William Smith O’Brien in Van Dieman’s Land

Not many leaders of armed rebellions in Ireland during the centuries of English rule had the opportunity to mull over their actions in later days. One who did was William […]

The Rising of 1848

The Paris revolution of February 1848 raised unrealistic expectations in famine-ravaged Ireland. The sudden collapse of established regimes across Europe gave new hope to a divided and dispirited Repeal movement. […]

The Irish Medieval Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

In October 1996 the foundations of what is thought to have been the thirteenth-century Augustinian priory of St Mary were located during building work for a new shopping-centre at Mullingar, […]

The Curragh Army Camp

With the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 a requirement for additional training areas for the British Army was recognised as an urgent necessity by the government in London. […]

The Blind Bard of Belfast: Carl Gilbert Hardebeck (1869-1945)

In some humble céili house in the west of Ireland long ago the musician put his fiddle down to give the dancers a rest. It was time for the ‘singer […]