Sean J Murphy is one of a rare breed - a full-time historian. Such beings are scarce indeed in Ireland outside the universities. But he has managed to carve a career and a living from the past for the past four decades.
He has applied his expertise to digging into the roots of those who come to him looking to draw up family trees. He is available to the producers of radio and television programmes to speak on issues such as Irish surnames and the legend of Molly Malone. Sean knows his way too around some of the most important collections of manuscripts in the country.
THROUGH THE ARCHIVES: Successful military concert held at Ulster Hall in aid of school funds portadowntimes.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from portadowntimes.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Crossbarry ambush restored IRA morale in March 1921, but could so easily have been a disaster.
The Parish of Clogagh had never seen a funeral like it. No parish in Ireland would ever see its like again.
In the pre-dawn darkness, down the rain-slicked road from the church to the cemetery, the cortege came. The coffin was borne by six men, and behind the coffin, six mourners walked.
Six mourners. At an Irish country funeral. It was as many as they dared bring.
Carried on the wind: the creak of leather, the soft shiiing-shiiing of metal upon metal, the murmur of boots on damp, hard-packed road – the unmistakable sound of heavily armed men on the move.
Westminster, 18 March 1921
Over 2,000 men have resigned from the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in the last 12 months.
National Library of Ireland, HOG155
A lorry load of Auxiliaries, covered by rifle bearing colleagues, lead the funeral of Major Holmes of the Royal Irish Constabulary in February 1921.
Limerick, 11 March 1921
The funerals of the Mayor of Limerick, Alderman George Clancy, and his predecessor, Councillor Michael O’Callaghan drew large crowds onto the streets of the city yesterday.
Illustrated London News [London, England], 19 March 1921
Scene by the graves in Limerick.
Carrick-on-Shannon, 15 March 1921
Six IRA men were killed by crown forces during an attempted ambush in Co. Leitrim on 11 March.
President Michael D Higgins has raised concerns with the National Library of Ireland over why a personal archive he donated in 2011 has still to be catalogued.When Higgins announced the donation