Ireland’s first sanitorium

John Boyle, the Freeholder and pre-Famine Cork society

‘This Wild Infuriate’

Neil Cronin

John Boyle was an orphan with a difficult upbringing, impoverished and a social misfit, yet he achieved great prominence in early nineteenth-century Cork. A dis…

The life and politics of Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde, 1862–1935

Brian Fennell

This book examines the life and political career of a significant yet often overlooked figure in Irish nationalism. Politically active from 1885 to 1933, Thomas…

Scandal, satire and the battle for reputation in Limerick’s ascendancy, 1815–20

‘Unconquerable Malice’

Brian Leahy

Step into the turbulent world of nineteenth-century Limerick, where scandal, ambition and razor-sharp wit collide. This gripping account unravels the explosive …

Blarney Castle

An Irish tower house

James Lyttleton

Blarney Castle, the medieval home of the MacCarthy lords of Muskerry, is one of Ireland’s best-known castles. Many visitors to Ireland include a trip to the cas…

The daughters of the first earl of Cork

Writing family, faith, politics and place

Ann-Maria Walsh

Based on the recovery and analysis of the letters and private papers of the wife, daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters of Richard Boyle (1566–1643), …

Marsden Haddock and the Androides

Entertainment, late Georgian Cork and the wider world

Neil Cronin

By the late eighteenth century, many people had designated leisure time. The appetite for novelty in popular entertainment became insatiable. The hero of this s…

Mary Anne Tyrrell (1821–94) and her landed estate

‘A miserable thing to be a woman’

Lesley Whiteside

This study of a woman’s management of a middle-sized estate contributes to the understanding of agrarian society and the role of women in it. At the age of 32, …

Donegal town, 1474–1974

Matthew Potter

Donegal town is one of the most historic places in Ireland, and has given its name to Co. Donegal. Owned successively by three great families, the O’Donnells (1…