Henry III type II penny at Clarin College, Athenry
This coin was discovered by Moore Group archaeologists excavating the site of the new Clarin College at Newford in Athenry a few years ago. During the course of archaeological monitoring of topsoil stripping for the new school we identified a site which comprised a series of pits and postholes of unknown purpose. The investigation of the […]
Seeking Information on 1922-1923 Civil War Executions
It’s been a while since we’ve posted here. But we’ve received a request from a researcher in the hope that our readers, particularly those with an interest in the Civil War letters, may be able to assist. John Morris in Sligo would appreciate any assistance. Here’s John’s guest post and request, please feel free to […]
Paddy Maher, 2nd South Wales Borderers, KIA 4th April 1916
On April 6th 1916, barely three weeks before the Easter Rising, Paddy Maher (a 35 year old British Army veteran who had seen service in China and Gallipoli) from Lower Conaghy, County Kilkenny, had just arrived at the Front. The Battalion had shipped into France from Egypt in March as part of the latest push […]
Michael (M.J.) Burke letter on eve of execution, January 1923
Regular readers will remember the chance discovery of Frank Cunnane’s letter on the eve of his execution in 1923 behind a dresser in a cottage in Headford. The posting of that letter has instigated a very rewarding section of this blog. We’ve received photos, mass cards and letters from the period and have been very happy to facilitate the conversation which […]
EARLY IRISH ALE 2
Continuing our series of old posts (to mark our 10th year in business), ones we feel were good, prescient or elicited some good conversation or debate, this post was first published in February 2008. Continuing our research on ancient beer, Declan spent a long evening reading and searching the Annals of the Four Masters for […]
IRELAND’S GREAT DRUG EPIDEMIC
‘Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart’ Proverbs (27:9) This post was first published in December 2007. we were getting into our stride with the blog and were regularly and busily posting. Of course, that was before twitter and we weren’t as distracted. I’ve edited out a little bit of the snark. There are still ether users […]
IRISH HOSPITALITY
For those of you who have always wondered what Ireland was like for the early Christian inhabitants of the place, and let’s face it, we all have at some stage, here’s a slightly distilled version of P.W. Joyce’s excellent introduction to his (1905) “A Smaller Social History of Ireland” available in full on the interweb here. […]
Chevy Chase, Ireland
We’ve been tweeting unusual townland names as we encounter them around Ireland in the course of assessing projects, and for today we present the unusually named Chevy Chase, Co. Offaly, located to the northeast of Portalington. Here’s the historic map with Chevy Chase House depicted in the top left…
Galway.. Then
Fishmarket & Claddagh Village, Galway 1913. While doing some research on the Spanish Arch area I came across these remarkable colour images from 1913, part of the Alfred Kahn collection. Kahn, a French Banker commissioned a project in the early part of the last century to collect a photographic record of the entire Earth. He appointed […]
Irish Civil War: Letters on the Eve of Execution
The Irish Civil War began on April 14th 1922 with the occupation of the Four Courts and several other buildings. The final phase of the War descended into a series of atrocities which left Irish society deeply divided and embittered for decades afterwards. In January 1923 11 Anti-Treaty prisoners including some Galwaymen were executed (two […]
The Tuam Martyrs, April 11, 1923
“No matter what the future may hold for the Irish nation, the seven years — 1916 to 1923 — must ever remain a period of absorbing interest. Not for over two hundred years has there been such a period of intense and sustained effort to regain the national sovereignty and independence.” DeValera This weekend is […]
1911 Census, Antrim, Down & Kerry
Via the Irish Family History blog we see that the second tranche of the 1911 census has gone live on the National Archives website. The website now covers Antrim, Down and Kerry as well as Dublin (which was put up early last year). It’s been a while coming but, that criticism aside, is a great […]
How the Irish Became White
I am haunted by the human chimpanzees I saw along that hundred miles of horrible country…to see white chimpanzees is dreadful; if they were black one would not see it so much, but their skins, except where tanned by exposure, are as white as ours. – Cambridge historian Charles Kingsley, letter to his wife from […]
An Poll Mór, Bearna
Sean Beatty very kindly allowed us to present the following piece about Bearna, Co. Galway and the ‘Poll Mór’ (big hole), on the Pier Road. Much of the information was provided by Sean. Located on the Galway to Spiddal road, the original settlement at Bearna was concentrated in the townland of Freeport, in a predominantly […]
Oh Dear..
Why it’s important to listen in History class.. (via Greg Laden). To quote Santayana – ‘Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it’…. or as a commenter on another great blog says – are condemned to make fools of themselves on television… And while we’re at it here’s more from the […]
Civil War Photo
An earlier post on the Civil War in Connaught has proven to be the most read post on this blog, and even elicited a response from a relative of Francis (Frank) Cunnane – obviously there’s a huge appetite out there to learn more about this period of our history. One reader, Brian McHugh, sent us […]
Dublin 1911
The 1911 census for Dublin is now available online free and provides a great resource for family historians and genealogists throughout Ireland and the globe. The census is a huge document and the site has a searchable database of the census returns and enumerators´ summary books, all scanned and viewable. The rest of the Country […]
2008 – International year of the Spud
Photo: IPC Welcome to 2008, Chinese Year of the Rat, Australian Year of the Scout, European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, International Year of the Planet, International Year of Sanitation, and, most significantly, International Year of the Potato (IYP). Suggested by Peru, where pre-Columbian farmers in the Andes first began to cultivate the crop, the International […]
Irelands Great Drug Epidemic
‘Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart’ Proverbs (27:9) The past week was a big week in global politics, a week of negotiations in Bali, and a week where South Africa’s ANC decides on a new leader, but in Ireland it was a week where – due to the death at the age of 24 of […]
Death by spearing
From the Australian Archaeological Association – A report of an early death by spearing in Australia. This caught our eye as we’re currently waiting for dates for a couple of skeletons we recovered during the Eyre Square excavations in Galway which had some severe fatal wounds. We’ll be posting more info on them here shortly. […]
Beyond kinship – Irish Caribbean studies
This is an excerpt from Orla Powers abstract of her recently published ‘Beyond Kinship -A Study of the Eighteenth-century Irish Community at Saint Croix, Danish West Indies’ in Irish Migration Studies in Latin America. The full article is available online here and makes for a fascinating read. Abstract The Irish trading post, and its associated […]
Being Pedantic
The December 8th issue of The Economist has an advert on pages 16 & 17 for UK Trade & Investment, which is the UK Government organisation that helps UK-based companies ‘succeed in an increasingly global economy. Its range of expert services are tailored to the needs of individual businesses to maximise their international success. They […]
Bee Laws
Joyce reports on a somewhat curious legal custom (which has parallels in India) in Early Ireland – the procedure by fasting. The plaintiff in a case (having served notice) simply went to the defendants house and went on hunger strike. As long as he remained there, the defendant was also obliged to starve himself/herself. In […]
Irish Hospitality
For those of you who have always wondered what Ireland was like for the early Christian inhabitants of the place, and let’s face it, we all have at some stage, here’s a slightly distilled version of P.W. Joyce’s excellent introduction to his (1905) “A Smaller Social History of Ireland” available in full on the interweb […]
