Bride Road, Dublin 8 By Damian Murphy In 1890 Edward Cecil Guinness (1847–1927), first Earl of Iveagh, established the Guinness Trust simultaneously in Dublin and London ‘for the amelioration of the condition of the poorer of the working classes’. Iveagh’s vision for Dublin was to provide new housing and associated educational and health-giving facilities to … Read more
By Dermot McGuinne When Queen Elizabeth II used five simple words in Irish, ‘A Uachtaráin agus a chairde’, in beginning her address at the banquet held in her honour at Dublin Castle on the occasion of her state visit to Ireland in 2011, the reaction was immediate and profound. Even President McAleese seemed surprised, although … Read more
By Mary Kenny Robert Ballagh’s vivid portrait of John Charles McQuaid, archbishop of Dublin from 1940 to 1972, contains both irony and allusive narrative. The subject appears in the full regalia of a cardinal, but the great disappointment of Dr McQuaid’s life was that he never got the red hat, probably stymied by negative lobbying … Read more
Sir,—I refer to the seminar review, ‘Machnamh: Memory, History and Imagination’, by Colum Kenny (HI 31.1, Jan./Feb. 2023). Dr Kenny makes the following assertion in the second-last paragraph of his review: ‘The realities of the period a century ago need to be faced. The rejection of the opinion of a majority of citizens, expressed democratically … Read more
Sir,—Fiona Brennan’s very interesting article on Sigerson Clifford’s play about Daniel O’Connell, The Great Pacificator (HI 31.1, Jan./Feb. 20023, What’s On Stage), notes that in the first Dublin production (1947) the character of O’Connell’s maidservant, caught between loyalty to her employer and to her Young Ireland lover, was played by the distinguished actress and Cahirciveen … Read more