On this night, the Black and Tans burnt Cork City Centre with a devastating series of fires that swept through the city centre; looted businesses, assaulted firefighters and shot at the local population. The burning and the subsequent controversy is one of the most significant events of the Irish War of Independence; on the day […]
How many of you are thinking of getting your tween a cell phone for Christmas? Because we all know that in the eyes of a tween or teen, a shiny new cell phone under the Christmas tree is even better than Santa. And the pressure is on: everyone at school has a cell phone nowadays. […]
At 4.11pm on Thursday, 5 December 2019, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2019 passed its third reading vote in the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia by a decisive vote of 25 to 11. Only one member changed her vote between the second and third readings: Labor MP Adele Farina. In her speech explaining her […]
The prospect of “designer babies” is both a dream and a nightmare. For a growing number of companies, it is not just a dream, but the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The Hong Kong company Gene Discovery offers its customers genetic testing for their children’s “talent” — IQ, emotional IQ, nutrition metabolism, expertise […]
“These are the only black and tans we’ll be supporting”, shouted Mary-Lou amid rapturous cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ from supporters, “and you can tell all the begrudgers to take a running jump off…”, at which point the microphone was cut and Smith awkwardly averted her gaze.
Is ‘porn literacy’ something we should be teaching in schools? If so, at what age? What is ‘porn literacy’? Is there such a thing as ‘ethical porn’? To what extent will these things be part of the planned new Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) course? For clues, we might look to Kate Dawson who is […]
Known as the fastest field game in the world, a sliotar can top 93mph from a good strike. Hurling is also mentioned in the 11th/ 12th century Leabhar na hUidre, while further descriptions are to be found in 13th/14th century romantic tale Cath Mhaigh Tuireadh Chunga. This latter account details a very bloody hurling game […]
ON THIS DAY: 3RD DECEMBER 1974: Maguire Seven charged with possessing materials for bomb making 40-year-old Irish born Anne Maguire, from North London, was convicted of possessing nitro-glycerine, which was then allegedly passed on for use to the IRA. Her husband, Patrick Maguire, 42 was also sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. Her two younger sons, […]
On an ordinary January day in 1927, as Yocundo Durán walked home in Chihuahua, Mexico, he crossed paths with Federal Gen. Miguel Valle, who was walking out of a local tavern. The general recognized Durán and had one of his soldiers detain him and ask, “Are you a Knight of Columbus?” Durán confirmed that he […]
The Book of Kells is Ireland’s greatest cultural treasure and the world’s most famous medieval manuscript. It contains the four Gospels in Latin based on the Vulgate text which St Jerome completed in 384AD, intermixed with readings from the earlier Old Latin translation. The book is written on vellum (prepared calfskin) in a bold and […]
Thomas Clarke Luby was an Irish revolutionary, author, journalist and one of the founding members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was a member of Daniel O’Connell Repeal Association whose aim was to repeal the 1801 Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland. He parted company with O’Connell after the repeal campaign failed, having […]
The suspicion that RTE has been living “way beyond its means” and has been engaged in the provision of exorbitant rates of pay to its ‘top talent’ has moved from the realm of tentative speculation into that of clear fact. Indeed, such suspicions have a long and notable history. For example; in December 1966 the […]