barton, The Belfast Blitz: the city in the war years (Ulster Historical Foundation, £19.99 pb, 656pp, ISBN 9781909556324). Mark … Read more
Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa was born in 1831 near Rosscarbery, Co. Cork, and in 1856 he formed the Phoenix National Literary Society in Skibbereen. This was a secret society whose aim was Irish independence from Britain. In 1858 he was sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood. In December 1858 Rossa was arrested and jailed without trial … Read more
Digitisation has transformed how we practise family history. There are over 120 million Irish historical records on-line. It is now possible to trace and document Irish families to a much earlier date. This has led to renewed interest in early modern records, 1500–1700. One series of particular interest and use to family historians are the … Read more
At a recent auction in London a set of the insignia of the Order of St Patrick, the British state order for Ireland, was sold for €29,800, well above the estimate. Originally the regalia of Lord Houghton when he was lord lieutenant of Ireland in the 1890s, the set consists of the star and badge … Read more
Recent election results, both here and across the water, call to mind the apocryphal Chinese curse. Apart from the usual anomaly of the British electoral system’s ability to deliver decisive parliamentary majorities on a minority of the popular vote (less than 37% for the Conservatives in this case), the big story was the almost clean … Read more