Today’s blog post looks back to 1953 and the announcement of the death of the legendary figure Maud Gonne. A prominent player in the literary revival and the independence movement, Gonne was connected with many of the leading figures of the revolutionary period.   Here the Donegal Democrat newspaper reports on her death and recalls some connections with that county: Madam Maud Gonne MacBride widow of Major John Mac...

This December marks the 103rd anniversary of the signing of the Anglo Irish Treaty in 1921. It brought to an end the War of Independence and paved the way for the establishment of the Irish Free State. Of course, the terms of the Treaty allowed the British government to hold on to three ports, strategic naval points in Ireland. As the Meath Chronicle reported in 1984 there were a number of Meath connections to the signing o...

Patrick Kavanagh and Advent As we approach the season of Advent of and the approach of Christmas, the mind turns to Patrick Kavanagh and his poem ‘Advent’. In this the county Monaghan poet lamented how life had changed in the modern world and that: O after Christmas we'll have no need to go searching For the difference that sets an old phrase burning…. Kavanagh of course was one of Ireland’s great poe...

Tomorrow, 29 November Ireland goes to the polls, and even at this late stage the outcome is far from certain.      Looking back to the 1918 General Election held in the days that followed the end of the First World War, and one can trace the start of a public fascination with such events. The election of 1918 was a fascinating contest as the writer SJL reminded readers of the Irish Press newspaper in the 1970s: ...

The Bureau of Military History   On the great insights into life during the Irish War of Independence is the amazing collection of documents which were compiled by the Bureau of Military History in the 1940s and the 1950s. This witness testimonies– a collection of 1,773 witness statements, and which comprises other ancillary documents sheds light on the War in almost every part of Ireland. The archives can be full search...

The Irish Volunteers in Kerry and the lead up to the 1916 Rising    In the lead up to the 1916 Rising, and in the midst of the First World War, the Irish Volunteers drilled in open and their activities widely reported on. For the British administration in Ireland the leaders and rank and file of the organisation were known to all. In Kerry figures like Austin Stack were heavily involved in recruitment. Here the  Liberato...

Up flew Nelson! On 8 March 1966, a powerful explosion destroyed the upper portion of Nelson’s Pillar which was located on Dublin’s O’Connell Street and brought Nelson's statue crashing to the ground amid hundreds of tons of rubble. The incident was remembered in ballad:       Up went Nelson in old Dublin Up went Nelson in old Dublin All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew As up went ...

Gift Subscriptions There has never been a better time to get that someone special a Gift membership to Irish Newspaper Archives. Once purchased you will receive an email containing a discount code. This email containing the code can be printed or forwarded by email to that luck someone. To activate the new Gift membership the receiver just needs to contact a member of our team! Couldn’t be easier follow the steps be...

Henry Blosse Lynch: A famous Irish explorer When we think of famous Irish explorers, the names of Shackleton and Crean come to mind. But what of Henry Blosse Lynch who went before the aforementioned? Here the Evening Herald newspaper of July 1969 picks up on the story, perhaps anticipating some news of exploration of a different before that month was out: HENRY BLOSSE LYNCH, the famous explorer, was born at Partry, Co...

Michael Hogan and Bloody Sunday, 1920 November of course is a month connected to Bloody Sunday in 1920, one of the worst days of violence during the War of Independence. It commenced with the shooting dead of thirteen British intelligence officers, known as the Cairo Gang. It ended with the execution of three IRA volunteers that evening. In between the British military raided Croke Park where fourteen people were shot dead,...