Colin Brady

Bowen in Convocation

I’ve come into Oxford on a quiet August day and as I’ve been reading Elizabeth Bowen’s A Time in Rome over these days of excessive heat, my mind has wandered to her links with this city and its university, remembering that I have previously said that some day I’ll take time to dig into theContinue reading “Bowen in Convocation”

A Brag for Summer

I admit that it wasn’t my idea but as my life in philanthropy and development has featured a lot of beer I was very pleased when a cheering summer brew crossed my desk at Campion Hall in Oxford. The Hall is named after Edmund Campion, the foremost scholar in Oxford of his time who becameContinue reading “A Brag for Summer”

Volunteers for Tolpuddle

Some of you may have noticed that I have been sharing information on my social media channles about events at the Old Chapel in Tolpuddle, Dorset. I joined the trustees of the Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust a year ago and have been chairing the board since the last AGM in June. I first heard aboutContinue reading “Volunteers for Tolpuddle”

Charles Plater SJ and the Lamb and Flag

I am not the landlord of the historic Lamb and Flag pub on St Giles’ in the heart of Oxford. Owned by St John’s College and on its current site since 1613, the pub featured in episodes of Morse, was a favoured watering hole for Graham Greene in his student days, and might be theContinue reading “Charles Plater SJ and the Lamb and Flag”

Soul Therapy

Notes on the development of a form of pscyhotherapy practised by priests at the Kneipp clinic at Worishofen in the late 19th Century and early years of the 20th Century I’ve shared a few pieces from a dissertation I wrote some thirty years ago, but only recently I realised that I haven’t provided any ofContinue reading “Soul Therapy”

The Ports and Harbours Tribunal in Killybegs, 1926

Transcript of Newspaper Report on The Ports and Harbours Tribunal in Killybegs, provided here for local history researchers Published on the 21st October 1926 Why Killybegs Port Failed, Traders’ Case Before Tribunal, Railway Promises Concessions From our Special Correspondent The Ports and Harbours Tribunal sat in the Marine Industrial School here to-day, and took evidenceContinue reading “The Ports and Harbours Tribunal in Killybegs, 1926”

The Mulreanys of Killybegs

Notes towards a family history of the Mulreany family of Killybegs, with reference to their links to the Wards of Faifannon and the Golds/Goulds of Ballyweell. I offer these notes in this rough format for the time being on the off-chance that they might be of interest to others researching the history of the MulreanysContinue reading “The Mulreanys of Killybegs”

1920 Teaching Notebook of Mary Mulreany

It’s taken me longer than I had hoped to get this second volume posted but here it is; the notebook used in 1920 by my great-grandmother, Mary Mulreany, for lessons at Niall Mór National School in Killybegs, Co. Donegal.

Sweet Memories

It’s summer and the icecream parlour beckons. If it’s available my choice will always be rum and raisin, and the first taste will bring me back to Killybegs and a taste memory from my childhood. My grandparents kept a tin of sweets on a shelf above the cooker and the only sweets that were everContinue reading “Sweet Memories”

Teaching notebooks of Mary Mulreany, Killybegs

Mary Mulreany (1878 – 1954) was a schoolteacher in Killybegs, Co Donegal. Two of the notebooks that she used for preparing lessons survive, although in somewhat battered state. Mary was the daughter of John C Ward, another national school teacher in the area who was involved in the revival of the Irish language, and MaryContinue reading “Teaching notebooks of Mary Mulreany, Killybegs”