What’s in a Name? The Houses of St Columba’s College

What’s in a Name? The Houses of St Columba’s College

Mar 19, 2023

St Columba’s College in Dublin is named for the feisty Donegal missionary best known who brought Christianity to Pictish Scotland, but who are the houses at the school named for? The story behind Iona, Stackallan, Beresford, Clonard, Holly Park, Glen, Gwynne,...
A Short History of Irish Gold

A Short History of Irish Gold

Mar 7, 2023

There is gold in Irish hills, as evidenced by recent finds on the Armagh-Monaghan border, Slieve Glah in County Cavan and the Sperrins Mountains of County Tyrone. Ireland’s rapport with gold actually began about 4,000 years ago when the Bell-Beaker people arrived in...
2. Kilkea Castle – De Ridelesford & the First Castle (1169-1304)

2. Kilkea Castle – De Ridelesford & the First Castle (1169-1304)

Feb 3, 2023

Following the Cambro-Norman conquest of Leinster in the late 12th century, the lands around Kilkea and Castledermot in County Kildare were granted to Walter de Ridelesford, a man with strong links to the Knights Templar. The original stone castle – once among the most...
Kilkea Castle (1) The Time Before the Normans

Kilkea Castle (1) The Time Before the Normans

Feb 3, 2023

Charting the emergence of the landscape around Kilkea Castle in County Kildare from the end of the last Ice Age through the establishment of the ringforts at Mullaghreelan and Mullaghmast, as well as St Caoide’s church, to the eve of the Cambro-Norman conquest in the...