Category: Short Histories
Braigetóir: An Unusual Medieval Jester
In medieval Ireland there was a jester known as Braigetóir[i]. How did his entertain his lord? By passing wind, the…
Thor’s Wood, a sacred grove near Viking Age Dublin?
In late December 999 AD Brian Bóruma, king of Munster, decisively defeated the Vikings of Dublin[i] at the battle of…
Treasure into ashes: A 19th century cist burial discovery
I recently came across an interesting 19th century account describing the discovery of a Bronze Age cist burial at Mullaun,…
Old photos of Ireland, Series 2
This is the second in our series of old photos of Ireland taken from the Library of Congress Collections. The images,…
Dublin’s Medieval High Cross
This image shows Dublin city’s lost medieval ‘High Cross’ as drawn by John Simons in 1784. The panels on the shaft contain…
Photos of Ireland in the 1930s: The past is a foreign country
This amazing collection of colourised photographs was taken by an American photographer Branson DeCou (1892-1941) between 1932 and 1935. DeCou spent…
The death of an elephant, Dublin, 1681
I stumbled across a curious 17th century account of an elephant in Dublin city recently. Yes, you read right, an…
Early photos of Ireland’s iconic heritage sites
This fantastic collection of old photographs documents some of Ireland’s most iconic archaeological and heritage sites. The photographs date from…
Hurling, its ancient history
A history of hurling. On the weekend of the All-Ireland hurling final it seems only fitting that the history of…
Bones of the Vikings: when raiding goes wrong
The ninth and tenth centuries saw the arrival of a new force on the Irish political scene, the Vikings. These…
