Notes on Lansdowne Road, Dublin City

Notes on Lansdowne Road, Dublin City

The Ringsend Cars   Prior to a major land reclamation in the 18th century, most of the land between Lansdowne Road and the River Liffey at City Quay was a large salt-marsh, over which the ‘mingled waters’ of the River Dodder and the Irish Sea swept twice daily. The...
Notes on Kilbarrack (Cill Bharróg), County Dublin

Notes on Kilbarrack (Cill Bharróg), County Dublin

Highlighting figures like St. Bearach (early Christian saint), Roddy Doyle (renowned author), Eoin MacNeill (Irish revolutionary leader), and Francis Higgins (the “Sham Squire”), as well as local landmarks such as the dueling grounds. Become a member of Turtle’s...
Notes on Navan, County Meath

Notes on Navan, County Meath

These short blurbs were written for a panel installed in the Riverside Maxol station in Navan, County Meath, in 2023. Illustrated by the wonderful Derry Dillon, they celebrate Francis Beaufort’s contributions to cartography and meteorology, the Navan Carpet Factory,...
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,...
Hugh Gough – Of Opium Wars & the Punjabi Sikhs

Hugh Gough – Of Opium Wars & the Punjabi Sikhs

Hugh Gough commanded in more battles than any other British soldier of the nineteenth century save for his fellow Irishman, the Duke of Wellington. This included his victories in the Opium War and the Anglo-Sikh Wars. His mother was a Bunbury. Become a member of...