Lola Montez and the King of Bavaria

Lola Montez and the King of Bavaria

Lola Montez was one of the most famous dancers in Europe in the 1840s. Her love affair with the King of Bavaria brought him crashing down before she embarked upon a new life running a literary and social salon in California. This tale follows the rise and fall of this...
Richard Butler (1794-1862), Vicar of Trim and  Dean of Clonmacnoise

Richard Butler (1794-1862), Vicar of Trim and  Dean of Clonmacnoise

Maria Edgeworth’s sister Harriet married my grandfather’s great-uncle Richard Butler, Rector of Trim and Dean of Clonmacnoise, Described as ‘a handsome man with expressive eyes’, he was born at Granard, County Longford, in 1794. Complete access to all articles on this...
St. Columba (521-592) – the Making of a Missionary

St. Columba (521-592) – the Making of a Missionary

The story of the feisty Donegal missionary who brought Christianity to Pictish Scotland, after a devastating battle in Ireland, plus Iona's links to Lindisfarne ... and how a court case that he was embroiled in set a useful precedent for anyone advocating Google’s...

The McCarthys of Grange End

THE MCCARTHYS OF GRANGE END ORIGIN OF THE MCCARTHYS The McCarthy’s take their name from Cárthaigh, Lord of the Eoghanacht, who reigned over the Golden Vale of Tipperary in the early 11th century. He claimed descent from Eoghan, one of the two sons of Oilioll Olum, a...

Plunkett of Crickstown

EARLY ORIGINS The Plunkett family has been associated with Royal Meath for at least seven centuries. Although not indigenous to Ireland, the Plunkett name has become distinctly Gaelic over the course of time and there are no Plunketts anywhere in the world who are not...