Category: History

Harold Nicolson

Shortly after it was published in 2004 I was given Harold Nicolson, Diaries and Letters, 1907 – 1964 edited by his son Nigel.

Hallelujah

A few events I went to in November went unrecorded here. The rarely performed five act version of Don Carlo, sung in Italian, put on by Fulham Opera for starters.

History Matters

The Kilkenny Archaeology Society was founded in 1849. The County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society is a relative newcomer dating back only to 1903. There are hordes of other county historical societies and many of them have been publishing annual journals since their inception.

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Categorised as History

Dead Man’s Penny

The first I’d heard of a Dead Man’s Penny was by chance yesterday. If you know all about them you may want to skip to a digression at the end of the post.

Shrouds of the Somme

My grandfather was shot through the back of his neck by a sniper at the Somme. He was fortunate not to bleed to death. Three other Bellews died and have no graves.

Witney

Witney is famous as David Cameron’s constituency from 2001 to 2016  but three hundred years earlier Witney was synonymous with blankets.

Art at the Merrion

Sated with opera and black pudding we drove up the M11 to Dublin on Monday morning. Six of us in a hire car with our bags is cosy and, sportingly, the General took the rear gunner’s seat at the back. We met the Judge and Mr and Mrs Dog Lover for lunch at the Merrion.

MV Kerlogue

The Wicklow Mountains is one of the last places you’d expect to find a World War Two German War Cemetery. There are 134 graves two of which are for crew members of a German destroyer and two torpedo boats sunk by the British in 1943.

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Categorised as History