The policy of replacing the Irish language with English began in the 14th century, but was largely unsuccessful until the nineteenth writes Eugene Daly. The defeat of the Irish at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 was the beginning of the end of the old Irish order, but the native […]
In a special series, Holger Smyth of Inanna Rare Books (Skibbereen) revisits houses shown in the rare Hodges publication ‘Cork and County Cork in the Twentieth Century’. Episode 1: Bridgemount (Dunmanway)– From the O’Sullivan Beara to german bakery Original entry in Hodges, 1911: “Bridgemount is the Residence of Dr.J.J.O’Callaghan, and […]
Back in August, I wrote about the beginnings of the Russian Revolution and Civil War 1917-21, as well as the causes and the belligerents involved. It makes an interesting case study because it ran almost parallel to Ireland’s revolution war and civil war 1919-23, yet the two couldn’t be more […]
“That bomb was definitely placed there with a view to killing all in that band.”– James O’Neill On July 31, 1975, in County Down, five people were killed, including three members of the popular Miami Showband, in an attack in by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. Despite the story of […]
The daughter of a lighthouse keeper, Mary Ruth Glanville McCarthy spent her childhood in lighthouses on the coast of Ireland, from Donegal down as far as Galley Head in West Cork. The sprightly 90-year-old recalls her journey to the Galley Head and life there with exceptional clarity, as if it […]
Dancing for Ludmila Bondarenco (Mila) is an expression of femininity, elegance and tenderness. “I dance because I feel, I love, I live,” she shares passionately. Originally from Muldova, after her daughter started University, Mila moved to Ireland almost a year ago to join her husband and now teaches a belly […]