I was searching through old newspapers recently and came across this sad story. It’s a cold case about a young Quaker woman and a British soldier who both disappeared in the early 19th century. The place was Clonmel, County Tipperary, where I was born and, to this day, no one knows what really happened that night.
Dog Lovers from the Past
I’m addicted to flicking through the old photographs posted by the National Library on Flickr. They attract me in the way peeping through a window into the past would: to catch a glimpse of real people captured in a moment of the 19th century.
My recent research led me to a collection of ‘four-legged’ images, where I soon discovered that people in the Victorian-era, from all walks of life, were just as obsessed with their dogs as we are today.
The Abandoned Village of Glentornan
The Mythology around the Robin
Restoration of Secret Victorian Walled Garden at Kylemore Abbey
We were staying at Leenaun in Connamara recently for a school reunion of my husband’s class from over four decades ago! I hadn’t been there for many years, and it was wonderful to see how unspoilt it is; still with its beautiful golden and purple landscape at this time of year. Best of all, from my point of view, was the story of Kylemore Abbey’s restoration of an abandoned garden from decades ago.
Intricate and Intelligent Mystery Books by Anthony Horowitz
True Stories with an Odd Twist
A Mysterious Tapping from a Crate
In October 1941, a porter at Dublin’s North Wall Docks was surprised to hear tapping from a large crate that had been unloaded from a ship from Liverpool, the Slieve Bawn. At first he thought he was imagining this, but he decided to tap back and was immediately answered with another tap from inside.
Upon opening it, he found a 40-year-old French artist, Maurice Carcassus de Laboujac, semi-conscious and encased in a plaster cast…
The Forty Elephants – A female criminal gang in the Victorian era
London, 1890. A crowd jostled on Oxford Street amidst the cries of market traders, the smell of roasting chestnuts rising into the yellow fog. Two well-dressed women lingered at the corner, watching and waiting. Not long now. A tall gentleman walked past, top hat shining on his dark curls. His hand gripped an ebony cane, which he extended to ward off two urchins lounging against a nearby lamp post. The women exchanged glances. With a nod at her accomplice, Mary stepped forwards and hurried after him, her fingers snaking towards the pocket of his greatcoat.
Dunguaire Castle and its stories
I know why old Irish castles and towers stand on picturesque sites on the edge of the sea or on hillsides. Yes, our ancestors probably admired the views like we would do nowadays, but for them the main purpose was safety. Their homes required prominent positions because they needed to be able to see their enemies advancing from a long way off. It was vital they had time to prepare for an attack. Dunguaire Castle, near Kinvara and situated on the rocky coastline of Galway Bay, is a perfect example.
New Year... New Novel
A happy New Year to you all! We’ve just recovered from a ‘cold snap’ here in Ireland, which is unusual in these days of global warming. My county got away lightly with only a minor dusting of snow, followed by ice for about five days, but many parts of the south were covered in a thick blanket of snow. In Cork and Tipperary, people were stuck in their homes, some without electricity or internet. A group of enterprising teenagers in County Cork, bored without their wi-fi, built a snow igloo of impressive proportions and they ended up on the national television news. It makes a change to see such creativity being highlighted.