19th Century

October 6th is marked in the Irish historic calendar as Ivy Day, the day which saw the passing of the 'Uncrowned King of Ireland' Charles Stewart Parnell in 1891. His passing was mourned greatly across Ireland, including in Cork, a city he…

On St. Stephen’s Day in 1867, with darkness falling on Fota Island in Cork’s inner harbour, two gunners and their families sat down to a meal of Christmas Day left-overs. Their home, the island’s Martello Tower, housed a stock of guns and…

Edward Jordan was born into a small farming family in Carlow in 1771. At the age of 16 his father died and he inherited the farm. Jordan also became a deputy receiver of rents for a local landlord, but he moonlighted as an organiser for the…

In 1893 a new guide for freshers began to circulate at St. John’s College, Cambridge. It was authored by ‘A Sympathiser’, later identified as Undergraduate Arthur John Story. Story was an Undergraduate at St John’s from 1893 to 1896…

It started a couple of years ago back in early November in that place where all these things seem to start these days, on twitter, with an effusive outpouring of birthday greetings for Bram Stoker. I in turn also effused a congratulation to…

"Dear Sir, I wish to acquaint you with some of the occurrences of the present past and future.” This is how infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly began what has become known as the Jerilderie letter, or his confessions. Coming in at nearly…

Next time you visit that fine institution that never succumbed to the vagaries of fashion: the Natural History Museum on Dublin’s Merrion Square take a look at the display cabinets that contain the marine exhibits. Loiter around these…