History & Folklore - West Cork People

The wisdom of Irish proverbs

Eugene Daly August, 2022

The diminution of the Gaelic language and consequent sense of a broken tradition is one of the utmost importance in arriving at any adequate assessment of life in Ireland today. Here I attempt to show how proverbs reflect the old Gaelic tradition, now very weakened, mindful of what Thomas Davis […]

History & Folklore

Slavery in Zanzibar

Kieran Doyle August, 2022

This summer of 2022, saw a return to international holidays. Dublin airport hit the headlines with its four-hour check-in queues, but it wasn’t just an Irish problem. The airport authorities in Heathrow, as I write, have forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights to cut back on the throngs of […]

History & Folklore

Tools that tease (Part 1)

WCP Staff August, 2022

For those who have already DNA tested for genealogy or may be interested in doing so (for example with companies such as Ancestry, MyHeritage and 23andMe), this month is the first of a two-parter looking at some of the tools and outputs that could provide some insights that may interest […]

Irish plant lore

Eugene Daly July, 2022

We have all heard that a four-leaved clover is lucky but the ‘hungry-grass’ was quite the opposite and very unlucky indeed for anyone who stood on it. ‘Hungry grass’ cannot be distinguished from other kinds of grass. It is said to grow on the spot where some poor person died […]

The Irish Civil War National Conference UCC

Kieran Doyle July, 2022

When the decade of centenary celebrations began in 2012 (covering events such as World War One, the Easter Rising, emancipation for women, the War of Independence, and so on) the Irish Civil War years were always going to be seen as the most contentious to commemorate. While there are many […]

History & Folklore

Taoiseach acknowledges that the killing of Dick Barrett was “manifestly illegal”

WCP Staff July, 2022

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin delivered a keynote and wide-ranging address at the National Civil War Conference at UCC on June 15. He dealt with several of the atrocities committed during the period including Ballyseedy and the ‘execution’ of prisoners, Dick Barrett, Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellow and Joe McKelvey, who were […]

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