Book Review - Irish Studies Review

I recently reviewed the book, The Bordeaux-Dublin Letters, 1757: Correspondence of an Irish Community Abroad, for the journal Irish Studies Review. It has been published online and is available to read at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2016.1147138

The book tells the fascinating story of a bundle of letters that were seized when a Dublin-registered ship was stopped by a British privateer in the Bay of Biscay in 1757. The letters and other related items formed part of a court case and were held in the British National Archives until they were rediscovered by accident by an American researcher in 2011.

Photograph of front cover of The Bordeaux-Dublin Letters, 1757.

It really was like finding a time capsule, a time capsule that transported the reader back 250 years witnessing how friendships, private relationships, as well as societies, operated. This was such an amazing find and reminds us of the fascinating discoveries still to be made in archives and libraries around the world.

'The Irish Whip': Danno O'Mahony - RTÉ's Sunday Miscellany

I recently recorded a short piece on the RTÉ Radio 1 programme 'Sunday Miscellany' about the Irish wrestler, Danno O'Mahony (1912-1950). Born in the townland of Derrenlomane, outside the village of Ballydehob, County Cork, O'Mahony won the World Heavyweight Championship in 1935.

Danno's wrestling move was known as the 'Irish Whip'. He used it to great effect to disarm his opponents. Listen to it here (from 9 min 25 seconds).

 

Photo of Danno's statue on Ballydehob's main street.