The Palatines in Ireland

The Palatines in Ireland

In 1709, just over 3,000 mostly Protestant refugees from Germany's Palatine region sailed for Ireland. Their descendants include the families of Switzer, Wyse, Keppel, Cooke, Young , Embury, Miller, Teskey, Baker, Poff and Gleasure. This article looks at the origins...

The Siege of Castlecuffe, County Laoise

The following was kindly transcribed by Máirtín D’Alton from Seosamh MacCába’s book, ‘Dúthaí Uí Ríagáin’ (Imperial Print, 1967): ‘During the Confederate Wars 1641-49, the O Dunnes of Ui Riagain led by Captain Daniel Dunne (Dónal óg) and Edward Dunne were up in arms...
Richard Boyle (1566–1643) – The Great Earl of Cork

Richard Boyle (1566–1643) – The Great Earl of Cork

Without question, Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork,  was the dominant figure on Ireland’s Blackwater Valley for the first forty years of the 17th century.  Indeed, the entrepreneur from Canterbury was one of the most extraordinary and powerful characters in Western...

Men in Tights – The Battle of the Boyne 1690

MEN IN TIGHTS – THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 1690 On a warm and sunny summer afternoon, I am walking across the River Boyne at Oldbridge, County Louth, when I chance upon an old codger taking his hound for a stroll. We strike up a conversation, about a ruined shell of a...
Finnstown House, Lucan, County Dublin

Finnstown House, Lucan, County Dublin

“Fyne’s Town” A legal record from 1547 refers to a property spelled “Fyne’s Town” located just outside Lucan, County Dublin. 17th century maps spell the name “Fyan’s Town”. This implies that it was once a town belonging to a family called Fyne or Fyan. Some suggest...