The Church Among Two Nations

The conventional image of the diocesan church in late medieval Ireland is one of decay and decadence. One historian posited a degree of disorder ‘not far short of [the] total […]

Ireland & the Olympic Games

Baron de Coubertin’s idea that athletes world-wide should emulate the games of ancient Greece came to fruition over a century ago. Although the aura and ethos of the games have […]

A Lancastrian Prince in Ireland

In 1399, according to a letter sent by the Irish council to Henry IV, the new king of England, because there were no soldiers for the defence of Ireland and […]

Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape, F.H.A. Aalen, Kevin Whelan and Matthew Stout (eds). (Cork University Press, £35) ISBN 1-85918-095-7

Among the various terms applied to works of reference, ‘atlas’ has now become the most user-friendly, more companionable than ‘companion’ and certainly less repellent than ‘dictionary’, ‘directory’ or ‘encyclopaedia’. To […]

The Wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England & Ireland 1306-1328, Colm McNamee. (Tuckwell Press, £14.99) ISBN 1- 898410 -92-5

For Scots the name of Bruce conjures up the struggle against English conquest which began 700 years ago. Despite their distance in the past, the medieval king, Robert Bruce, and […]