Peter Kirwan’s sojourn in Stafford could have been very short. In 1853 he was accused of involvement in Stafford’s most notorious killing of the Victorian age, the so-called ‘Five Shilling Murder’. He and two other Irishmen, Ned Walsh and Charles Moore, were charged with the murder of a farmer and his wife. In the end Kirwan escaped the hangman’s noose and ultimately the family survived in Stafford until 1884. They were one of the terminal families who just faded away.
Peter and Margaret Kirwan arrived in Stafford with their three children some time in 1852. Like many of Stafford’s Irish they came from Co. Galway. Peter Kirwan had probably worked in the Stafford area before the Famine, and now he survived on scraps of farmwork. He and his wife were already in their forties, however, and they earned a bit more money by running a lodging house in Plant’s Square…
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Go On! 7th International Disability Law Summer School, Galway, 22–26 June 2015
Posted: April 10, 2015 in Uncategorized
The Centre for Disability Law and Policy at NUI Galway has announced that it will hold the 7th International Disability Law Summer School from June 22-26, 2015. The theme will be Disability-Inclusive Development Aid.
The purpose of this five-day International Disability Summer School is to equip participants with the insights and skills necessary to translate the generalities of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into tangible reform for persons with disabilities. The core focus of this year will be on Human Rights and Disability-Inclusive Development.
We look forward, as usual, to a world-class Faculty and participants from around the globe including persons with disabilities, civil society groups, advocates for disability law reform, lawyers, policy makers and policy analysts.
In 2014, the summer school attracted over 100 participants from 39 different countries – from Africa, Asia, Latin America and China. We believe it is the biggest such event…
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Freemans Journal 20th April, 1782 p3 (abridged)
Blessing of the Colours
John Lavery, 1922.
Wikimedia Commons
At a full meeting of the Grand Jury, Gentlemen, Clergy and Freeholders of the County of Galway assembled pursuant to public notice from the High Sheriff at the County Hall in Galway on the 31st of March, 1782. The following resolutions were unanimously entered into;
Resolved;
That a seat in Parliament was never intended by our constitution as an instrument of emolument to individuals and that the representative who perverts it to such a purpose (particularly at so momentous a period as the present), is guilty of betraying the trust reposed in him by the people for their, not HIS benefit.
Resolved;
That the people who could tamely behold their suffrages made the tool of private avarice or ambition are still more criminal than the venal representative as they become the panders without even…
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Review – Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, Leicester Square Theatre, 19th March 2015
Posted: April 10, 2015 in Uncategorized
On our first foray to the Edinburgh fringe last summer we saw some spellbinding productions. Riveting drama, glamorous revue, exciting dance – but nothing funnier than Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, late at night under a circus big top. So when the Divine Diva got resurrected for another hoorah week at the Leicester Square Theatre, we couldn’t resist re-dipping our toes into the seedy world of 1980s Soho. We also knew that our friends my Lord Liverpool and the Countess of Cockfosters would find it irresistible, as they have been leftie agitators since they were connected to the placenta. Thus it was that the four of us snuck downstairs into that vibrant little arty hub that is the Leicester Square Theatre to see a slightly extended version of the show that won this year’s Chrisparkle Award for Best Entertainment – Edinburgh (I know, catchy category.)
The time – the…
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Review – The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ The Musical, Curve Theatre Leicester, 21st March 2015
Posted: April 10, 2015 in Uncategorized
I don’t think there can be many lives who haven’t been affected by the character of Adrian Mole in one way or another. I can remember when the original book came out, and the Dowager Mrs Chrisparkle bought it for me as part of my Christmas Present Package. I thought it was brilliant, and over the subsequent years bought and read all of young Mr Mole’s diarised works. The TV series with Julie Walters and Stephen Moore was great too. Moley was one of the author Sue Townsend’s greatest creations, and definitely her most successful. Sue Townsend herself was from Leicester, as is Adrian Mole, and she based his school environment and council estate home on the places where she was educated and lived. So it’s entirely appropriate that The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ The Musical should start life at the Curve in Leicester. Young Adrian…
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The View from The DJ booth 