But as books must and will be produced to meet the demand, it is now both timely and fair to ask what kind of ‘Irish history’ are we going to have? As a race, we have an extraordinary habit of make-believe. Continue reading
Filed under History …
The Dictionary and Lost Irish Words
Is there bias in dictionary compiling? Ultimately, yes. Continue reading
Anne Casey Sydney Irish Poet
The bilingual poem below was commissioned as part of the Red Room Poetry Fellowship 2022 Continue reading
Should We Forget and Vote for Them?
Two new books about the IRA bombing campaigns of the 70s and 80s. Continue reading
What’s On – August to September, 2023
Lughnasa Bacon and Cabbage Night, Films to watch, Courses, conferences and seminars to attend, and a Battle of the Bands. Continue reading
Fintan O’Toole’s Latest – an antipodean perspective
For the marginal outsider like myself, this book explained the geopolitical realignments that occurred so quickly and unexpectedly in Ireland between 1958 and 2018. Continue reading
Community Gatherings in Ireland: part two
The very earliest communal gathering and feasting for which we have solid evidence are known as fulachta fia. These were the locations where an animal, probably a deer or boar, was cooked following a hunt. The sharing of food is a social act that creates and maintains bonds and obligations within a group or community, which seems to have been the entire function of these feasts. Continue reading
What’s On – July – August, 2023
National Famine Commemoration, Lughnasa Bacon and Cabbage Night, Films to watch, FIFA Women’s World Cup Continue reading
Irish History Professors in Irish Universities: Brief Lives Series. No. 6. Professor J.A. Murphy
…his greatest contribution as an historian was as a communicator of modern historical research to the wider public…He was much loved across the UCC community for his wit, his outspokeness …and as the great proponent of the historic mission and proper modus operandi of the University as a community of scholars Continue reading
You’ll take a cup of tea? Archaeological evidence for tea drinking at Baker’s Flat, South Australia
The fineness of the design and the stippling indicate a manufacture date in the early nineteenth century, suggesting that the teacup may have been brought to South Australia in an emigrant’s baggage rather than purchased locally in the years after arrival. Continue reading
Tinteán 