Sir,—Seán Beattie (‘The lasting legacy of the last viceroy’, HI 29.5, Sept./Oct. 2021) is not quite correct in saying that Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent was ‘the leading Catholic aristocrat in England’. He was the younger brother of the 15th Duke of Norfolk (who died in 1917), and by 1921 he was the uncle of the … Read more
Sir,—I would like to take issue with Declan Keenan’s article, ‘An inauguration of a MacWilliam Íochtair at Rausakeera, Co. Mayo, during the Nine Years War’ (HI 29.6, Nov./Dec. 2021), in regard to the supposed use of Rausakeera for the initiation rite of Bourke chieftains. I suggest that Red Hugh O’Donnell was a master of the … Read more
BY TONY CANAVAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND WAKES UP Representatives from the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) appeared before TDs and Senators at the Oireachtas Tourism and Culture Committee last year and admitted that they were influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement in their desire to be a ‘more inclusive museum’. Now the NMI … Read more
BY AODHÁN CREALEY JANUARY 20/1894 Robert Halpin (57), master mariner, died. Going to sea at the age of ten, Halpin served his apprenticeship on a coal boat, and afterwards joined a barque sailing in the North Atlantic, reaching the rank of third mate by the age of seventeen. After nine years under sail, he transferred … Read more
By Marie Bourke ‘A maestra of genres and renowned woman artist of the Renaissance’ is how the curator, Dr Aoife Brady, describes Lavinia Fontana. ‘The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon offers a rare glimpse of what this pioneering figure in the history of art could do.’ The origins of the painting … Read more