William Smith O’Brien’s Tasmanian Journal covers the period from his arrival in Van Diemen’s Land/Tasmania in October 1849 to March 1853, a little under a year before he was granted his first conditional pardon. The journal was written by O’Brien for his wife Lucy but it is evident from both its style and content that … Read more
Mrs. Margaret Leeson 1727-1797 was Georgian Dublin’s version of Christine Keeler or Heidi Fleiss. Her long career contained elements of both Keeler and Fleiss but, judging by her memoirs, she was more colourful and interesting than either of them. Mrs. Leeson was born into a reasonably comfortable family in County Westmeath but, following her mother’s … Read more
In view of the centrality of parliament to the history and historiography of the Ireland of the ‘Protestant ascendancy’, it is surprising that there is no modern study to compare with P.D.G. Thomas’s forensically detailed reconstruction of the operation of the British House of Commons in the eighteenth century for either house of the Irish … Read more
To be asked to review three new publications on Irish women’s history is in itself a heart-warming and encouraging experience, and a clear indication of the progress currently being made by researchers and writers in this field. At a time when we are particularly concerned to recognise and celebrate the multi-faceted nature of female experience—to … Read more
This collection of essays in honour of Professor J.F. Lydon, recently retired Lecky Professor of Modern History at Trinity College, is a worthy tribute to a scholar who has contributed so much to our present understanding of the history of the Anglo-Norman colony, and who has inspired a new generation of historians, many of them … Read more