By Simon Topping The sign in Bessbrook, Co. Armagh, was clear—‘Dance for the Blackmen’—yet when some African-American troops arrived they were refused entry, to their dismay. This seeming importation of American ‘Jim Crow’ racial segregation was, in fact, an encounter with Northern Ireland’s particular idiosyncrasies, as, unknown to the soldiers, the Blackmen were a Protestant … Read more
By Fiona Fitzsimons After 1695, the Penal Laws barred Catholics from bearing arms and from enlisting in the armed services, including the militia. In 1715 the militia was placed on a statutory basis, formalising arrangements set in place during the Williamite Wars. It was a part-time voluntary force, organised by county and paid for by … Read more
By Conor Heffernan In 1928 strongwoman Katie Brumbach or ‘Katie Sandwina’ (born in Austria in 1884) spent roughly a month touring Ireland with Carmo’s Circus. Billed in some quarters as ‘Catherine the Great’, Sandwina entered theatres on a Roman chariot and spent the next 20–30 minutes flexing her muscles, lifting heavy weights and responding to … Read more
By Derville Murphy Margaret Allen, the first female honorary member of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA), was an artist whose paintings were concerned with the social conditions of the time. What is less well known about her is that she was one of Dublin’s earliest female commercial photographers, whose work as an artist was enabled … Read more
By Lar Joye On 23 August, after the 1798 Rebellion was essentially over, about 1,000 French troops under the command of General Humbert landed in Killala, Co. Mayo. Over the following two weeks these veterans defeated the British at Castlebar and Colooney before being overwhelmed by greater numbers at Ballinamuck, Co. Longford, on 8 September. … Read more