In 1821, the ‘Earl of Moira’, bound from Liverpool to Dublin, sank near the Cheshire coast with great loss of life. Many of the passengers ‘were of most respectable families’ and on their way to accompany King George on an Irish visit. The people of Wallasey fell on their possessions with great glee.
In November 1938, on the pretext of revenge for the assassination in Paris of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, the Nazis launched the attack on Jewish life and property known as Kristallnacht. Some subsequent exiles ended up in Ireland.
Blazes Boylan’s secretary, Miss Dunne, didn’t like too much ould nonsense in her love stories. Did Walter Hartright love Marian Halcombe or didn’t he? Probably not, but did Blazes Boylan love Marian Tweedy (Molly Bloom)?
When told that the Guinnesses had been good for Dubliners Brendan Behan responded that Dubliners had been good for the Guinnesses.. A good quip, but not entirely fair, as the historical record indicates.
One of Dublin’s main North-South thoroughfares once boasted a fine dining venue which attracted poets and writers, when they had a few bob.
Thomas Moore has fallen out of favour. Even his statue seems to have disappeared. His flame still burned brightly however on the occasion of his centenary in 1879, when a concert in his honour almost led to a riot.
A number of pavement lights on the streets of south central Dublin bear the name Hayward Brothers. They were produced by the same family which also gave us a noted Irish actor, singer and travel writer.
Is Thomas Davis on the way to becoming a forgotten hero, yet another of those monumental figures from the past which say to us ‘who is it now, who exactly was he?’
When an empire ends and a country becomes independent the imperial soldiers leave – but the visible heritage they have left behind is sometimes found to be disturbing or unacceptable.
The British knew quite a bit in advance about the intentions of the IRB before 1916. One of their most valuable informants was a man called ‘Redmond’.