St. Maelruain's Losset

St. Maelruain's Losset, in the grounds of St. Maelruain's Church, Tallaght Village. This is a wide and shallow granite stone trough or font. Losat is an old Irish word, denoting a wooden trough used in former times for kneading bread. It is likely that the country people named it from its similarity in shape to the lossets that they used in their homes.

© South Dublin Libraries.

Instructions to plenipotentiaries from the Cabinet Dublin, 7 October 1921

A copy of 'Instructions to plenipotentiaries from the Cabinet' issued on Dublin, 7 October 1921 to the negotiation delegation which included Arthur Griffth and Michael Collins who travelled to London to negotiate the end of the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921. Bitter political disagreement over the terms of the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty led to the bloody Irish Civil War 1922-23, one of the most tragic events in Irish history.

(c) The Little Museum of Dublin

Henry VIII's Sword

A gift of King Henry VIII of England in 1536 to the Mayor of Waterford as a reward for loyalty at the time of the rebellion of Silken Thomas FitzGerald in 1534.

© Waterford Museum of Treasures

GIY Gathering 2011

GIY Gathering 2011

GIY Ireland

Private Sweeney, 88th Connaught Rangers, Circa 1833

A typical early 19th century infantryman of the 88th Connaught Rangers. He wears the traditional 'redcoat'of the British Army and is armed with the famous 'Brown Bess' musket. The majority of the enlisted men serving in the Connaught Rangers were drawn from the west of Ireland.

Derrynane, Co. Kerry

An Ogham-inscribed standing stone at Derrynane, Co. Kerry

Courtesy of Con Brogan

Strongbow (1978/2000) by James Coleman (b.1941)

Strongbow (1978/2000) by James Coleman (b.1941) incorporates video, sound, and a sculptural effigy of the 12th century knight, Strongbow, in an installation work that explores the origins and consequences of colonialism in Ireland. Video installation. Resin cast mould, Sony Art Couture monitor, audio equipment and speakers, polystyrene packing, scaffold tower, packing boxes, lighting. Photograph McCrea. Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art (Purchase 1991), Military Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, Ireland http://www.imma.ie/en/index.htm

Image courtesy of James Coleman ©

A Family (1951) by Louis le Brocquy (b.1916)

Louis le Brocquy (b.1916), A Family (1951) was described, in a letter to the Irish Times, as ‘an unwholsesome and satanic distortion of natural beauty’. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland (c) The Artist