By Martin Greene In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the leader of the group of vampire-hunters, Van Helsing, is qualified to play this role because he can call on the expertise of his ‘friend Arminius of Buda-Pesth’. The real-life Arminius Vambéry was a professor of oriental languages at the University of Pest and a celebrated explorer of … Read more
By Ian Miller In 1872, an alarmed lady wrote to the Freeman’s Journal to report that: ‘Taking shelter in a cottage, near Banbridge, County Down, some time ago, during a shower of rain, and noticing the teapot on the hob, I observed that tea stewed in that way did a great deal of harm. The … Read more
By Patricia Byrne On 1 April 1851 Edward Nangle, who had founded the Achill Mission colony in the early 1830s, publicly announced that the Mission had purchased the major part of the island from the Encumbered Estates Commissioner for £17,500. This put the Mission on a new trajectory as the major Achill landlord. The University … Read more
By John Rodden A once-famous and now all-too-forgotten episode in the annals of ‘sensational spats’ was the belligerent confrontation between the 60-year-old Daniel O’Connell, then near the height of his reputation and influence, and the brash, ambitious, 31-year-old Benjamin Disraeli, future Conservative prime minister of the United Kingdom. It was a historic encounter—indeed, it resulted … Read more
By John Bergin Catholics of the early modern era in Ireland and in England have often been considered as quite distinct and unconnected. In fact there were links, not least at the level of the landed gentry, who crossed the Irish Sea in both directions, settling, intermarrying and owning property in each other’s countries. The … Read more