By Joseph E.A. Connell Jr Born in Dublin and educated in Nice, Clongowes Wood and Trinity College Dublin, George Noble Plunkett was founder and editor of the magazine Hibernia. In addition, he served as director of the National Museum, vice-president of the Royal Irish Academy and president of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. … Read more
By Fiona Fitzsimons Early attempts to make medical provision for the mentally ill in Ireland were very disjointed. The earliest asylums for the insane were in the cities of Dublin and Cork, under the aegis of the House of Industry. As early as 1728 the Dublin House of Industry set aside cells for the insane … Read more
THE LITTLE-KNOWN CORFU CRISIS OF 1923 PROVIDED INEXPERIENCED IRISH DIPLOMATS WITH A BLUNT INTRODUCTION TO POWER POLITICS By Mark Phelan In August 1923, brigands murdered an Italian general and several of his assistant compatriots who were part of an international commission attempting to define the disputed frontier between Albania and Greece. Because the murders occurred … Read more
By Colum Kenny At the centre of Hans Place, London, is an oval communal garden of mature trees. Built into its railings, almost opposite the front door of No. 22, is a monument in polished pink granite, surmounted by a broken column. Such a column indicates a life cut short—but anciently, too, it was a … Read more
LABOUR, ENLISTMENT AND DEMOBILISATION IN IRELAND’S FIRST WORLD WAR RAILWAYS By Peter Rigney In the early weeks of the First World War, British railway companies were taken under government control. The companies obtained a commitment that no railwayman would be accepted into the forces without the permission of his employer. Irish companies were not thought … Read more