Paul Gorry F.S.G., F.I.G.R.S., M.A.G.I,  Co. Wicklow This is my grandfather, John McDermott.  He was born in Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, in March 1877, son of Patrick and Bridget McDermott.  When…

The Eighteenth Century and the Chesterfield Era The 4th Earl of Chesterfield was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in January 1745, and is credited with initiating a series of landscape…

So was born what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctica expedition of 1914 – 1917. The goal was ambitious – audacious even, considering that only 10 men had ever stood at the…

The 1979 Fastnet Race was the 28th Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Fastnet Race, a yachting race held generally every two years since 1925 on a 605-mile course from Cowes direct…

A quarter million Filipinos served for the U.S. in WWII, only to have their rights stripped at war’s end. Now, the last survivors are fighting for what’s rightfully theirs. Patrick…

In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the “Home Nations” – i.e. England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship….

When it comes to the illustrious history of lighthouses in Ireland, one name stands out – George Halpin. In 1800, George was Inspector of Works in the Corporation for Preserving…

The Six Nations Championship is one of the biggest dates in the rugby union calendar bringing together the best sides in Europe. England, Wales, Ireland, France, Scotland and Italy compete…

In the last 1300 years Spike Island has been host to a 6th century Monastery, a 24 acre Fortress, the largest convict depot in the world in Victorian times and…

Vilified by her English adversaries as ‘a woman who hath imprudently passed the part of womanhood’, Grace O’Malley was ignored by contemporary chroniclers in Ireland, yet her memory survived in…

On the 12th of September 1910, the first female policewoman with arrest powers was appointed in the United States. Since then, women in law enforcement have never looked back. Alice…

In July 1959, An Garda Síochána welcomed twelve female members to its rankings. These women were the first female officers to ever join the organisation, and their bravery paved the…

The tapering headland of Hook Head, located in the south-western corner of county Wexford, forms the eastern boundary of the great estuary known as Waterford Harbour. The headland is sometimes called…

Galileo, in full Galileo Galilei, (born February 15, 1564, Pisa [Italy]—died January 8, 1642, Arcetri, near Florence), Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who made fundamental contributions to the sciences…

This November marks three decades since the Peaceful Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall. From art installations to dance parties, this is what’s planned. A seven-day city-wide festival…

Jimmy Hoffa, in full James Riddle Hoffa, (born February 14, 1913, Brazil, Indiana, U.S.—disappeared July 30, 1975, Bloomfield Hills, near Detroit, Michigan), American labour leader who served as president of…

The DUGA over-the-horizon radar was one of the most important elements of the early warning system against an American nuclear attack on the USSR. More expensive to build than the…

Few names have cast more terror into the human heart than Dracula. The legendary vampire, created by author Bram Stoker in his 1897 novel of the same name, has inspired…

Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and a saga spanning decades? Hook it to our veins. Given that it’s a historical epic, it might be handy to get…

Lee Harvey Oswald, (born October 18, 1939, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.—died November 24, 1963, Dallas, Texas), accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963….

Che Guevara, by name of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, (born June 14, 1928, Rosario, Argentina—died October 9, 1967, La Higuera, Bolivia), theoretician and tactician of guerrilla warfare, prominent communist…

George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, (born June 25, 1903, Motihari, Bengal, India—died January 21, 1950, London, England), English novelist, essayist, and critic famous for his novels Animal Farm…

During the Second World War, an estimated 140,000 Allied military personnel were captured by Japanese Imperial Forces and held in a network of camps stretching from Rangoon (Burma-Myanmar) down through…

Tom Crean was born to Patrick and Catherine Crean, on 25th of February 1877, at Gurtuchrane, near Annascaul in Co. Kerry, Ireland. Tom’s was one of ten children, and the…