Language is a weapon for campaigners for the right to die in the UK
Hyacinth Zappone’s candlelight supper. Reverend Martin not invited, as usual. #gript
Long before David Attenborough brought his soothing voice to the explication of animal behaviour for the BBC Life series, the North American television public had been introduced to the majesty and oddities of the natural world through Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. I remember lying on my stomach in my grandparent’s living room watching programs about lions and […]
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“Ireland has wronged no man, has injured no land, has sought no dominion over others. Ireland is treated today among other nations of the world as if she was a convicted criminal. If it be treason to fight against such an unnatural fate as this, then I am proud to be a rebel and shall […]
On this day, August 1st, in 1915, the old Fenian Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa was buried in Glasnevin cemetery in one of the largest political funerals ever witnessed before or since in Dublin. At his graveside, the poet, nationalist and revolutionary, Pádraig Mac Piarais gave an electrifying oration which was a speech for the ages, remembered as […]
Foreign observers might have the impression that it is always open season for euthanasia in the Netherlands. Not so. While the guidelines are elastic and subject to interpretation, they do exist and people violating them risk prosecution. A recent story on euthanasia in the Netherlands illustrates this. A pillar of Dutch policy is that only […]
The Táin Bó Cúailgne –sometimes translated as The Cattle Raid of Cooley- is the longest and most significant tale of the Ulster Cycle. It has come down to us in three main recensions, with the earliest extant copies of these being transcribed around the 11th Century. These different recensions overlap in many details and sequences […]
Have you ever heard the phrase “lose the battle but win the war”? The opposite happened to the Roman triumvir Mark Antony on this day in 30BC. Having been defeated at the Battle of Actium, Anthony and Cleopatra retreated to Alexandria, which was soon besieged by the forces of Octavian. For the whole month of […]
Suppose you went to a party with a group of friends, one of whom is a rather outspoken person we’ll call Ms A. After an hour or so, someone you never met before comes up to you and says, “I couldn’t help noticing that you came here with Ms A. Aren’t you concerned that her […]
The British statesman, Thomas Cromwell, was beheaded on this day in 1540. It was a messy affair – the executioner was drunk (some say, because Cromwell’s enemies spiked his drink to make the execution worse) and it took three swings of the axe to remove Cromwell’s head. It was a spectacular fall from grace: Cromwell […]
By July 29th, 1848, most of Ireland had been truly devastated by the Great starvation. Outside of Ireland, Europe was being convulsed with revolutions. In France, King Louis-Philippe was overthrown, to make way for the second republic. Revolutions seeking the vote, and liberalisation, broke out in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and elsewhere. Inspired by these […]