The Dennis mausoleum, Co. Galway

One of the more remarkable structures in the country is the Dennis mausoleum, located in the old Clonbern graveyard, 21km north-east of Tuam, Co. Galway. It was erected in about […]

‘The unfortunate Costigan’, first surveyor of the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea, whose surface is today about 417m below sea level, is not only the lowest place on the surface of the planet but also one of the most […]

Ireland’s first 24/7 emergency fire service

‘There were two engines, the first drawn by four horses, on the top of which sat twelve firemen and their foreman dressed in pea-green, plush breeches and vests with gilt […]

The most controversial documents in Irish history?

There have been attempts to publish the 1641 Depositions before, in the 1930s and 1960s, but these plans were abandoned thanks to the outbreaks of, respectively, World War II and […]

‘Hags of hell’:late medieval Irish kern

There is a moment in the second part of Shakespeare’s Henry VI when Cardinal Beaufort warns that: ‘The uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms And temper clay with blood […]