By Joseph E.A. Connell Jr In 1895 the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company ordered four steamers for Royal Mail service, named for the four provinces of Ireland: RMS Leinster, Munster, Connaught and Ulster. These four were commonly referred to as ‘the provinces’. The Leinster was a 2,640-ton packet steamship with a service speed of … Read more
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