Richard de Clare, nicknamed Strongbow invaded Ireland to continue the earlier Norman invasion of 1169. Diarmait Mac Murchada was ousted as king of Leinster by a coalition led by the High King, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair. He fled Ireland and sought military assistance as he wanted to be King of Leinster, and ultimately Ireland, but had to […]
Mickey Devine was the last man to die on the hunger strike started by Bobby Sands in early March. As a young man Bloody Sunday had a deep effect on him, he was there with this brother-in-law who remembered Mickey rhetorically ask “How can you sit back and watch while your own Derrymen are shot […]
In 1874, a letter was sent to John Devoy, a leader with the Fenian Irish Republican Brotherhood who was living in exile in the USA. He was planning a rebellion in Ireland when informers altered the British authorities and Devoy was arrested, convicted of treason and sentenced to 15 years labour on the Isle of […]
History never repeats…I tell myself before I go to sleep (in lockdown) This week has been quite a hectic one. After two weeks of softening us all up with talk of “when, not if” and “buy face masks”, the government announced on Tuesday night that there was again community transmission of the Wuflu and […]
Five months ago as the coronavirus pandemic kicked into swing I wrote that the narrative around flattening the curve or getting to zero versus herd immunity provided no clarity on where Ireland was going with its response. Five months later we are none the wiser. The government introduces new measures, a knee-jerk reaction, to an […]
Gaius Octavius was the nephew of Julius Caesar, and his heir apparent, when the latter was brutally murdered by conspirators on the Ides of March, 44BC. At the time, Octavian (as he was then known) was twenty years old, and studying in Greece. Within 18 months, the young man had maneuvered himself into becoming one […]
International surrogacy is often reviled as a system in which Western, mostly white people, exploit the bodies of women in underdeveloped countries, who are often women of colour. A typical feature in the media will display images of poor, heavily pregnant women in saris sleeping in a crowded dormitory. But this is not the image […]
International surrogacy is often reviled as a system in which Western, mostly white people, exploit the bodies of women in underdeveloped countries, who are often women of colour. A typical feature in the media will display images of poor, heavily pregnant, sari-clad women sleeping in a crowded dormitory. But this is not the image of […]
On this day, in 1940, the so-called “hardest day” battle was fought, as part of the battle of Britain. On that day, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command. But German intelligence was faulty: They believed that the British had only about 300 fighters left in service, but the RAF actually […]
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What do we learn from comparing the response and experience of different countries to Covid? Nothing useful I would argue. Perhaps when it’s all over we can start comparing and asking who made the best decisions, but this is not over; we aren’t even at half time. Which countries’ leaders have made the best decisions? […]
On March 21st, 1612, a young girl called Alizon Device encountered a merchant called John Law, from Halifax, on the road to Pendle. She begged him to sell her some pins, but he refused, because she did not have the money. Privately, she cursed him. As luck would have it, within a few minutes, he […]