The 1916 Easter Rising proved to be the spark that ignited the tensions within Basque nationalism. By Kyle McCreanor Historians have recently taken a greater interest in the global context of the Irish revolutionary period (1913–23) and in its international reverberations, which were felt even in the Basque Country, a region straddling the Western Pyrenees … Read more
A microcosm of the third Home Rule crisis. By M.C. Rast In several important ways, the third Home Rule crisis had little to do with Ireland; it was as much a British political dilemma as an Irish one, and played out throughout the United Kingdom. To many British politicians, Home Rule was a continuation of … Read more
Down County Museum The Mall, Downpatrick, Co. Down mail@downcountymuseum.com downcountymuseum.com By Tony Canavan Down County Museum occupies a building of historical significance. It was originally the county gaol, which opened in 1796. Hundreds of United Irishmen were imprisoned here after the 1798 Rebellion and many were hanged from gallows at its entrance. In 1803 Thomas … Read more
Rathvilly, Co. Carlow By Turtle Bunbury Located just south of Rathvilly, Co. Carlow, Lisnavagh House was one of the largest houses in Ireland before a major reduction in the 1950s. The first stone of the rambling Gothic Revival mansion had been laid just over a century earlier, after Captain William McClintock Bunbury (1800–66), a 46-year-old … Read more
Four different legal systems operated, with profound consequences for the concept of legitimacy. By Cormac T. Hickey In force until the Flight of the Earls and the collapse of the Gaelic order in the early seventeenth century, brehon law did not distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate children in terms of either rights or responsibilities, but … Read more