The 1972 Northern Ireland twopence piece By Mark Stocker “The timing of the coin, closely coinciding with the onset of the Troubles, was unfortunate for its proponents …” Decimalisation of the United Kingdom coinage was so successful that it was dubbed ‘the non-event of 1971’, and the coins themselves were seamlessly circulated and accepted. Northern … Read more
By Lar Joye During the twentieth century the Irish Defence Forces have, like other armies, issued bravery medals (the Military Medal for Gallantry and the Distinguished Service Medal), service medals, UN medals and, more recently, EU operation medals. In addition, four service medals were issued for the revolutionary period, covering the period from April 1916 … Read more
Gene Autry’s 1939 tour By Ronan Doheny “The films were vehicles for his songs and immensely popular escapism for children, who adored the handsome, well-dressed Autry and his prized horse, ‘Champion’.” In August 1939, amidst fear of war and calls for air warden volunteers, the ‘Singing Cowboy’, Gene Autry, visited Europe for the first time … Read more
By Fiona Fitzsimons Directories were first widely published in the 1730s, as new print formats were developed for a popular audience. They were urban handbooks ‘bundled up’ with other reference works—almanacks, gazetteers and companions—that published basic but essential information: calendars for planting crops; dates of fairs and markets; schedules of assize courts; distances by road; … Read more
The case of Night Watch Constable John O’Brien By Tadhg Moloney “… the ‘small man’ was out of his depth when dealing with the political nuances in local authority structures.” The clash between different political loyalties and class interests at local level comes across in a controversy involving the Limerick City Night Watch between 1915 … Read more