Almost 200 years ago my great-great-great-grandfather spent two months travelling round Ireland. His description of the journey was published in 1818 under the title Observations on the State of Ireland principally directed to its Agriculture and Rural Population; in a series of letters written on a tour through that country. I have just spent a … Read more
The restless energies of Daniel Corkery (1878-1964), author of TheHidden Ireland, friend of Terence MacSwiney, scourge of Sean Ó Faoláinand Frank O’Connor, and champion of the Gael, the Church, the language,and the land, seem a little unfashionable in the Ireland of today. So,too, do the charms of the village of Inchigeelagh, County Cork. ButCorkery loved … Read more
It has been noted as a case of historical negligence that no photographs were taken of the Great Irish Famine even though early photographers had the means. Those given to conspiracy theories suggest that photographs of the starving and the dead were taken but were such an affront to Victorian sensibilities and Britain’s standing in … Read more
In 14 St Stephen’s Green is an unusual historical document. On one pane of a sash window in the rear hall-floor parlour are scratched the names of five soldiers: A.O. Pollock 21st Regiment, W. Rowland McKay 3rd Dragoon Guards, W.C. Forbes 92nd Highlanders, Mr M. McKay 3rd Dragoons, and Lenox MacFarlane 3rd Dragoons. Who were … Read more
When Peadar O’Donnell was asked on one occasion why he did not bequeath his papers to posterity for historical research, he replied, half in jest, that he had no desire to start the Civil War all over again. If the intensity of the debates provoked by Neil Jordan’s film Michael Collins is anything to go … Read more