everyone thinks they can do better than the current crop of politicians at all levels of government. . . It was not long before I [discovered] that it is not as simple as it seems from what you read in the papers. Continue reading Monday Memories – Finding a Middle Way
The pattern of local elections in that part of the country at that time was as follows: in Grimsby one third of the councillors stood down in each of three successive years, in Cleethorpes the whole council was re-elected every four years as was the whole of the county council. Cleethorpes elections took place midway between county elections, which occurred on the year without a Grimsby council election. In case that’s difficult to follow: County Council elections took place in 1981, 1985 and 1989. Cleethorpes Borough Council elections in 1983 and 1987, Grimsby Borough Council elections occurred in 1982, 1983 … Continue reading Monday Memories – Campaigning Begins
Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK where same sex marriage is forbidden. It is the only part of the UK where politics is defined by religious extremism. Continue reading Britain and Borders – A Bloody Legacy
the narrative arts – theatre, film and literature – are the windows through which the rest of us are enabled to experience the lives of others. If those lives are miss-represented then it creates the cultural attitudes that drive some men to behave inappropriately toward women Continue reading Saturday Sound Off – #METO and the difficulty of creating believable characters.
You will not be disappointed, either by plot, by character development or by the sheer quality of the writing. Continue reading Buy This Book: Help Veterans and Horses
In case Sally’s description and Lesley’s review posted in Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore below don’t convince you to buy this book, here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2471099115 via Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – New Book on the Shelves – #WWI drama – The Dandelion Clock by Rebecca Bryn. Continue reading Don’t Spare the Horses
My thanks to Sally Cronin for featuring Strongbow’s Wife on her blog, along with an excellent review. For anyone that’s interested, there are two ways in which the Strongbow story connects with Archbishop Becket. Both he and Henry II were close friends with the Bristol merchant Aoife’s father first turned to for help in regaining his kingdom. And, once Beckett had been murdered in Canterbury Henry felt the need to atone. His mission to Ireland, suggested by the Pope some years earlier probably seemed like a good way of doing so. via Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Author Update … Continue reading Sharing Book Reviews
I’m planning a live launch of A Purgatory of Misery next month. I created a Facebook event and have been putting up daily posts about Irish history. I was going to repeat them here but I hit on a better idea. A quiz! If you know the answers it won’t take you long. If you don’t, you will find them over on the event’s FB page. Unfortunately it’s not interactive. I’ve researched several quiz widgets but WP requires me to upgrade to the business version in order to install them. Here are your questions. You can enter your answers in … Continue reading Irish History Quiz – Part 1
The spring and summer of 1848 saw failed rebellions in England and Ireland, both led by Irish men. And the Irish tricoleur, a symbol of peace, made its first appearance. In May, 170 years ago this month, the leaders of the Irish rebellion were sentenced to transportation. Continue reading A Double Irish Rebellion
Another entry in the Historical Ragbag’s Advent Calendar of Medieval Ruins involving Strongbow and his cohorts. I remember spending a few delightful days in Dunbrody, at a country house hotel run by one of Ireland’s ‘celebrity’ chefs. There’s a small brewery there, too, and I occasionally drink a glass of the excellent pale ale produced there. Not that any of that has anything to do with medieval history or Strongbow! Enjoy the article. The more I read about Irish history the more I understand the fraught relationship between the neighbouring islands. I do think it’s important, for English people especially, … Continue reading Another Connection Between Ireland and the Marcher Lords
