Lennox is the daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate grandson of King Charles II, and Lady Sarah Cadogan. She is renowned for her beauty, vivacity, and intellectual curiosity, and is considered the most attractive and socially adept of the Lennox sisters. She is presented at court at the age of thirteen and becomes engaged to James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare, in 1745.
James FitzGerald becomes Marquess of Kildare and then Duke of Leinster in recognition of his political influence. The couple’s financial arrangements are generous, leaving FitzGerald a substantial jointure and properties, which later strains the resources of her surviving children.
After the Duke of Leinster’s death in 1773, FitzGerald marries her children’s tutor, William Ogilvie, on August 26, 1774, having already begun an affair. Ogilvie is nine years her junior and the likely biological father of her youngest son from her first marriage. She and Ogilvie have three additional children together, two of whom survive into adulthood. She spends time in France and Ireland before eventually settling in London to oversee her daughters’ marriages and engage in social affairs.
FitzGerald is a keen reader, politicized, and culturally active. She has a strong interest in literature, politics, and Enlightenment ideas, influenced by thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. She actively manages her estates and interiors, notably Carton House and its gardens, and pursues educational and outdoor activities for her children, demonstrating innovation in child-rearing and estate management.
FitzGerald is deeply affectionate and attentive to her children, particularly Lord Edward FitzGerald, a key figure in the Irish republican movement. She is involved in mourning and supporting her children, enduring the deaths of fourteen of her 22 children across both marriages. She also navigates complex social and financial challenges, ensuring her families’ estates and alliances endure despite societal pressures.
FitzGerald’s life and correspondence exemplify the culture, politics, and familial dynamics of eighteenth-century Anglo-Irish aristocracy. She has been depicted in numerous portraits by artists including Sir Joshua Reynolds, Allan Ramsay (pictured above), and Arthur Devis. Her story, and that of the Lennox sisters, is popularized in Stella Tillyard’s 1994 book Aristocrats and the six-part BBC/PBS television series adapted in 1999, highlighting her role in history, society, and culture.
In summary, Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster, is remembered as a central figure of aristocratic Ireland and Britain, a mother to a large and influential family, and a socially and politically engaged noblewoman whose life bridged familial devotion, political awareness, and cultural sophistication.
McCarthy’s early career was meteoric: his first book, An outline of Irish history from the earliest times, appears in 1883 and is a fast-moving, strongly worded, nationalist sketch of Irish history. This is followed by a heavy-handed dramatic poem, Serapion (1883), about the early Christian era. In June of the following year he is returned as the Home Rule LeagueMP for Athlone on the death of the sitting member, and also publishes, to excellent reviews, England under Gladstone, which runs to a second edition within a year. In November 1884, his first play, The Candidate, is an overnight success in the Criterion Theatre in London. Its plot is thin but the humour and political badinage ensures it a long run.
At the 1885 United Kingdom general election McCarthy is elected nationalist MP for Newry, and he holds this seat until 1892. In the two years after his election he writes a number of novels, translates works from Persian, and writes Ireland Since the Union (1887), which is well researched, nationalist and impassioned in tone, showing a flair for biographical sketches. During this period he is known for his good attendance in the House of Commons though he does not speak much – throughout his life he is more an observer than a participator – and he is said by William O’Brien to conceal “under the gentlest of exteriors the fire of the ‘Spirit of the Nation’ ballad” (New Ireland Review, 523). In London he is well known for his controversial drama reviews in The Gentleman’s Magazine and the Sunday Sun, and in Dublin for his numerous verse and prose contributions to United Ireland. Although he makes a name for himself as a brilliant young man, he never fulfills his early promise.
In later years McCarthy continues to publish prolifically but produces only ephemeral works, and his parliamentary attendance slackens off. His political commitment is soured possibly by the party’s split in 1890. He originally sides with Charles Stewart Parnell, emphasizing in a speech on December 1, 1890, that he believes in the old-fashioned theory of personal loyalty to a leader. However, five days later he causes a minor drama by rising at the last minute to follow his father and the forty-three other anti-Parnellites, claiming that he feels he must abide by the decision of the majority. Two years later he leaves politics for good without standing in the 1892 United Kingdom general election. A sympathetic profile of him in the New Ireland Review in 1894 remarks that “no man of equal talents made so slight an impression on the political world.”
Thereafter McCarthy has less involvement in Irish affairs and writes no more Irish history books, though his novels continue to have Irish themes. He lives in London in Putney Common, and continues to travel widely. In 1894, he marries in some haste a popular comic actress, Cecilia Loftus, and the event is widely reported in the English press. However, the marriage is dissolved in the United States five years later. In 1908, his second marriage is to Loullie, daughter of Henry Killick of Budapest. He continues to enjoy success as a dramatist and has five plays, four sketches, and three duologues performed in London in the 1890s. However, he concentrates increasingly on historical fiction, which he produces at breakneck speed. In the first decade of the twentieth century he writes over twelve novels based on periods in English, Italian, French, and Irish history. The Illustrious O’Hagan (1906), The O’Flynn (1910), and The King Over the Water (1911) pointedly contradict English stereotypes of the “stage Irishman.” The Fair Irish Maid (1911) is an allegory of the Irish Parliamentary Party‘s political marriage to the ordinary Irish people rather than to the Anglo-Irishascendancy.
McCarthy dies at home in Putney on March 20, 1936 aged 79, although his obituaries all put his age at 75.
(From: “McCarthy, Justin Huntly” by Bridget Hourican, Dictionary of Irish Biography, http://www.dib.ie, October 2009)
Ellis is from an Irish republican family, and both of his grandfathers fought in the Easter Rising in 1916. He later owns a television repair business.
Ellis is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner. He is arrested in 1981, when explosives and bomb making equipment are found under his bed. He is charged with possession of explosives. He jumps bail, but is arrested in Buffalo, New York in February 1982 and extradited to the Republic of Ireland, where in April 1983, he is sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment in Portlaoise Prison. He is convicted of possessing multiple power-timer units for IRA bombs, including those suspected of being used in the Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings. In 1983, his fingerprints are found on a huge cache of IRA explosives found in a forest outside the Berkshire town of Pangbourne. The cache is linked to the Harrods and Hyde Park bombings. On November 14, 1990, after thirty-five days on hunger strike, he becomes the first person extradited from the Republic of Ireland to the United Kingdom under the 1987 Extradition Act. He goes on hunger strike to protest efforts to send him to Britain, but is extradited in the sixth week of his fast. His hunger strike draws considerable domestic and international attention, and at one point TaoiseachCharles Haughey intervenes, asking Ellis’ parents to ask him to give it up, but they refuse. He is acquitted at his trial in London in October 1991.
Ellis is first elected to Dublin City Council in 1999, for the Finglas local electoral area. He unsuccessfully contests the 2002 Irish general election in the Dublin North-West constituency, and receives 4,781 first-preference votes (18.3%). He is again unsuccessful at the 2007 Irish general election in the same constituency, receiving 4,873 votes (15.7%). At the 2011 Irish general election, he is elected to the 31st Dáil with 7,115 (21.7%) of the first-preference votes.
In October 2014, following claims made by Máiría Cahill that she had been raped as a 17-year-old by a member of the Provisional IRA, Ellis states that “If an allegation was made against a volunteer it would have to be investigated [internally]…To be honest they were not qualified to deal with something like sexual abuse”. Based on this, Philip Ryan of the Irish Independent accuses Ellis of admitting that the IRA ran “kangaroo courts.”
In September 2016, a bill is put forward, which if passed would criminalise hare coursing. Sinn Féin supports the legalisation of hare coursing and decides to apply the party whip. As Ellis opposes it he declines to vote. He defies party instructions by not informing party whip Aengus Ó Snodaigh that he will not be taking part in the vote so he could be excused. He is subsequently given a written warning.
In December 2016, during a session of the Dáil, Ellis and his fellow Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris are accused by Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell of having information in relation to the shooting of Brian Stack, the chief prison officer at PortlaoisePrison, in 1983. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams had just delivered an address to the Dáil in relation to Stack when Farrell rises and uses Dáil privilege to state Gerry Adams had listed Ellis and Ferris as amongst people who may have information about the Stack death in an e-mail to the Garda Commission in February 2014, and ask that the two should also address the Dáil on the matter. Ellis immediately responds by stating, “I refute [sic] any allegations. For the information, the man in question claims to be a solicitor, I was actually in jail for the period. In Portlaoise, and before that in America, so you should check your facts. You’re a disgrace.” Ferris follows Ellis, and states, “On the record of this house; In 2013, I met with gardaí at their request regarding the death of Brian Stack, I co-operated fully with them and I have nothing to answer for, and it’s a disgrace what you have come in here naming. You should be ashamed of yourself.” In December 2016, Ellis states he had received death threats following the exchange in the Dáil.
In February 2018, Ellis is censured by Sinn Féin after he states publicly that fellow party member and councillor for Ballymun Noeleen Reilly is “not fit to represent Sinn Féin” and that she had waged a social media campaign against him. For her part, Reilly is suspended by the party for six months.
At the 2020 Irish general election Ellis is again elected with 14,375 first-preference votes (44.4%). He is a poll topper in the 2020 general election along with many Sinn Féin TDs in the 2020 election. He is criticised for joining his supporters singing “Come Out, Ye Black and Tans” at the count, but he dismisses the suggestion it is inappropriate.
In 2012, the Irish Independent, citing released internal documents held by the British government that were previously sealed for 30 years, alleges that by 1982 British authorities believe Ellis to be linked to “50 murders” as part of his time in the Provisional IRA. The allegation specifically cites a telegraph from the British embassy in Washington, D.C., to American counterparts in which they claim that Ellis is linked by “forensic evidence to some 50 murders” across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Independent claims another document states that Ellis is a “leading member” of the Provisional IRA.
Sinn Féin denounces the allegations as an “Indo Smear” and releases a statement declaring, “This is not the first time such unsubstantiated allegations have been made and Dessie Ellis rejects them as he has repeatedly done. Following a prolonged hunger strike in the 1990s to protest his extradition to Britain, Dessie successfully beat these trumped-up charges in court. Dessie Ellis has made no secret of his involvement in the republican struggle over many decades, including within the ranks of the IRA. Dessie has also been an important persuader for the Peace Process for many years.” Ellis does not make any personal statement on the allegations and refers journalists to Sinn Féin’s official statement.
Ellis is proficient in karate, holding a black belt, and teaches martial arts to young people. He is married to Anne Ellis (née Dunne) with grown up children.
On September 16, 1920, the British double agent John Henry Gooding, operating under the alias F. Digby Hardy, makes a dramatic overture to the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Hardy, a habitual criminal with a long record of forgery, fraud, and petty crime, has been recruited by British intelligence to infiltrate the IRA’s intelligence network and capture Michael Collins.
Born in 1868 in Devonport, Plymouth, England, Hardy has a troubled life marked by multiple imprisonments, bigamy, and a career in petty crime. After deserting the Royal Navy in 1888, he adopts the alias “Frank Hall” and lives in Surrey before moving to London. By 1920, he is a known criminal with a five-year fraud sentence in 1918, partially served until his release in 1919.
Hardy approaches IRA intelligence, offering to betray his British superior, Basil Thomson, to the IRA. The plan is for him to infiltrate the IRA’s network and hand over information on Collins. However, the operation is foiled when Arthur Griffith, a leading Irish republican, intercepts Hardy’s mission.
Griffith arranges a staged meeting in Dublin attended by international journalists. Hardy is confronted and, upon presentation of evidence, confesses his mission and criminal background. The exposure embarrasses British intelligence and draws international attention.
Rather than being executed, Hardy is given until the next morning to leave Ireland. He flees, resuming petty crimes until his death in 1930. The September 16, 1920 incident becomes a notable example of how British intelligence’s reliance on unreliable agents could backfire during the Irish War of Independence.
In summary, on September 16, 1920, F. Digby Hardy (John Henry Gooding) attempts to betray his British handler to the IRA, but is exposed and forced to flee Dublin after being misled by Arthur Griffith into revealing his mission to reporters.
Cromwell’s death is the result of a painful urinary tract infection that leads to blood poisoning. He has been in declining health for some time, and his final days are marked by illness and discomfort. His death comes just over nine years after the Siege of Drogheda in Ireland, which begins in August 1649 and becomes one of the most infamous episodes of his military career.
The Siege of Drogheda, in which Cromwell’s forces execute thousands of Irish defenders, remains a major point of controversy in his legacy. His death in 1658 is met with celebration by many in England, as it paves the way for the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660. After his death, his body is exhumed in 1661 and publicly hanged in chains before being thrown into a pit to ensure he is dead.
Cromwell is remembered as a decisive military leader who helps restore England’s status as a leading European power, but also as a controversial figure whose actions in Ireland leave a lasting scar on Anglo-Irish relations. His death on September 3, 1658, thus marks both the end of his political and military influence and a turning point in the post-Civil War period in Britain.
The killing is widely seen as a political act, with Dunne and O’Sullivan claiming to have acted in defence of Irish nationalist principles, blaming Wilson for the “Orange Terror” and the deployment of the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). Some historians suggest the assassination may have been intended to pressure Michael Collins to attack the Four Courts garrison, though no conclusive evidence of orders was ever established.
After the shooting, Dunne escapes but O’Sullivan is captured by a hostile crowd. Dunne attempts to rescue him but is himself arrested after wounding two police officers and a passerby. Both are tried quickly, found guilty after just three minutes of deliberation, and sentenced to death by Justice Montague Shearman.
Despite petitions from 45,000 people and appeals from figures like George Bernard Shaw, both men are executed on August 10, 1922, and buried within the prison grounds.
The executions are a major political flashpoint. It is only after the abolition of hanging that the law is changed and Joseph’s brother, with the assistance of the Irish National Graves Association, is able to arrange for the bodies of the two men to be repatriated to Ireland.
Dunne’s trial speech, reprinted in the Irish Independent, remains a notable piece of republican political rhetoric, framing the act as a necessary stand for Irish rights.
(Pictured: Joseph O’Sullivan (left) and Reginald Dunne (right))
Between 1959 and 1977, Trimble is professor of accompaniment and musicianship at the Royal College of Music.
Trimble’s compositional career spans two decades, producing works such as Buttermilk Point (1938), The Heather Glen (1949), Phantasy for Piano Trio (1940), and the suite Ulster Airs (1939–40). In 1957, she makes a notable mark by composing Blind Raftery, the first new opera by a woman to be broadcast on BBC Television.
Later in life, Trimble inherits her father’s newspaper, becoming its proprietor and editor, and takes up composition again in 1990 when commissioned for her 75th birthday. She dies in Enniskillen on August 6, 2000, at the age of 85, two weeks after the death of her husband. She is remembered for her contributions to Irish music, her skill as a pianist, and her role in preserving her family’s legacy in both the arts and journalism.
In 2002, the Joan Trimble Awards Scheme is established by her family in her memory, and administered by the Fermanagh Trust “in recognition of her lifelong commitment to County Fermanagh.” The purpose of the scheme is to encourage and support the involvement of young people in creativity, the performing arts and Irish culture, and to provide bursaries for training and education.
In 2012, Fermanagh County Museum stages an exhibition titled “Buttermilk Point: The Musical Life of Joan Trimble, 1915–2000.”
On June 18, 2015, “Music in Fermanagh” presents A Celebration Concert as part of the Joan Trimble Centenary Celebration at the Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen.
The Coalition Government, led by Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George, is in power from 1918 to 1922 following the end of World War I, continuing the wartime alliance that has included Liberals and Conservatives. By 1920, the Cabinet is navigating Spain’s post-war reconstruction, the political unrest in Ireland, social welfare issues, and economic stabilization following wartime disruption. This period also sees preparation for negotiations over Germany’s reparations and engagement with international diplomacy after the Treaty of Versailles.
The Coalition Cabinet keeps detailed minutes and memoranda, which are recorded in the CAB 23 series as “Cabinet Conclusions,” starting from November 1919 into the interwar years. These records summarize discussions and decisions but are not verbatim transcriptions.
While the specific agenda for July 23 is not directly cited in the sources, relevant Cabinet business during July 1920 includes:
Reconstruction and Post-War Economy: Addressing unemployment, social welfare of returning servicemen, and government budgetary priorities.
International Diplomacy and Reparations: Review of ongoing negotiations concerning German reparations after World War I, potentially preparing for discussions later in London and Paris.
Regarding Ireland, the Cabinet is divided on how to proceed. Some Liberal ministers and Dublin Castle officials are in favour of offering dominion status to Ireland. Conservative ministers argue that the Government must crush the insurgency and proceed with the Government of Ireland Bill. Debate continues after the meeting, with Walter Long warning of “the gravest consequences in Ulster” if the Government changes course.
In summary, the Coalition Cabinet convenes on July 23, 1920, in the context of post-war governance, with ministers like Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Curzon, Balfour, and Churchill participating. While exact meeting details require consulting official CAB series records, the issues at hand involve post-World War I economic recovery, Irish affairs, and international obligations stemming from the Treaty of Versailles.
(Pictured: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Lloyd George)
Mathew’s family spends time abroad while his father manages business interests. He comes from a Roman Catholic family. His uncle is Theobald Mathew, the famous temperance campaigner. At the age of fifteen, he enters Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where he excels as a gold medalist and senior moderator, graduating in 1850. He then studies law at Lincoln’s Inn, London, and is called to the English Bar in 1851, building a strong foundation for a legal career despite a slow start at the junior bar.
Initially, Mathew’s legal career progresses slowly, though he is active in debating as a founding member of the Hardwicke Society. He handles numerous jury cases at the Guildhall sittings in London, where he gains experience in commercial law. He becomes treasury counsel during the Tichborne Claimant prosecution in 1873, noted for his composed handling of arguments without quarrel with opposing counsel. Despite opportunities, he refrains from applying for Queen’s Counsel due to a naturally weak voice, though his legal acumen and advocacy are highly respected.
In March 1881, Mathew is appointed to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice and is knighted. He becomes known for his keen judgment, practical approach to legal issues, and eventual standing as one of the best nisi prius judges of his time. In 1895, he persuades fellow judges to establish a Commercial List, the precursor to today’s Commercial Court, and serves as the first judge presiding over it. He advances efficiency in commercial law by minimizing procedural delays, focusing on substantive issues, and producing concise judgments that inspire confidence in the mercantile community.
Mathew also chairs a 1892 royal commission on the evicted tenants in Ireland, despite challenges and disputes with landlords and Edward Carson. His recommendations influence the Wyndham Land Purchase Act (1903). In 1901, he is appointed to the Court of Appeal and continues to emphasize clarity and practicality in legal proceedings until a stroke in 1905 forces his resignation.
Mathew marries Elizabeth Biron in December 1861, with whom he has two sons and three daughters. His family includes notable figures, such as his daughter Elizabeth, who marries Irish MPJohn Dillon, and his grandson, James Matthew Dillon, a later politician. He has a deep cultural appreciation, enjoying music and literature, and maintains friendships across religious and political divides.
Mathew dies on November 9, 1908, at his London home, aged 78. He is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Cork. His legacy is most strongly associated with founding the Commercial Court, reforming commercial law procedures, and demonstrating a balanced mixture of legal rigor and practical common sense that influenced generations of judges and barristers. His contributions remain a cornerstone in the evolution of modern English and Welsh commercial law.
Osborne (née Meikle) is born on February 21, 1926 in Larne, County Antrim, the daughter of William Meikle who is a fitter at Harland & Wolff. She displays artistic talent from a young age, recognized at 20 by painter Paul Nietsche, and earns a scholarship from the Ministry of Education to pursue further studies. She trains at the Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts in London and later completes her National Diploma in Art and Design at the Belfast School of Art.
Osborne’s early career includes exhibitions in Belfast, London, and prominent Canadian galleries after she emigrates to Canada with her husband, fellow artist Dennis H. Osborne, in 1953. She exhibits works such as The Harmonica Player, a portrait of poet Barbara Hunter, and other pieces across Canada, gaining recognition for her skill in landscapes, portraits, and abstract forms.
Declining health due to a brain tumour forces Osborne to return to Northern Ireland in 1959. She settles first in Portadown and later in Lisburn, where she continues to paint despite her illness. She participates in exhibitions, including those of the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts and local art societies, maintaining her influence on the Northern Irish art scene.
Osborne dies at the age of 39 on July 9, 1965, in Lisburn Hospital due to complications from a brain tumour, which had been a long-standing health struggle. She leaves behind her husband, Dennis, and their daughter, Moya. Posthumously, her work is celebrated in memorial exhibitions, including those organized by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Ulster Society of Women Artists, and several of her paintings, like Roots and Grief, are preserved in the Ulster Museum and Armagh County Museum.
Osborne is remembered as a gifted painter whose contributions to mid-20th-century art in both the United Kingdom and Canada reflect emotional depth, modernist abstraction, and a commitment to capturing natural forms, despite her life and career being cut tragically short.
