Search Results for 'Irish Parliament'

It is said that all political careers end in failure. The great Daniel O’Connell’s final slide into earthly oblivion was heralded by the now familiar sight of journalists descending on his estate at Derrynane, Co Kerry, the year before he died. They had scented a whiff of scandal, and like today, doorstepped him.

This Sunday sees Matthews Auctioneers of Oldcastle, Co Meath sell by public auction one of the most interesting house contents in Ireland.

This Sunday sees Matthews auctioneers of Oldcastle sell by public auction the contents of one of the most interesting houses Ireland — The Elms, Portarlington's grandest Georgian house, the contents of which reflect its ownership by just three families over 220 years.

During the 1880s and ‘90s a series of Land Acts gradually diffused the sometimes bitter animosity that had grown between landlord and tenant. Over the years new and imaginative legislation dramatically improved the status of the tenant. Improvements for the tenant, however, were gained at the disadvantage of the landlord class. In many cases the Unionist landlord vigorously resisted change. During this bitter time landlords and their agents were murdered, animals were maimed and let loose to wander; there was ‘boycotting’, and heartless evictions. Practically every town and village had its RIC station. These were the eyes and ears of Dublin Castle. Any suspect person, or any unusual activity, was reported. On April 6 1895 RIC district inspector in Kilkenny, Pierris B Pattison, sent a report to Dublin Castle, with photographs, on a case ‘that is remarkable’ and which has caused ‘much public interest and local excitement.’

Dipping into the French/ffrench family archives recently, I came across the will of Henry French of Drumharsna, a ruined castle about halfway between Kiltartan and Ballindereeen, on the way to Gort. His father, also Patrick, inherited the Drumharsna estate from his father, whose main estate was nearby Cloghballymore (now a nursing home).

Galway often boasts of the huge crowds attracted to myriad events in this town, but the greatest congregation ever assembled in the west of Ireland gathered at a monster meeting in Shantallow over 150 years ago. The “Slidin’ Rock”, as it is now colloquially known, is the spot from which Daniel O’Connell delivered a towering oration, just two years before the Great Famine began.

On Tuesday, the US celebrated a major milestone in its history with the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African-American to become that country’s president.