Dermot Bolger’s novel deals with the decline of the landed Anglo-Irish class, the rise and fall of Soviet-style Socialism in Ireland after the establishment of the Free State Continue reading
Tagged with Easter rising …
At Swim-Two-Birds: mad Sweeny and the artist
I cannot remember exactly how I discovered the book in my teens. What I can remember is the experience of reading it for the first time, of getting lost in its marvellous, frenzied chaos and laughing aloud. It holds a unique appeal for me as an artist because, like a spiral staircase, it tricks you into thinking that you are simultaneously working towards a destination and moving away from it. Continue reading
Grace Gifford: Just Ephemera? A new discovery in Sydney
A rare example of the ways Grace Gifford Plunkett sought to avoid poverty in the Civil way and the early years of the Free State. 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
Less and More than a Star Called Henry
A graphic life of Ernie O’Malley and a an account of the divided loyalties after the signing of the Treaty… Continue reading
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Balm for the Homesick
Pathways/Cosán This virtual exhibition by visual artist Bernie Joyce explores how the Connemara people and landscape inspired Patrick Pearse as a teacher, writer and leader. Pathways sends the viewer on a journey back in time to when the Celtic Revival was in full swing. This was a period when artists, poets and writers turned their … Continue reading
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Constance Markiewicz
She was the first woman elected to the House of Commons. Her funeral was one of the biggest Dublin has seen. Continue reading
British Espionage in Dublin after the Easter Rising: a case study
Josephine Plunkett, a ‘dangerous’ rebel? How did the Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police get it so wrong? What else did he miss? Continue reading
Mystic and Revolutionary
The strange phenomenon that was Joseph Mary Plunkett – invalid, bohemian, fey man of letters, theatrical spy, bookish military strategist, unrequited lover, very public lover, and ultimately executed revolutionary. Continue reading
A Forgotten Hero
After all the excitement of the Rising, he worked doggedly to help people who had been part of it. Continue reading