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 […]
FAMILY RESEARCH – READER REQUEST
Jackie Colson from Somerset in the UK wrote to us recently on foot of reading our posts on the Irish Civil War and War of Independence. She’s trying to find out more about her Great Grandfather Thomas Brennan, probably born around 1880. Jackie has spent the last 15 years trying to find Thomas Brennan but has […]
DUTIFUL SON
Back in September 2007, we posted a scan of an old letter found by our friend John Monaghan while renovating the cottage he was moving into in Headford. The letter had been taped to the back of a kitchen cabinet and upon reading it Johnny was shocked and moved by his discovery. Johnny has a huge […]
My Summer Holidays by Billy Quinn aged 41 and a half.
Following a recent excursion to Belgium to investigate German trench positions in the vicinity of the the village of Messines, Declan asked if I would post an entry describing my experiences …here it is. The excavations were directed by Martin Brown and Richard Osgood, two archaeologists working with the Defence estates in England. Both are […]
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 […]
Assemblage
The second ‘On the Line’ or as we’ll call it until someone suggests better – Assemblage (it’s got archaeological meaning but no environmental meaning – so it’s not right yet – please help) is below. We’d also like to draw people’s attention to a request from a reader with regards to the Irish Civil War […]
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 […]
Civil War in Connaught
Now with added theme song (27th November 2011) – For more about this song see this post. Every so often, a friend, friend of a friend, client, passer-by or, in one case, our regular courier, will drop in and present us with a remarkable find and ask us what they should do with it. It […]
