The first Viking raid on Ireland is recorded in the Annals of Ulster for the year AD 795. The 1200th anniversary of this event in 1995 was marked by an international conference in Dublin attended by over 300 delegates. The proceedings have now been published—Ireland and Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age (Four Courts Press, … Read more
Limerick was treated to a rare sight when Vikings from their settlement on the banks of the Shannon at the University of Limerick campus raided Cruises Street and sacked Bewley’s Oriental Cafe on Saturday, 10 April 1999. An Irish contingent approached the Viking trading settlement but were defeated by a larger and well-equipped Viking force. … Read more
An Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland ruling of last October has provoked a company which offers Irish titles for sale to threaten legal action against both the Authority and two complainants. The dispute has arisen following the ASAI’s upholding of a complaint made against an advertisement by Bailey, O’Rourke & Co. in Cara, the Aer … Read more
Over several nights during late March 1933 crowds attacked buildings in Dublin associated with the far left. Connolly House on Great Strand Street, headquarters of the Communist Party, or Revolutionary Workers Groups as they were called at the time, was eventually stormed and set on fire on the night of Wednesday 29 March. Gardaí estimated … Read more
PF: In the preface to The Land and the People of Nineteenth-Century Cork (1975), you refer to your father’s historical career. To what extent was he an influence? JSD: My father was a medievalist specialising in monastic history, with a particular interest in the Cistercian order, which was of great importance in the renewal of … Read more