Michael English, The three castles of Dublin: an eclectic history of Dublin through the evolution of the city’s coat of arms (Dublin City Council/Four Courts Press, €26.95 hb, 272pp, ISBN 9781907002267). Mary McAuliffe and Liz Gillis, Richmond Barracks 1916: we were there—77 women of the Easter Rising (Dublin City Council/Four Courts Press, €22.45 pb, 276pp, … Read more
GPO Witness History O’Connell Street, www.gpowitnesshistory.ie Revolution 1916 Ambassador Theatre, Parnell Square, www.revolution1916.ie Kilmainham Gaol Museum www.kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie By Tony Canavan The new permanent exhibition at the GPO certainly shows all the signs of the millions of euro spent on it. It is visually impressive, with its recreation of the post office as it would … Read more
ANU Productions Moore Street, Dublin 1, 19 April–7 May 2016 By the time this review appears, the centenary commemoration of the Easter Rising will have been and gone, and in time will surely join other commemorative initiatives—such as the 150th anniversary of the Famine and the bicentenary of 1798, and indeed the 50th anniversary of … Read more
‘HERE … WILL BE TRAINED THE WOMEN WHO WILL ASSIST IN BUILDING HAPPY HOMES, FOR HERE WILL BE IMPARTED RIGHT KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF HOME-CRAFT.’—ARCHBISHOP JOHN CHARLES McQUAID AT THE FORMAL OPENING OF ST MARY’S COLLEGE OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE, CATHAL BRUGHA STREET, 16JUNE 1941. By Brian Murphy St Mary’s College opened its doors against a … Read more
The notion that a woman’s primary responsibility to society was to be a home-maker was encompassed in the founding ethos of St Mary’s College. Indeed, to underline this point, the exquisite sculpture placed at the building’s façade two years after its opening, known as The Three Graces and designed by Gabriel Hayes, depicts three women … Read more