On 11 May 1745—275 years ago—Thomas Lally de Tollendal roused the Irish Brigade with ‘Cuimnidh ar Luimneach agus ar feall na Sasanach!’ (‘Remember Limerick and Saxon perfidy!’) prior to their epic charge at Fontenoy. By Stephen McGarry The Battle of Fontenoy was a defining battle of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought in modern-day … Read more
374 Falls Road, Belfast Irish Republican History Museum Conway Mill, Belfast By Michael Quigley One recent addition to the renovation of West Belfast is Áras Uí Chonghaile—officially opened in April 2019 by President Michael D. Higgins—an exhibition centre dedicated entirely to the life and work of James Connolly. The location is a lavishly converted former … Read more
By Joe Culley @TheRealCulls ‘The murder of Ellen O’Sullivan in 1931 was a ghastly affair.’ That is, remarkably, the opening line of Capital punishment in independent Ireland: a social, legal and political history, the unusually accessible and—dare I say it—entertaining academic study by David M. Doyle and Liam O’Callaghan, published by Liverpool University Press. These … Read more
St Odrán, Gerald of Wales and Christian martyrdom in medieval Ireland. By Jesse Harrington In 1186 tensions were high between the English and Irish clergy at the Lent synod convened at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. The English clergy of Wexford had been found to have illicitly taken wives despite stern canonical prohibition. The situation … Read more
Stop the Retention of Records Bill! By Sheila Ahern In the aftermath of the broadcast of the three-part television documentary States of fear in 1999 I naively thought that we had broken through the decades of silence and cover-up about the abuse of children in industrial schools. On the day the third programme was transmitted, … Read more