Father Edwin Fitzgibbon & Doctor George Sigerson: The Monk & The Poet

Father Edwin Fitzgibbon & Doctor George Sigerson: The Monk & The Poet

The story behind Dr George Sigerson and Father Edwin Fitzgibbon, whose trophies are competed for annually by the top division GAA teams from the Higher Education. The two men were of a decidedly intellectual bent but, until recently, their work and influence has been...

Dr. James Barry (1789-1865): The Man Who Was A Woman

DR. JAMES BARRY (1789-1865): THE MAN WHO WAS A WOMAN London, 25 July 1865. It is unlikely that Sophia Bishop ever experienced a greater surprise. For the previous months, she had been serving as maidservant to Dr. James Barry, a former Inspector General of military...
Dr Bartholomew Mosse – Founder of the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin

Dr Bartholomew Mosse – Founder of the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin

Dr Bartholomew Mosse was the founder of Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital, the first purpose-built maternity hospital in the world, which opened in 1757. This highly motivated surgeon and man-midwife achieved his ambition through his immense gift for corporate fundraising:...
Charles Byrne, the Irish Giant (1761-1783)

Charles Byrne, the Irish Giant (1761-1783)

It’s not often that a funeral director buys everyone a drink, but this undertaker had his reasons. As the grateful and mostly Irish mourners supped upon free ale in an Essex pub that hot summer’s afternoon in 1783, the undertaker slipped out the back door. He made his...

Robert Ievers of Ballylusky

Robert Ievers of Ballylusky George Ievers of Athlacca’s eldest son Robert Ievers of Ballylusky and Castle Ievers was married twice. His first wife, whom he wed on 19th January 1747, was Mary Parsons of Cragbeg (Craigbeg) in County Limerick. Robert was made a Freeman...