By Andreas Boldt Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), the German composer and pianist, is one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music. In his 30s Beethoven started to suffer hearing problems and by 1814 he had gone completely deaf. He gave up performing in public but continued to compose until his death … Read more
By Teddy Fennelly The story of Col. Ned Despard, the Irishman who was hanged for treason in London in 1803, has been well documented but largely forgotten until it was brought before a new, and huge, audience when he was featured in a highly dramatic episode in the fifth series of the BBC romantic historical … Read more
By Melissa Sheils ‘Although he is savage in his hair, … [Shane] does not seem to me that he is savage in his brain.’ These words, written by Álvaro de Quadra, the Spanish ambassador at the English court, provide a contemporary account of Shane O’Neill as a political actor who was less barbaric and more … Read more
By Terence Dooley First established under the 1881 Land Act, the Irish Land Commission began as a regulator of fair rents but soon evolved into the great facilitator of land transfer. However, over-emphasis on these aspects of its work can sometimes camouflage its equal significance as the main instigator and architect of rural reform. There … Read more
A chara,—Upon reading Shaun McCann’s article, ‘A precious bodily fluid—blood, the Irish connection’ (HI 30.5, Sept./Oct. 2022), I was astonished that there was not one single mention of menstrual blood. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised, as the first sentence of the article reads, ‘Blood is indeed a precious fluid that has intrigued man for … Read more