What’s in a Name? The Houses of St Columba’s College

What’s in a Name? The Houses of St Columba’s College

St Columba’s College, Whitechurch, Rathfarnham is named for St Columba, the feisty Donegal missionary best known who brought Christianity to Pictish Scotland, who I have written about here. But who are the houses at the school named for? What is the story behind Iona,...
St Oswald and St John the Baptist – Two Heads are Bigger Than One

St Oswald and St John the Baptist – Two Heads are Bigger Than One

Exploring the links between Northumbria and Ireland through the holy islands of Iona and Lindisfarne and the Saxon prince who founded Mayo. Also looking at St Oswald - a military man who became a deeply religious convert to Irish Christianity on Iona, the HQ of St...
A Short History of Irish Gold

A Short History of Irish Gold

There is gold in Irish hills, as evidenced by recent finds on the Armagh-Monaghan border and the Sperrins Mountains of County Tyrone. Ireland’s rapport with gold actually began about 4,000 years ago when the Bell-Beaker people arrived in from Europe, heralding the...
Kilkea Castle – (2) De Ridelesford & the Original Castle (1169-1304)

Kilkea Castle – (2) De Ridelesford & the Original Castle (1169-1304)

Following the Cambro-Norman conquest of Leinster in the late 12th century, the lands around Kilkea and Castledermot in County Kildare were granted to Walter de Ridelesford, a man with strong links to the Knights Templar. The original stone castle – once among the most...
Kilkea Castle  (1) The Time Before the Normans

Kilkea Castle (1) The Time Before the Normans

Charting the emergence of the landscape around Kilkea Castle in County Kildare from the end of the last Ice Age through the establishment of the ringforts at Mullaghreelan and Mullaghmast, as well as St Caoide’s church, to the eve of the Cambro-Norman conquest....