Ireland

The oldest yew trees in the British Isles….?

Jul 31, 2023

buildings, religion, Science

Ankerwycke Yew, Blarney Castle, churches, Conwy, Daily Mail, DNA, Fortingall Yew, Ireland, Maynooth, paganism, Scotland, Silken Thomas tree, St. Cynog’s, tree rings, trees, Wales, Woodland Trust, yew tries

When it comes to yew trees (European variety – taxus baccata, picture from the Woodland Trust) the British Isles are very well endowed, not only with thousands of fine specimens, but hundreds of fine ancient specimens. Who hasn’t noticed the yew trees that grow by our parish churches? It’s said they’re a remnant of pagan…
Give the Carys a Blue Plaque….!

Jul 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

attainder, blue plaque, Cary family, Cockington, executions, exile, Henry IV, Henry V, Ireland, judges, Richard II, Sir Edward Seymour, Sir George Cary, Sir John Cary, Spanish Armada, Spanish Barn, Tewkesbury, Torbay Civic Society, Torquay, Torre Abbey

The above image is of the Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey, Torquay where George Cary and Sir Edward Seymour: “…..jointly took 400 prisoners during the Spanish Armada and some residents today know the men were imprisoned in what we still call ‘The Spanish Barn’. Torre Abbey estates were then purchased by the Cary family in…
A woman friend of King Richard II.

Jun 1, 2023

battles, buildings, sources, travel

Douglas Biggs, Duchess of Surrey, Duke of Surrey, Eltham Palace, Ireland, Margaret Sarnesfield, Richard II, widows

Thanks to the works of Douglas Biggs (cited below) I have learned something new and interesting about King Richard II. When he went to Ireland in 1399, he took a woman with him. The lady in question was a knight’s widow called Margaret Sarnesfield. Although her origins are uncertain, it is probable that she was…
The carpenter’s son who became King of England….

May 24, 2023

anniversaries, law, religion

“Lambert Simnel”, Battle of Stoke, Christ Church Cathedral Dublin, coronations, Edward of Warwick, Henry VII, Ireland, Oxford, podcasts

The story of Lambert Simnel is well-known, of course, but here is a podcast about him. It begins with adverts and they reappear during the narration, but the programme itself is interesting. Lambert is stated, categorically, to be the son of an Oxford carpenter. He is also described as being trained to be Edward…
The two islands of St Patrick’s Purgatory….

Apr 7, 2023

buildings, religion, sources

Armagh Abbey, County Donegal, Froissart, Ireland, Lough Derg, maps, Pettigo, pilgrims, popes, Purgatory, Richard II, Saints Island, Sir William Lisle, St. Patrick, St. Patrick’s Purgatory, Station Island

It would be true to say that Ireland often confounds this floundering English/Welsh writer. Because of the politics? No. Because of the weather? No. Because of the trouble past? No. Because of the religious complexities? No, although religion is at the heart of it. The point that is taxing my grey cells is to…
Born back Ceaselessly into the Past: the History of the Fitzgeralds

Apr 3, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, The play’s the thing

“Stepping out with Scott and Zelda”, Abraham Lincoln, Alabama, American War of Independence, Anglo-Irish relations, assassination, Baltimore, Drew-Barrymore stock company, Earl of Kildare, executions, F Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgeralds, flappers, Francis Scott Key, Gallowglass, Ghiraldinis, Henry VIII, House of York, Ireland, Italy, Jazz Age, John Wilkes Booth, judges, Kentucky, Kildare Rebellion, Lincoln conspiracy, Lord Baltimore, Mary Surratt, Maryland, Minerva Machen Sayre, Munster, Norman-French, Philadelphia, renaissance, Richard III, Scotts, Senators, Susquehanna River, The Spar Spangled Banner, Thomas Cresap, Trinity College, Tyburn, United Kingdom, USA, Willis B. Machen, Yorkshire, Zelda Sayre

When most people think of the beautiful Scott and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, they tend to think of the Jazz Age. That is the epithet coined by Scott to explain the wild ride of the 1920s – the drinking, the music, the partying, the real estate and stock market boom. And let’s not forget literary genius.…
Who was St Patrick…?

Mar 17, 2023

anniversaries, religion, travel

Cilfnydd, Elizabeth I, Ireland, Paddy’s Well, St. Patrick, Wales

Oh, the power of folklore. I was brought up in Cilfynydd, near Pontypridd. A mountain/very large hill rose behind the village and high on it was a spring which everyone called Paddy’s Well. I was told it got its name because St Patrick passed that way and drank from it. No doubt there are as…
An Irish take on the British peerage system

Mar 10, 2023

anniversaries, genealogy, law

Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Charles “III”, Charles I, Charles II, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Birkenhead, Earl of Wessex, Edward Earl of Wessex, executions, Godwin Earl of Wessex, hereditary peers, House of Lords, Ireland, Irish Central, Irish Treaty, Niall O’Dowd, Oliver Cromwell, posthumous execution, royal titles, Thomas Hardy, Viscount Castlereagh

Here is an article from Niall O’Dowd of “Irish Central” to mark the accession of Charles III. It makes a number of good points, although some others are debateable:1) Wessex may have ceased to be as a Kingdom when Athelstan took over the others (Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia) but it had Earls in the…
Whose horse once wore this item of chest harness….?

Mar 7, 2023

archaeology, battles, heraldry

Caherduggan, chest harnesses, County Cork, Heraldry Society, horse armour, Ireland, mediaeval horses, peytrels, Wells

In 2011/2012 a hoard of medieval artefacts was discovered down a well at the remains of castle of Caherduggan, near Doneraile, Co Cork. It included a complete peytrel/peytral/poitrel for a horse, which names derive from pectoral. Peytrels were worn around the horse’s chest, and although I’d never heard the name before, I recognised what it…
Death in Drogheda: Thomas Fitzgerald, 7th Earl of Desmond

Feb 15, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Perkin”, Anglo-Norman lordships, Annals of the Four Masters, Anne Butler, Annette Carson, archers, attainder, bigamy, Burkes of Clanricarde, coyne and livery, Dame Elizabeth Corbet, de Burghs, Dictionary of Irish Biography, dispensations, Drogheda, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Kildare, Earls of Ormond, Edward IV, Edward Plunkett, Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth Wydeville, Ellice Barry, executions, Fitzgeralds, Henry II, Henry V, Ireland, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester, Lionel of Antwerp, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Deputy of Ireland, Maurice Fitzgerald, Nesta of Wales, Pale, Peter Spring, Piltown, pre-contract, Ricardian, Sir John Butler, Sir Roland FitzEustace, South Munster, Statute of Kilkenny, Tadhg King of Thomond, The Book of Howth, The Ricardian, treason, William Shirwood

FAMILY BACKGROUND The FitzGeralds of Desmond traced their descent from Maurice FitzGerald, son of Gerald of Windsor and the Welsh princess Nest. The original Norman conquests were confined to the eastern parts of Ireland, and the Anglo-Norman lordship as created by Henry II was based on a clear division of authority between this area and…