The creation of the Ulster Special Constabulary, 1920 By Seán Bernard Newman “As an official and authorised force, the USC gave Craig the means to defend the border, consolidate Ulster unionist power and guarantee Northern Ireland’s long-term future.” The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) is a fundamental institution in Northern Ireland’s history. Historians cannot overstate its … Read more
Athy Road, Carlow, Co. Carlow By Simonas Vilcauskis The history of Presbyterianism in Carlow can be traced back to 1655, when Roger Muckle was recorded as an ‘Independent minister under the Commonwealth’. A congregation established under the Synod of Munster flourished for a time but was extinct by 1750. A revival was brought about by … Read more
By Brian MacMahon “All available evidence suggests that he was a conscientious doctor and humanitarian who maintained high standards of care and hygiene.” Serbin, a hamlet in Lee County, Texas, is the spiritual home of an ethnic minority known as the Wends. Sometimes known as Sorbs, the Wends have been described as one of the … Read more
Epidemic disease and social reaction By Laurence Geary “Fear, mass panic and hysteria were features of all serious outbreaks of fever, cholera and other communicable diseases in early modern and modern Ireland.” In the past, disease epidemics in Ireland provoked a very powerful social reaction, particularly outbreaks of the country’s deadliest infections: bacillary dysentery, cholera, … Read more
The Irish connection By Stephen McGarry “Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of the deposed King James II, believed that his time had come to restore the deposed Catholic dynasty to the throne that they had lost in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688.” On 16 April 1746, a cold, tired and hungry Scottish Jacobite army stood on … Read more