Classics and Irish politics: Greece and Rome in the roots of Irish identities Irish writers, clerics and revolutionaries have long explored links with Greece and Rome
Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 05:55 Isabelle Torrance and Donncha O’Rourke
Imperial buildings have largely been divested of their colonial symbolism, most obviously in the case of the GPO which, as the headquarters for the 1916 Rising, is arguably the symbol of Irish independence
What have classical Greece and Rome to do with Ireland and its politics? Readers will be familiar with the many Irish literary artists who have drawn from the well of classical literature, both those whose pens have been laid to rest (writers such as Eavan Boland, Seamus Heaney, James Joyce, Derek Mahon, WB Yeats), and those who show the ongoing vitality of this tradition through their internationally acclaimed work (Marina C
Updated / Tuesday, 15 Dec 2020
20:03
The 150 sample pictures will be added to the library s permanent national collections (Pic: National Library of Ireland)
The National Library of Ireland has taken possession of artwork created by children who entered the RTÉ news2day annual Christmas art competition.
The Director of the library said that a selection of the artwork is set to be permanently preserved in the library archive to ensure children s experiences of this memorable year will not be forgotten.
Dr Sandra Collins said that the art competition tapped into the voices of children and how they express their experience of living through Covid-19 .
Why we turned Ireland s black and white past into colour
Updated / Friday, 30 Oct 2020
15:37
All aboard: passengers on a mail car near Black s Royal Hotel, Eyre Square, Galway circa 1880. From Old Ireland In Colour (Merrion Press)
The Old Ireland in Colour project began in 2019 as an Instagram account when John Breslin, a professor from NUI Galway, developed an interest in historic photo colourisation, enhancement, and restoration. He began working with DeOldify a programme that had been developed by Jason Antic and later
Dana Kelley. In early 2020, Sarah-Anne Buckley, a lecturer in History in NUI Galway, joined John to create what is now the
The burning of Cork: When the fires stopped, many were left homeless and thousands jobless Reports detailed devastation faced by residents in days after December 11th-12th, 1920
Sat, Dec 12, 2020, 15:03 Updated: Sat, Dec 12, 2020, 15:11
When the fires stopped, the people of Cork were left sifting through debris, with many left homeless, thousands jobless and all counting the cost of blazes started by British forces.
That was the state of affairs described by the correspondent for The Irish Times in the days following the Burning of Cork on the night of December 11th-12th 1920.
That night, 100 years ago, British forces looted and burned buildings, leaving large portions of Cork city centre – including much of Patrick Street – destroyed. The mayhem followed an IRA ambush on a party of Auxilaries at Dillon’s Cross earlier in the day, which left one dead and others injured.
The atmosphere of Cork city in the winter of 1920 was tense. In March, Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain had been assassinated by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). Terence MacSwiney, his successor, was arrested in August on charges of sedition and died on hunger strike in a London prison in October. About 30 miles west of the city on November 28, the IRA killed 17 members of the Royal Irish Constabulary’s Auxiliary Division at Kilmichael.
Unsanctioned reprisals against Irish civilians and their property were privately supported by British prime minister David Lloyd George. At a speech in Carnarvon in October 1920, he made his support of this approach public when he excused the conduct of the British forces in Ireland. General Macready, the British commander-in-chief in Ireland, declared martial law in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary on December 10, 1920. Under martial law, a curfew of 10pm was imposed each night. The military was allowed to carry out ‘official’ repri