Latest Blogs
Homes for the Blind and Deaf
There was perfect cleanliness and order in all parts of the establishment, and a large allowance of fresh air. We took leave of the kind and courteous Brother and left the Home for Deaf-mutes, heartily wishing that the blind boys could enjoy the privilege of being under the care of the excellent and intelligent Christian Brothers.
The City in Song and Verse
The new One City One Book choice, in succession to 2013’s Strumpet City, is to be launched early next month.
The Trouble With Concessions
When nineteenth century Ireland received the benefits of British political reform the effect was the opposite of what it had been in England. Far from it being a case of being bought off, bringing the Catholic middle classes into the tent in Ireland actually resulted in greater pressure.
A Sabbath Stroll
A stroll down Thomas Street on a Sunday morning after divine service afforded the pious the pleasure of seeing the Dublin poor in thrall to ardent spirits and women, in their hoarse, degraded voices, singing to the praise of whiskey.
Parnell, Redmond, Joyce and Griffith
James Joyce, an admirer of Arthur Griffith, thought the Irish Parliamentary Party was bankrupt. The Irish had destroyed Parnell, and now their main political party were mere tools of John Bull.
Standing Up for the City
In 1843 an elderly member of Dublin Corporation reminded his colleagues of the mercantile wealth that the city enjoyed in the decades before the Act of Union.
Industry out, tenements in
Tom Kelly, a Dublin alderman, in 1909 lamented the huge change that had come over Dublin’s Liberties since the passing of the Act of Union.
German tourist saves boy from certain death
Gallant visitor also commends ‘serenely beautiful’ scenery and grace and generosity of natives
Where did the Protestants go?
There are many theories about the gradual decline of the Protestant community in Ireland. Some of them draw on clear evidence.
The Workmans Friend
When money’s tight and hard to get and your horse has also ran, when all you have is a heap of debt …
Knocking Dublin
A period of panic in the 1960s following the collapse of some tenement buildings led to a process that saw the destruction of much of Dublin’s architectural heritage.
What had Gretta on?
The Conroys and the Blooms had something in common: a stranger, in one case a dead one, had wandered into their marriage. They also tended to wander into each other’s books.