History & Folklore - West Cork People

History & Folklore

The ‘E Word’: What is ethnicity?

WCP Staff October, 2021

Many of us have given or received a DNA testing kit for a birthday or as a Christmas present, but what are they all about? In this column, I continue to provide a step-by-step guide through the basics of all forms of DNA testing for family history. What do your […]

How did Germany emerge from the ashes of World War Two?

WCP Staff October, 2021

One of the pleasures of teaching English in secondary schools is the great choice of texts. The Leaving Cert choice is particularly eclectic and varies every two-year cycle. Those beginning their senior cycle this year could find themselves studying novels that explore the modern world we live in, like how […]

History & Folklore

Young patriots lie still at Cork’s seat of learning

WCP Staff October, 2021

As the 2021 college year begins at University College Cork, a new wave of students may not realise that their campus is a place where executed men, fighting for Irish freedom, were buried 100 years ago. Pauline Murphyreminds us of their names and the part they played in history. In […]

Traditions and customs of Samhain (Hallowe’en)

Eugene Daly October, 2021

The ancient festival of ‘Samhain’ – the first day of Winter for the ancient Celts – was traditionally kept on November 1, now the Feast of All Saints, and the vigil of this day, ‘Oíche Shamhna’ (Hallowe’en), is still celebrated on the last night in October. Hallowe’en was originally a […]

History & Folklore

The tale behind the image

WCP Staff September, 2021

The War of Independence work ‘Men of the South’ by Sean Keating hangs in Cork’s Crawford gallery and is described in gallery literature as “a painting that is not about the grime and pain of war, but about the idealism and patriotism behind it”. One hundred years since the painting […]

Afghanistan – the graveyard of Empires

Kieran Doyle September, 2021

In the last few weeks we have seen the devastating advance of the Taliban resulting in the collapse of a USA-backed Afghan government. They had been in power for twenty years. The speed of the military penetration was akin to the Nazi blitz of France in World War Two, in […]

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