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One of my favourite periods in British history covers the 15th and 16th century War of the Roses and the English Reformation. It was a time of great political upheaval and a wholesale questioning of orthodoxy. While not quite Simon Schama, the television series ‘The Tudors’ does a fair job at historical accuracy, and as I’ve watched [...] The last few weeks have seen the annual rumblings of discontent in the media over the parliamentary recess. The Dáil will soon rise, and will not return until September at the earliest. Given that our elected representatives are not school children, this generous summer break is a little hard to fathom. Perhaps it would be interesting to consider [...] Pat Byrne, Eamon Kelly (my great uncle), John Dowling, Kevin Tiernan, Paddy Power, Paddy Carroll, Liam Tiernan Middle (l-r): ? Maguire, John Byrne, Ellen Dowling, Essie Carroll, Molly Heffernan, Tommy Connor, Christy Dowling Front (l-r): Eamon Tiernan, Peg Dowling, Bridgie Curran, Nuala Meaney, Maureen Galvin, Theresa Galvin, Ellen Curran, Breade Kelly (my grandmother), Rose Curran, [...] Last Monday, I was giving a lecture to the Kill Historical Society on the life of Gerry Sweetman. Sweetman first contested a general election in 1937, the last election to take place under the old Irish Free State Constitution. The members were curious about the adoption of that new constitution, and it gave me an opportunity [...] The National Archives are currently digitising the returns from the 1911 census, and putting the results online in a digital format. So far Antrim, Cork, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, King’s County (Offaly) and Wexford are online. Kildare and a number of others are slated for the next release in July. My own grandfather on the O’Donnell [...] Chríochnaigh Seachtain na Gaeilge inné, agus tá beagáinín náire orm, mar níor scríobh mé aon-rud as Gaeilge i rith an seachtain. B’fheidir go mbeidh mé ábalta rud suimúil a scríobh [...] Left to right (Sitting):- Mr Ernest Bevin, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Anthony Eden, Major C. Attlee, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir John Anderson, Mr Arthur Greenwood and SIr Kingsley Wood. (Standing): – Sir Archibald Sinclair, Mr A V Alexander, Lord Cranbourne, Mr Herbert Morrison, Lord Moyne, Captain Margesson, and Mr Brendan Bracken. There’s been a lot of talk [...] I’ve just discovered that my blog has been nominated in the Best Political Blog category of the 2009 Irish Blog Awards. Just want to say thanks to whoever put it in, tis nice to get [...] During the tumult of the English Civil War, the so-called Long Parliament summoned by Charles I to pay for his misadventures against the Scottish bishops was purged in 1648 by Colonel Pride. He ordered out those MPs who were not willing to put the king on trial for treason, thus bringing the remaining ‘rump’ decisively under [...] I watched the final installment of Dr David Starkey’s Monarchy series over the holidays, which focussed on the Windsors. After his 1,000 year review of the Crown, he finished by wondering what role the monarchy could fulfil into the future and he made an interesting observation on society. He noted that in the Victorian era, charitable contribution [...] |
Tony O'Donnell is a Fine Gael member of Kildare County Council in the Kildare LEA. He is a 30 year old engineer living in Kildare Town. You can read more by clicking About Tony O'Donnell. |
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