Heritage News | The Irish Times

‘Not every woman is a born mother, although Irishwomen, as a race, have the reputation for being so’, Barbara Dickinson wrote in 1944.

Intelligence, will power and skill: Depicting homemaking in 1944

Una Mullally
March 22, 2020

How Mother’s Day become mainstream ‘as appreciation of all the unselfish service’

Tomás MacCurtain, who was later murdered by members of the RIC in 1920, was the Brigade Commander of the Irish Volunteers in Cork city and county in 1916.

Covid-19 derails events recalling murdered lord mayor of Cork Tomás MacCurtain

Barry Roche
March 19, 2020

Family express disappointment at cancellations to mark the centenary of his death

Kathleen Clarke, the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin.

Out of 697 Dublin mayors, why have only eight been women?

Una Mullally
March 8, 2020

From the archive: Kathleen Clarke became the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1939

Using popular maps applications from Google and Apple, a journalist found at least 15 unrecorded monuments in the Brú na Bóinne complex. Photograph: Dara MacDónaill

Underwater study reveals possible quay at Brú na Bóinne

Paul Murphy
March 1, 2020

Conference hears many more discoveries could be made at archaelogical site

WB Yeats was invited to speak at St Bartholomew’s Vicarage by the Rev Walter Simpson, as part of the parish’s annual sale of work in 1923. Photograph: Getty Images

How did Yeats interpret his own poetry? A clue lies in an Irish Times article from 1923

Una Mullally
March 1, 2020

From the archive: ‘Mr Yeats was enjoying the satisfaction of recognition in his own lifetime’

Irish folk singer Maura O’Connell at the Clarence Hotel in Dublin in 2013. File photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons/The Irish Times

How Maura O’Connell won over more than just women’s hearts

Una Mullally
February 23, 2020

From the archive: In 1981, Maura O’Connell was voted the number one female singer by Hot Press

The Bottom Field, Glasson, Co Westmeath

Uncovering Ireland’s lost field names before it’s too late

Manchán Magan
February 22, 2020

Many names come from a place’s attributes, while the origins of others are unknowable

In 1952 Archbishop John D’Alton of Armagh drew a correlation between people going to dances and the spread of TB. Photograph: iStock

When the Church blamed dances for the spread of tuberculosis in Ireland

Una Mullally
February 16, 2020

From the Archive: ‘The remedy will come, not from legislation, but from the common sense of the people themselves’

Ted Kennedy at the Hist, 1970

‘The Hist’: 250 years of self-indulgent theatrics and transformative debate

Patrick Geoghegan
February 16, 2020

Trinity’s College Historical Society has had an impact on Irish life and world events

Olwyn Donovan from Drimnagh about to kiss The Diceman (Thom McGinty) during her St Valentine’s Day 1992 attempt to set a world record for the number of kisses in eight hours. Photograph: Frank Miller

Remembering The Diceman: gay icon, national treasure and obstacle on the way to work

Trevor White
February 15, 2020

Thom McGinty was one in a long line of legendary Dublin street characters, like Zozimus and Bang Bang

1970: The stamps and coins stall at the Pansy market on Montague street. Photograph: Tommy Collins/The Irish Times.

A guide to Dublin’s old ‘junk’ markets

Una Mullally
February 9, 2020

From the archive: ‘The true junk lover knows that time is even more essential than money to successful junk hunts’

Telefís Éireann’s St Brigid’s Cross design in 1962. Photograph: RTÉ

The evolution – and disappearance – of Brigid’s cross in RTÉ’s logo

Una Mullally
February 1, 2020

From the archive: The distinctive and iconic design was removed by the station in 1995

The unearthed ruins of a 300-year-old church on the site of the former Apollo House office block at Tara Street, Dublin. Photograph: The Irish Times

Ruins of 300-year-old church to rise again alongside office tower

Ronald Quinlan
January 29, 2020

Developer begins clearing historic site with plan to restore stone for heritage feature for Apollo House development

Ads in the newspaper in January 1919 featured everything from ‘exhibition jazz dances’ at a ballroom on Adelaide Road, to ‘jazz teas’. Photograph: iStock

How the press reacted when jazz music came to Dublin

Una Mullally
January 26, 2020

From the archive: ‘A new form of music introduced from Africa probably’

The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, a jewelled breast star, sold for €32,343 – more than three times its estimated price The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, a jewelled breast star, sold for €32,343 – more than three times its estimated price

Sale of Garech Browne's Luggala contents raises over €500,000 at auction

Brian Hutton
January 21, 2020

Sixty lots from home of late Garech Browne under the hammer at Sotheby’s

A mole within Dublin Castle was able to identify all 37 men in a photograph of F Company which reported to the chief of police in Dublin Castle and was involved in intelligence. Photograph: Dara MacDonaill/The Irish Times

War of Independence discovery reveals IRA spy network

Ronan McGreevy
January 21, 2020

Undercover agents within British services able to identify targets for IRA assassination

Hammerson, the UK property group that owns the site stretching from O’Connell Street to Moore Street, said it wanted to lodge a planning application with Dublin City Council this year. File photograph: Nick Bradshaw

No date for Moore Street 1916 commemorative centre

Olivia Kelly
January 20, 2020

Derelict national monument has ‘destroyed footfall’, Moore Street businesses say

A worker folds linen for tea towels at a Belfast linen factory in 1949. Photograph: George Konig/Keystone Features/Getty Images

The long history of linen-making in Ireland

Una Mullally
January 19, 2020

From the archive: In 1917, The Irish Times printed an article about ‘our debt to William III’ for his contribution to the Irish textile industry

Claddagh rings from Garech Browne’s collection feature in the Sotheby’s Royal and Noble sale on January 21st in London.

Rings bring Claddagh Records story full circle

Elizabeth Birdthistle
January 18, 2020

Claddagh rings from Garech Browne’s collection feature in a forthcoming Sotheby’s sale. Jane Bolton who helped Browne set up Claddagh Records is still running the Temple Bar shop today

Gerry Fitt addressing a party conference in Belfast. Photograph: Tom Lawlor

The day the SDLP was formed ‘in the spirit of optimism’

Una Mullally
January 12, 2020

From the archive: ‘There has been a need in Northern Ireland for a strong political alternative to the Unionist Party’

The Irish Times Summer Nights festival: Join Anne Enright, Marian Keyes, Fintan O’Toole and more Series of online talks on July 13th-16th features Irish Times journalists and special guests

Subscriber Only

Most Read in Culture

Ireland could be “Scandinavia, but more fun” if we took a few simple decisions, David McWilliams told the opening night of the Irish Times Summer Nights online festival

David McWilliams: ‘Ireland is three decisions away from being a perfect country’

Thandie Newton. Photograph: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Thandie Newton names names. Will Hollywood punish her?

Dublin City Council said it was “serious consideration will be given in light of the most recent attack to alternative ways of protecting this important work. Removal temporarily or permanently or finding an alternative site cannot be ruled out” due to the ongoing vandalism. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Man in his 40s arrested and due in court over damage to Luke Kelly sculpture

Costner reportedly earned $500,000 per episode

Yellowstone: Kevin Costner looks like he’s just stepped on something sharp

50 best Irish albums of all time – in order

Dermot Kennedy: ‘I had feelings that I could not keep inside, and music was the best way I could figure to get them out.’ Photograph: Leonardo Veloce

Dermot Kennedy: ‘I won’t let anyone take advantage of me or my music’

Author Nuala O’Faolain was truthful to the point of being self-destructive. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien

Anne Enright: ‘Nuala O’Faolain was an impossible person, to whom we owe so much’

In her prime: a youthful Whitney Houston on stage in June 1988. Photograph: RDA/Getty Images

The sad, secret life of Whitney Houston

Patrick Stewart: the actor turns 800 today. Photograph: Mark Sommerfeld/New York Times

‘He’s so strapping and virile’: Patrick Stewart at 80, by Shatner, McKellen, Grammer and more

US first lady Melania Trump. File photograph: Julien De Rosa/Pool/AFP/Getty

Melania Trump: ‘A sphinx with a rubber eraser in place of a tail’

Real news has value

Book Offers

Book Offers

From The Irish Times Book of the Year to Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, you'll find books for all tastes and ages.

Sign In

Forgot Password?

Sign Out