In 1792 the first formal burial ground for Sydney was established on the site which is now occupied by the Sydney Town Hall. In 1792 this was deemed sufficiently far from the settlement area such that it would not affect the health of the living and it would provide a place of quiet repose for the dead. Continue reading “Dead in the Town Hall – Old Sydney Burial Ground”
Located about 7 kms outside the village of Kiltycougher, Co. Leitrim, in the townland of Carraclooona, en route (indirect) from Bundoran to Enniskillen, I passed a small, very missable, sign advising of the presence of Prince Connell’s Grave. I pulled up, reversed back the necessary 100 metres or so and set out, on foot, about 50 metres across a peat bog to investigate. Continue reading “Prince Connnell’s Grave”
Having spent a few hours in Bundoran, albeit, due to inclement weather, a substantial part of it in the bar of the Great Northern Hotel, I decided on a route back to Enniskillen (where I was staying) which I don’t recall having ever taken before, that is via the R281 to Belcoo on the border and, from there, on into Enniskillen.
Having passed through the small village of Kinlough (which takes name from its position at the head of Lough Melvin – the Irish Cionn Locha meaning head of the lake) I spied the ruins of an old building, surrounded by trees, less than 50 metres off to my right so pulled in for a closer look. Continue reading “Old Kinlough Church and Cemetery and the Civil War”
The arrival of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) fleet into Sydney Harbour on 4 October 1913 was a great moment in Australian history. Australia now had direct control of the seas around the continent and no longer had to rely on the British Royal Navy. Continue reading “HMAS AE1 Memorial (…’the ocean bed their tomb’)”
Sydney’s Central Station is one of a number of grand turn-of-the-century sandstone buildings in the city, albeit an outlier as the majority of these are located within a short distance of Circular Quay and the former Government House. Continue reading “Central Station – Railway”
This Cathedral is a must see on your visit to Derry as it is inexorably linked with so much of the history of this City.
St Columb’s Cathedral, in Planter’s Gothic style, was built between 1628 and 1633, around 10 years after the City Walls were completed, making it the first Cathedral to be erected in the British Isles after the Reformation. It is the oldest building in the City and the mother church of the Church of Ireland Diocese of Derry and Raphoe and the parish church of Templemore. It is dedicated to Saint Columba, the Irish monk who established a Christian settlement in the area in the sixth century. Continue reading “Cathedral Church of St Columb’s”
In the grounds of St Columb’s Cathedral you cannot fail to notice a circular mound with an obelisk monument on top of it. Folklore and many misguided guides will tell you that this is the burial ground of the 13 original apprentice boys or indeed the 6,000 – 10,000 bodies of those who died in the 1689 Siege of Derry. Continue reading “Siege Heroes Mound”
The remains of Crevenish Castle are south-east of the village of Kesh on the Crevenish Road, or ‘the back road’ as the locals call it – a beautiful drive in itself.
The Castle (originally called Castle Hassett) was built by Thomas Blennerhassett a native of Norwich, England. Blennerhassett secured his land here – confiscated Maguire property – in 1610 as part of the Ulster Plantation. A church, built around the same time has long since disappeared. Continue reading “Crevenish Castle”
I have to say I was rather surprised when I visited Caldragh Cemetery on Boa Island, Lower Lough Erne. For many years I have seen just close-up pictures of “Janus” and the “Lusty Man” (properly referred to as the Boa Island and Lustymore figures respectively) and accordingly, or for whatever reason, assumed them to be at least a couple of metres high. On entering the cemetery I could not see the said figures. Wandering around I happened upon them – Janus being about 73cms tall and the Lusty man about 60cm – sitting in the centre of the graveyard among random stones that mark long-forgotten dead. A nearby base – which some think belongs to Janus – would, if that were the case, increase its size to nearly 2 metres. Continue reading “Janus and the Lusty Man”
“Within this famine pit lieth the unknown dead 1845-1850”
In 1836 a Poor Law Inquiry found that over one third of the people of Ireland depended on the potato as their main (almost only) source of food. The Potato Famine of 1845-49 brought inevitable results. Continue reading “The Famine Pit and the Hanging Tree”
The Rambling Wombat 