Composing these words brings to mind a man who, in my experience, was always kind, cautious and considerate, and one who believed that by writing, teaching and example he could make his country a more reasonable, and therefore a more tolerant, society than it had been during his boyhood and early manhood years. Continue reading
Filed under Irish Studies …
St Manchan’s Shrine
Though the shrine was built in the early twelfth century, Saint Manchan died in AD. 644. Contextual evidence allows the authors to point to possible reasons the saint’s life and work might be commemorated years later by such craftsmanship. Continue reading
MacCabe Corner
he obviously was a good bushman, and an active and effective surveyor. He was interested in the history of the land he measured, and he respected and made use of Aboriginal knowledge. Continue reading
Professor J. C. Beckett (1912-96)
Professor Beckett in the Quadrangle of Queen’s University Belfast c. 1975
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Elvis Presley’s Irish Roots
He had a granddaughter called Rosella who had several children, one of whom was a son called Jesse Presley. In 1913, Jesse Presley married a lady named Minnie Mae. They had a son in 1916 called Vernon Elvis Presley. Continue reading
A Blacksmith from Limerick in New York
Peter Clarke was indeed a blacksmith of Limerick. His father, Joseph, left Limerick and his business at Brunswick Lane and settled in New York in 1869. Continue reading
A Brief History of the Irish in Australia
With the passage of time Irish Catholics eventually did become part of the fabric of Australian society. With the coming of each generation, they moved along and some of them, up the social scale. But their ascent was neither rapid nor easy. Continue reading
British Espionage after The Rising
The Intelligence authorities found it difficult to accept that parents whose eldest adult child had been executed for his role in the Easter Rising, and who moreover had two more sons Volunteers (initially sentenced to death but commuted to 10-year sentences), were not actively involved in the Rising. Continue reading
Bilingual Haiku
Crainn Jacaranda,/buamaí gorma áille…
Jacaranda trees,lovely explosions of blue. Continue reading
An Irish Teacher in Papua New Guinea
Early one morning on my way to Rabaul with my family we did not see even one woman. However, we overtook many men on foot and on bicycles, all moving in the same direction with their bodies naked from the waist up. Each wore a bright red lap-lap or long piece of cloth knotted at the hip to form a skirt. Continue reading