Chandra Miller Emigration from Ireland is as ancient a fixture as the human urge to roam and explore. In post-Famine Ireland, however, the emigration of single young women became a documentable historical phenomenon. Before the Great Famine of 1845-1849, emigration had already established itself as a feature of Irish society. In the five years preceding … Read more
John White ‘Well, I never knew how good I was ’till now’, Dominick Beirne was quoted as saying on the evening of 21 August 1879. Beirne and at least fourteen of his friends and relations had just witnessed what they … Read more
John Tyrrell No one in 1796 would have believed that it could happen. For a French fleet to sail from Brittany into Bantry Bay through the massed blockading fleet of the British navy and back … Read more
Alan Blackstock In September 1796, Ireland was pregnant with expectation. The United Irishmen and Defenders planned insurrection and a French invasion was imminent. On 19 September Dublin Castle announced plans to follow Britain’s lead and enlist civilian volunteers as a yeomanry force. In October … Read more
Philip McGuinness John Toland (1670-1722) was probably born near Clonmany in Inishowen, County Donegal, into a Catholic Irish-speaking environment. As a child he courted infamy by arguing about theology with the local priest. At fifteen he converted to Anglicanism and a few years later became a Dissenter while studying in Glasgow. A restless maverick, Toland … Read more