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 […]
For years, the history of abolitionism has been one of my keenest interests, especially as it has informed my work in the pro-life movement. The first chapter of my 2017 book Seeing is Believing: Why Our Culture Must Face the Victims of Abortion detailed the tactics used by abolitionists to confront the public with the truth about […]
Credit to Julianne Corr at the Times for this entertaining scoop: The third level college that ran Ireland’s first influencer course hopes to offer the programme to secondary school students as part of their transition year studies, its organiser has said…. …Irene McCormick, the programme director, said that about 240 people had applied for the […]
Born in 1550, Aodh Mór Ó Néill (Hugh O’Neill) came from a line of the and the successors to the Chief’s of the O’Neills. He was the second son of Feardorcha Ó Néill and grandson of Conn O’Neill, the first Earl of Tyrne. At the age of nine he became a ward of Giles Hovenden, […]
Famed singer Paul Brady has come out in support of the families seeking 100% compensation for extensive damage caused to their homes by the use of Mica in building materials. Joined by renowned fiddle player, Ciaran Tourish, before launching into ‘The homes of Donegal’, Brady said that he wanted to give his ‘support for the campaign for […]
Business Insider recently reminded us of Coca-Cola product placement saga from the period after the Second World War mythologizing a plucky Soviet general, designed to appeal to both conservatives and the far-left. The tale is an interesting illustration of the appeal of storytelling using iconic and archetypal characters for propaganda purposes – or, in his […]
The annual traditional music school, Scoil Samhradh Willie Clancy, has been moved online for a second year in a row due to Covid restrictions but amongst the online classes, concerts and presentations on offer is a feature of special interest to singers, historians and anyone with a grá for Ireland’s freedom. Who Feared Not the […]
Peter O’Neill was born in Coona, Cork, a descendant of the O’Neil clan of Co. Tyrone. He attended a hedge school in Inch, studied classics at Kilworth, and then began ecclesiastical studies at the Irish College in Paris, eventually teaching Celtic language and literature there. An exceedingly popular curate, he was appointed Parish Priest of […]
There was universal delight, and joy unconfined, in the media yesterday, amidst the release of the latest “trust in media” figures from Reuters. Irish people may have turned on the Church, their politicians, big business, and most institutions, but, as it turns out, we sure do love our journalists: Irish people’s trust in media increases […]
In her book Primal Screams, American writer and widely respected culture critic, Mary Eberstadt, traces a direct line from the sexual revolution of the 60s to the febrile identity politics of our time. The title references the trauma of animals taken from their natural habitat and familial unit and the longterm, emotional damage caused by […]
Ó Néill (1585 – 6 November 1649) was a Gaelic Irish soldier and one of the most famous of the O’Neill dynasty of Ulster in Ireland. O’Neill left Ireland at a young age and began the formal continental military career serving in the Spanish army. He was a brilliant military strategist and tactician. With the […]