Sir,—Catriona Crowe (HI 26.2, March/April 2018, Platform) says that in the light of the Ryan and McAleese Reports, and the Mother and Baby Homes Commission, Irish Catholic institutions have in general not been forthcoming enough regarding their records, which she considers should all be accessible to those who wish to see them. She refers to … Read more
William Wallace Papers, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland By Fiona Fitzsimons Before photographs, hospital doctors occasionally commissioned artists to illustrate some patients’ symptoms and the progress of their disease. In Ireland drawings for Dublin hospitals are scattered between archival collections in the universities. One of the most accessible collections, the William Wallace Papers, … Read more
How women’s magazines handled sex and the Irish ‘guilt complex’ in the 1960s. By Ciara Meehan Dr Martin Kennedy posed this question in his column for Woman’s Choice magazine in 1968. It was followed by another question, relating to intimacy during pregnancy: ‘How are you to keep him happy during these difficult months?’ The … Read more
Why did two branches of north Kerry’s McEllistrim family take opposite sides in a bitter dispute between private creameries and the co-operative movement? By Eoin McLaughlin and Paul Sharp One of the perennial questions in Ireland’s economic history is why, despite her proximity to the dominant British market and her historical advantages, she lost … Read more
Mullafarry, Co. Mayo By David Hicks Ballysakeery glebe house, hidden on a tree-lined road off the R314 from Ballina to Killala, was the birthplace and childhood home of Dr Kathleen Lynn (1874–1955), chief medical officer at the City Hall garrison during the 1916 Rising and co-founder in 1919 of St Ultan’s Children’s Hospital. Owing to … Read more