Past Tracks – An Illustrated Journey Through Irish History

Past Tracks – An Illustrated Journey Through Irish History

  Like Paddington Bear, the Past Tracks project came to life on a railway platform. In fact, so did Algernon Worthing in Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece, ‘The Importance of Being Ernest.’ I was standing on the platform at Hazelhatch, near Celbridge, County Kildare,...
Arthur Guinness (1759-1803) – The Brewing Maestro

Arthur Guinness (1759-1803) – The Brewing Maestro

The story of the man who founded the famous brewery at St James’s Gate in Dublin, including his ancestral link to the MacCartans of County Down, the controversy of his birth in Celbridge , his bequest from Archbishop Price and his marriage to the heiress Olivia...
Maunsell of Oakley Park, Celbridge, County Kildare

Maunsell of Oakley Park, Celbridge, County Kildare

A heroic defence of a Waterford against Cromwell’s army earned the Maunsell family respect from the Irish when they first settled in the mid 17th century. During the Georgian Age, they rose to prominence in Limerick, as bankers, politicians and Mayors. In the...
Conolly of Castletown House, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland

Conolly of Castletown House, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland

Charting the rise of Speaker Conolly, an innkeeper’s son from Donegal who became the most powerful man of his generation. His magnificent Palladian residence at Castletown House, Celbridge, is one of the Irish nation’s greatest treasures. Also looking at connections...