This research was conducted towards an MA in Byzantine Archaeology and Text (2004) at the Institute of Byzantine Studies in Queen’s University Belfast. It is published with the aim of presenting this evidence to a wider audience, and to inform future research by others in this field of study. The archaeological and historical evidence presented and analysed is surprisingly diverse and relatively plentiful, and, arguably, also compelling. Is there any evidence for contacts between the Eastern Roman or Byzantine empire and Ireland, and, if so, what form does that evidence take? This book does much to inform that debate.
The first volume: 'the man from MENSA' - 1 of 600: Mensa research, had as its focus STEM research. This second volume in the series takes as its subject politics and the social sciences. Bernard Mulholland was born in West Germany during 1957 to a German mother and a Northern Irish father who was serving in the British Army. Having left the army, the family relocated during 1965 to the town of Portadown in Northern Ireland. Shortly afterwards Northern Ireland was to descend into sectarian turmoil associated with ‘the Troubles’ and the British Army’s Operation Banner.For thirty years Bernard Mulholland worked as a heating technician for all sections of society in Northern Ireland across counties Fermanagh, Armagh and Down, which encompass ‘Bandit Country’ and also ‘the Murder Triangle’. Portadown itself was later to become synonymous first with sectarian and political violence over ‘the Tunnel’, and then later with Drumcree.After joining British Mensa during the late eighties Mulholland joined its politics interest group and wrote for its monthly journal Poliphony for almost thirty years. This tome includes many of these texts from 1990-1995 in its Appendix. It also explores the outworking of some of the thoughts and ideas expressed therein which came to have real world applications, and that also feed into Brexit. Arguably this volume provides a unique political and historical insight that informs the narrative leading up to the first ceasefires by the Provisional IRA and the loyalist groups that later developed into the ongoing peace process.But it is in many ways also a history of British Mensa at a time when its membership peaked at forty thousand. There is little in the public domain about this élite international high-IQ society, MENSA, which boasts a membership tested to have an IQ among the highest two per cent of the population. MENSA was originally conceived of as a third pillar intended to complement the Royal Society and the British Academy. When it was founded in Oxford during 1946 its original goal was to gather six hundred of the most intelligent people in Britain as scientifically measured through an IQ test who the government and its agencies could contact for advice on matters of government. This book was written by an insider who as a member of MENSA contributed extensively to this high-IQ society over a span of almost thirty years, and it is hoped that it helps to fill a gaping void in the history of this quintessential post-WWII British institution.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A book in the best tradition of popular history—the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe. • The perfect St. Patrick's Day gift! Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars"—and thus preserve Western culture while Europe was being overrun by barbarians. In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization -- copying manuscripts of Greek and Latin writers, both pagan and Christian, while libraries and learning on the continent were forever lost—they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated. In the tradition of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, How The Irish Saved Civilization reconstructs an era that few know about but which is central to understanding our past and our cultural heritage. But it conveys its knowledge with a winking wit that aptly captures the sensibility of the unsung Irish who relaunched civilization.
Explores the history of the Irish in America, offering an overview of Irish history, immigration to the United States, and the transition of the Irish from the working class to all levels of society.
The study of medieval clothing and textiles reveals much about the history of our material culture, as well as social, economic and cultural history as a whole. This book makes use of archaeological finds and text references in order to examine this history, providing on overview of historic fashions.
A ground-breaking book argues for the Roman influence in Ireland. Drawing upon fresh archaeological research, some of which was kept secret until recently, Roman Ireland provides a fresh reconsideration of this subject, highlighting the common Indo-E
