Irish History
A never ending pool of Irish history related links and articles, all fully dedicated to the presentation of Ireland's past in searchable and often entertaining formats. Dedicating time to Ireland's past has never been so easy. Delve deep.
Articles on Irish history, including: "Custer's Last Irishmen: The Irish who fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn."
The historic Four Courts, where the sittings of the Irish Supreme Court, High, Circuit & District Courts take place.
At seven minutes past four on the morning of 28 June 1922 Free State forces under pressure from Britain over the assassination on 22 June of Sir Henry Wilson, military advisor to the Unionist regime in the Six Counties, shelled the Four Courts which had been occupied by Republican troops since 13 April.
The outgoing British garrisons, embarrassed by this civil strife, unintentionally bred trouble for the Free State. Their officers had been harried and kidnapped and many of them slain, so no friendly feelings towards the incoming authority could be cherished. Munitions and barracks were handed over (unwittingly) to foes ...
What little is known of pre-Christian Ireland comes from a few references in Roman writings, Irish poetry and myth, and archaeology. The earliest inhabitants--people of a mid-Stone Age culture--arrived about 6000 BC, when the climate had become hospitable following the retreat of the polar icecaps.
In Ireland, the "Penal Laws" is the name given to the code of laws passed by the Protestant Parliament of Ireland which regulated the status of Roman Catholics through most of the eighteenth century. These laws are key to understanding the history of the period as well as the sectarian conflicts that still plague Northern Ireland.
The dawn of the Ulster-Scots. Not plantation, not conquest, not invasion. Settlement. In terms of Irish history, the period from 1603 – 1610 is perhaps the most influential, as it includes the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the Flight of the Earls in 1607 and the Plantation of (the west of) Ulster in 1610. Many claim that this era has defined Ireland’s history right up to the present day.
A searchable database containing descriptions of over 14,000 collections and sources held in over 420 public and private repositories in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland relating to the history of women in Ireland from the earliest times to the present.
Online bibliographic data on historical writing dealing with Ireland from prehistoric times to the present. It is a guide to the work of historians rather than to original sources, unless they have been edited and republished by historians.
Library Ireland is a free online resource of books and articles on Irish history, genealogy, and culture generally. It's aim is to entertain and inform, and to promote interest in all aspects of historical Ireland.
Although workhouses had existed in Ireland before the system created by the Irish Poor Law Act of 1838, their use was on a much smaller scale than was the case in England and Wales. In 1703 an Act of the Irish Parliament provided for the setting up of a House of Industry in Dublin "for the employment and maintaining the poor thereof".
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. All masonic lodges operated under the Irish constitution.
The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second oldest in the world and the first evidence for its existence comes from the Dublin Weekly Journal of June 26th 1725. The paper describes an event which took place two days previously on June 24th - a meeting of the Grand Lodge of Ireland to install the new Grand Master, the 1st Earl of Rosse. Unfortunately the exact date of the foundation of the Grand Lodge is not known, but the installation of a new Grand Master would suggest it was already in existence a couple of years. 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries.
The Ceide Fields neolithic site in County Mayo, Ballycastle, Ireland, contains the oldest known stone-walled fields in the world - dating back nearly 6,000 years.
A new portal for Irish archaeology set up by an archaeologist with too much time on their hands.
The Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement. Founded in 1969, the Group aims to examine the nature and development of Irish settlement, whether from the perspective of the historical geographer, archaeologist, architect or historian.
The Old Library and the Book of Kells Exhibition – a “must see†on the itinerary of all visitors to Dublin. Located in the heart of Dublin City, a walk through the cobbled stones of Trinity College Dublin will bring visitors back to the 18th century, when the magnificent Old Library building was constructed. Inside is housed the Book of Kells - a 9th-century gospel manuscript famous throughout the world.
The Library's history dates back to the establishment of the College in 1592 and it is the largest library in Ireland. Today it has 5 million printed volumes with extensive collections of journals, manuscripts, maps and music reflecting over 400 years of academic development.
The 1798 Rebellion was the most widespread of all the Irish Rebellions. Eleven counties in Ulster, Leinster and Connacht rose against English rule over six months in 1798, leaving 30,000 dead. 'The United Irishmen' were inspired by the revolutionary ideas of the 1789 French Revolution.
The Workhouse often evokes the grim Victorian world of Oliver Twist, but its story is a fascinating mix of social history, politics, economics and architecture. This site is dedicated to the workhouse — its buildings, inmates, staff and administrators, even its poets ...
The 1798 Rebellion was one of the most traumatic periods in recent Irish history. While documentary evidence for the majority of participants and victims is patchy there are three lists of c. 8,300 people from this period, which were published between 1798-1800.
In 1798 Ireland was shook by a mass rebellion for democratic rights and against British rule. 200 years later 1798 continues to loom over Irish politics. The bi-centenary, co-inciding with the 'Peace process', has attracted considerable discussion, with the formation of local history groups, the holding of conferences and a high level of interest in the TV documentaries and books published around the event.
General Joseph Holt was the only United Irish General to be banished to New South Wales following his surrender in County Wicklow during the 1798 Irish Rebellion. The Bank of Ireland director, Peter La Touche and his wife, Elizabeth La Touche, as members of the Ascendancy, apparently helped orchestrate Joseph's safe surrender to Lord Powerscourt IV at 11 O'Clock on the 11th November 1798 at his demesne of, Powescurt, in County Wicklow.
Ironically, the worst single atrocity of thirty years of conflict in Ireland occurred at the point of highest hope during those years. The Good Friday Agreement had been signed just 13 weeks before. The massacre, caused by a 'Real' IRA car bomb, claimed the lives of 29 innocent civilians. Although the effects of the bomb on the victims and their families were catastrophic, the atrocity made politicans more determined than ever to make the process work: the opposite from what was intended by the murderers.
People arrested and imprisoned under the Coercion Act of 1881 for land league activities.
"This is Ireland's only comprehensive assembly of public service and commercial road transport. Even the humblest vehicles are noteworthy; many are the sole extant examples of once familiar types; several others are very rare and some are unique. Portraying the Golden Age of commercials, the collection includes some 30 marques, more than half of them now demised. All four Irish commercial vehicle builders are represented."
A community focused grass roots heritage project which digitally records and publishes historic graveyard surveys and related multimedia stories.
The definitive list of Ogham characters which is part of ISO/IEC 10646. The Ogham character names are given in English and Irish Gaelic.
The contents lists provided for some of these journals are based on the headings of the articles themselves rather than the contents pages. Where discrepancies were found, the error generally appeared to be in the latter. The following items are omitted from contents lists: reviews (except review articles), obituaries, reports of society activities (unless containing detailed information on sites), abstracts of lectures (unless substantial), lists of members, modern poems and fiction. Short notes such as quotations from old newspapers are generally included, but not quotations from books unless accompanied by commentary. Punctuation and spelling have mostly followed the original exactly, but obvious errors have been corrected, and capitals are not used within sentences except for proper nouns.
The Irish Georgian Society is a membership organisation whose purpose is to promote awareness and the protection of Ireland's architectural heritage and decorative arts.The Society was founded in 1958 by the Hon. Desmond Guinness and his late wife Mariga and since that time many buildings of significant architectural merit have been saved through their work and the work of members and supporters. The current President of the Society is Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin.
Here's Island Ireland's collection of Irish proverbs alongside their English translations. BÃonn chuile dhuine lách go dtéann bó ina gharraÃ. (Everyone is sociable until a cow invades his garden.)
The history of Ireland could be described with some justification as a sad catalogue of invasion upon invasion, of petty tribal infighting between each successive group, providing the opportunity for the next invaders who were usually better armed and more experienced in warfare, to gain a foothold. This lack of cohesiveness and tendency towards personal material enhancement appears to have been the ultimate downfall of almost all of Irelands invaders, as they fought among themselves, and with previously arrived groups to control the land.
County Mayo has a rich archaeological heritage dating from prehistoric times to the present. (Achaeology is the interpretation of our past from the study of buildings and objects made by human beings. We are dependent on archaeology alone in any attempt to study the prehistoric period and thereafter to complement what is recorded in written sources).
There are hundreds of books, and thousands of publications on the history of Ulster. I hope that the following notes and references will provide an interesting introduction to the subject. The material is not intended to provide a rigorous historical analysis. Instead, it provides an introduction to a selection of historical events, together with suggestions for further reading.
Articles, opinion pieces and book reviews to explain the diplomatic history of Ireland. Also contains aspects of current affairs and current foreign policy.
Kilkenny Workhouse was built to house 1,200 people. It was responsible for the relief of the destitute poor of a large part of County Kilkenny. The whole family must come in to the workhouse. There were separate quarters for men, women, boys and girls.
Information about Irish coins for numismatists, collectors, archaeologists and others who have an interest in the currency in use in Ireland from earliest times to the present day.
Over the last fifty years there have been many changes to the railway system on both sides of the border: nationalisation of the systems north and south; elimination of steam traction; passenger and freight rolling stock modernisation; complete change in the method of freight operating; the loss of traditional traffics and the gaining of new ones; reduction in route milage through line closures; modernisation of signalling systems; completion of the first stage of the electrification of the Dublin suburban network etc.
Established on 31 August 1803, the Legion Irlandaise was originally created in anticipation of an invasion of ireland. The purpose was to establish a core of trained irish officers and ncos who could raise the population of ireland in a war of liberation against the english rulers of ireland. By using Irish soldiers, Napoleon hoped to achieve three important goals: (1) the invasion force would be viewed by the irish population as an army of liberation, rather than a foreign invader; (2) a minimum number of french troops would be required for the effort; and, (3) such an invasion, if properly carried out, would tie up a maximum number of English troops for years to come, and could result in the English suing for peace.
This web-site presents an inventory of war memorials in Ireland. It includes photographs of each memorial, the text of all inscriptions, and details of the site of the memorial. A database of all of those named allows a search for individual persons, with links to the photographs of the memorials.
"Ireland, a large island of Europe, W of Great Britain, between lon. 6 and 10, 40 W, and lat. 51, 15 and 55, 13 N, 280m. long and 160 broad, and containing 19,436,000 acres divided up into 4 provinces; Ulster N, Leinster E, Munster S, and Connaught to the W, and subdivided into 32 counties." [From The New London Gazetteer (1826)]
The 1848 Tricolour Celebration marks the conception and unveiling of the Irish Tricolour Flag by Thomas Francis Meagher in 1848 at 33 The Mall, Waterford City.
The Welsh and Irish Celts have been found to be the genetic blood-brothers of Basques, scientists have revealed. The gene patterns of the three races passed down through the male line are all "strikingly similar", researchers concluded.
At four minutes past noon on 24 April 1916 - Easter Monday - the proclamation reproduced below was read from the steps of the General Post Office (G.P.O.) on Dublin's O'Connell Street by Patrick Pearse. It signified the start of the Easter Rising of 1916. Click here for more background to the events of April and May 1916 in Dublin; click here to read General Maxwell's report on the rising.
Including names, dates, cemeteries, and locations.
Slavery in one form or another has existed in Ireland since the earliest times. Early Celtic society had five classes of people from King to slave. Nial of the Nine Hostages an early King of Ireland (379-405) regularly went on slave raiding trips during and after the Roman withdrawal from England, on one of these raids he is believed to have captured St Patrick from Wales or Cornwall.
Men with Gaelic surnames coming from the west of Ireland are descendants of the oldest inhabitants of Europe. In a recent study, scientists at Trinity College, Dublin, created a new genetic map of the people of Ireland.
Who were the Celts, and how close is our connection to this ancient race? Is this culture actually relevant to people today?
The Celts were a group of peoples that occupied lands stretching from the British Isles to Gallatia.
In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.
If you're looking for a map, visit The Ireland Story for online Irish maps, an extensive introduction and timeline on Irish history, and information on Northern Ireland politics and administration.
Earliest settlers arrived in Ireland in 10,000 BC, in the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age period. They crossed by land bridge from Scotland. These people were mainly hunters.
The oldest known reference to the use of the three colours (green, white and orange) as a nationalist emblem dates from September 1830 when tricolour cockades were worn at a meeting held to celebrate the French revolution of that year - a revolution which restored the use of the French tricolour.
The award winning National 1798 Centre offers a fascinating insight into the birth of modern democracy in Ireland.
Between the 5th and 8th centuries there was a remarkable flourishing of Celtic Christianity.
Our Irish history blog aims to provide a bit of freshness and debate, as well as viewing Irish history (and history in Ireland) as impartially as possible.
The life and military career of Myles Walter Keogh, born March 25th, 1840 at Orchard, Leighlinbridge, County Carlow.
The LibraryIreland.com project was commenced in February 2005 with the aim of providing free information on all aspects of Ireland - antiquities, biography, folklore, genealogy, history, names, social history, and much more besides.