The Political World of Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde of Ballynastragh, Co. Wexford, 1862–1935

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…

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 …

Ireland’s first sanitorium

The St Ann’s Hill Hydro, County Cork, 1843–1953

Sinéad McSweeney and Ronan Foley

The St Ann’s Hill Hydropathic Establishment, or The Hydro, was Ireland’s first and pre-eminent sanitorium. The Hydro was built in in Co. Cork in 1843 and closed…

‘A miserable thing to be a woman’

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

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. It has been a Gaelic town,  Plantation town, estate town and …