Churching

By Fiona Fitzsimons The medieval church practised ‘churching’ as a rite of purification and thanksgiving for the safe delivery of a woman after the birth of her child. It marked the […]

The Irish Revolution and the Basque nationalist movement, 1916–23

The 1916 Easter Rising proved to be the spark that ignited the tensions within Basque nationalism. By Kyle McCreanor Historians have recently taken a greater interest in the global context […]

British political theatre in Ireland: Winston Churchill and Belfast, 1912

A microcosm of the third Home Rule crisis. By M.C. Rast In several important ways, the third Home Rule crisis had little to do with Ireland; it was as much […]

Bastardy—the stain of illegitimacy in medieval Ireland

Four different legal systems operated, with profound consequences for the concept of legitimacy. By Cormac T. Hickey In force until the Flight of the Earls and the collapse of the […]

Richard Kyle Fox and his National Police Gazette

The Irishman who sold sex, sport and sensationalism in late nineteenth-century America. By Liam Barry-Hayes Richard Kyle Fox was born on the Albertbridge Road, Belfast, on 12 August 1846. His […]