A hundred years is a blip in the history of humanity, but for most people, the end of World War One feels like a remote historical event. The decade of centenaries in some ways makes it feel like ancient history - a pity, because we make the mistake of thinking history does not repeat, and progress [...]
When Constance Markievicz made history as the first woman in the British Isles to be elected a Member of Parliament, it must have been an epic moment. 100 years ago next year, (some) women across the United Kingdom, then including Ireland, got the vote, and the first to be elected was an Anglo-Irish republican socialist from [...]
For years my Dad and I have been promising ourselves we’d go to see where my grandfather, Leo, fought at the Somme. Having enlisted to the East Kents in Fermoy in 1914, Leo Lyons O’Shaughnessy somehow survived four years on the Western Front. Although he rarely spoke about it after his return, and died in the [...]
So far, most of the 1916 commemoration stuff has left me cold. I attended a very interesting lecture on the Proclamation of Independence in UCC, by the venerable Professor John A. Murphy, with contributions from Diarmuid Ferriter and John Borgonovo, but the national fandango about it really doesn't appeal much. Perhaps I'm just wary of [...]
The Dingle Food Festival is one of the country’s best kept secrets, although in the three years since I was last there, it seems they have rather let the cat out of the bag. With bigger crowds than ever before, one organiser estimated that it brought 20,000 visitors to the town this year. The [...]
I wrote these two pieces last July, after travelling to Kusadasi with Sunway Holidays. They never made it to the blog, for some reason - but in this weather they're a nice reminder the sun exists! "It’s a bit like being on the slab below at Kay O’Connell’s, but it’s lovely, like.” Kusadasi has been a [...]
This looks like a really interesting event, it'll be on 18th May in Dublin and is free (although donations are welcome)
