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History
Éliphas Lévi, French Magician and Mystic
The 19th century was a time of turmoil in Europe, as the fallout from the shock of the French Revolution and the realization that real social change was possible continued to reverberate through the continent. Many people responded to this…
Patriot, Soldier, Scout, Citizen | The life of Timothy Murphy
Timothy Murphy was born in 1751 in Delaware, Pennsylvania, the son of Donegal parents. Thomas and Mary Murphy left their Tirconnell home just months before Timothy was born. The Ireland they left was racked by penal laws, land agitation,…
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Writer and Politician
Fame is a fleeting thing. Someone can be a celebrity in their own time but give it a few decades and if they’re remembered at all it’s usually only for a single aspect of their lives. Newton revolutionised mathematics and ran the Royal…
Local Hero | The accidental election of Charles Stewart Parnell
October 6th is marked in the Irish historic calendar as Ivy Day, the day which saw the passing of the 'Uncrowned King of Ireland' Charles Stewart Parnell in 1891. His passing was mourned greatly across Ireland, including in Cork, a city he…
Tiger and Boyle Roche, Contrasting Irish Brothers
Nature versus nurture is one of the oldest debates there is. Are we predetermined to become who we become, or is it the world we encounter that shapes us into who we are? The story of David (”Tiger”) Roche and Boyle Roche seems almost…
Richard Dadd, Artist and Mentally Disturbed Killer
The cliched idea of the “thin line between genius and insanity” is one that has been discussed by both psychiatrists, cultural commentators and pop psychologists for decades. In one sense it’s an iteration of the “tortured artist”…
Gift of the Gavel | The Man Behind Cork’s Berwick Fountain
The Berwick fountain on Cork's Grand Parade is an iconic piece of street furniture on Leeside. The fountain was gifted to the city by (and named after) a Kildare man who died in a horrific accident 150 years ago.
Walter Berwick was born…
Lone Wolf Republican | The life of Henry James O’Farrell
Henry James O'Farrell is a name largely unknown in today's world but 150 years ago his name was trending for all the wrong reasons when he carried out an assassination attempt on a member of the Royal family.
O'Farrell was born in 1833…
Chester Burge, Slumlord and Murder Suspect
It speaks a lot to the integrity of a justice system when it finds somebody innocent based on the evidence, even when all involved are convinced of his guilt. The jury in Chester Burge’s trial for murder had every reason to find him guilty.…
A Tale of Two Languages | Lessons from the Basque Country
There once was a small European nation, whose people found themselves part of a much larger and more powerful state. These people had their own language at one time. However, centuries of marginalisation from the state education and legal…