The Somme offensive in 1916 was one of the biggest and bloodiest battles of the First World War. With well over one million casualties and 300,000 fatalities, the five-month battle finally came to an end on the 18th November, 1916.…
In recent years (the tropical chapter), the week before Christmas each year, my next door neighbour, Carol, would play festive tunes. Classics from a bygone era, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, etc would delightfully waft…
At the end of last year, I was trying to enhance an old photo of Joseph Bamford’s store, at the Arcade, in Kilrea. The photograph was taken over a hundred years ago. It was of very poor quality, and was…
Five months ago, in early November 2020, I decided to look more at the British government’s excellent 1876 publication: Owners of land of One Acre and Upward, Ireland Return. This publication documented, on the island of Ireland, all those owners…
Back in 1740, a census was conducted in Ireland of Protestant Householders. This list of data was compiled by the collectors of the Hearth Tax. Unfortunately the original records were destroyed in the infamous 1922 fire in Dublin. However transcripts…