Sir Walter Raleigh in Ireland

Sir Walter Raleigh in Ireland

Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the most one of the most enigmatic adventurers, soldiers, scholars and courtiers to emerge in the Tudor Age. This essay looks at his multiple Irish connections, good and bad. Much of the information was gleaned from an excellent...
Sir William Stanley – Hero, Traitor & Bunburying in Tudor Ireland

Sir William Stanley – Hero, Traitor & Bunburying in Tudor Ireland

The tale of a remarkable man, a Catholic in Queen Elizabeth's army, who was tipped to be Viceroy of Ireland until he allied himself with Catholic Spain and became intricately involved with the Babington Ploy, the Spanish Armada and the ill-fated Gunpowder Plot...

Thomas Harriot – The True Discoverer of the Potato

Sir Walter Raleigh will forever to be associated with the potato. It may even be true that he grew the first potatoes in Ireland at his home Myrtle Grove, Youghal. However, the first Englishman to discover potatoes was Thomas Harriot, a remarkable scientist who...
William Whitelocke-Lloyd: The Irishman who Sketched the Zulu War

William Whitelocke-Lloyd: The Irishman who Sketched the Zulu War

The story of an independent spirit from County Waterford who was kicked out of Oxford for partying too noisily, and found himself painting the horrors of the Anglo-Zulu War while serving with the the 24th Foot in the time of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, plus the...

A Scandalous Affair – Princess Penelope of Capua (1815–1882)

A SCANDALOUS AFFAIR – PRINCESS PENELOPE (1815 – 1882) NB: For more on Miss Penelope Smith’s family, see sections on Smyth of Ballynatray, Ponsonby of Kilcooley Abbey and the Earls Mouncashell. The author of the 1853 Tourists Illustrated Handbook for Ireland advised...