In the decade after the passing of the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act of 1838, the workhouse system was rolled out across Ireland. Irish workhouses were created to house the destitute poor. In the second half of the nineteenth century their remit extended to public health. The surviving Irish Poor Law Union (PLU) records describe not … Read more
SEPTEMBER 01/1715 Louis XIV of France, known as the ‘Sun King’, died in Versailles, after reigning for just over 72 years—the longest reign in European history. 01/1975 The IRA killed five Orangemen and wounded a further twelve in an attack on Tullyvallen Orange Hall, Newtownhamilton, south Armagh. 02/1865 Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Ireland’s most distinguished … Read more
Henry VIII was a fat, adulterous heretic! I can now say that without fear of prosecution because the centuries-old law protecting that king, along with almost 6,000 other laws, has finally been repealed as part of a tidying-up exercise. This is the second time, the last being in 2005, that the Oireachtas has passed an … Read more
While on a recent holiday to Krakow, Poland, I took the opportunity to visit nearby Auschwitz, where at least 1.1 million people were exterminated by the Nazis, 90% of them Jews. No matter how familiar you are with the background to the ‘Final Solution’, nothing prepares you for the reality on the ground. The claustrophobia … Read more
SEPTEMBER 02 Wed 8pm Cill Dara Historical Society, Áras Bhríde, Kildare Town. The Malones of Claregate Street. 07 Mon 8pm Celbridge History Group, Celbridge Library. Art O’Connor (Judge) of Elm Hall—Ireland’s unknown president, James Durney. 07 Mon 7.30pm Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 63 Merrion Square South. Resurrecting the Renaissance tombs of St Mary’s … Read more