One of the most touching moments of the past year’s commemorations happened 100 years to the minute after the first fatality in the Easter 1916 Rising.

Anybody who wants to find out about a relative’s time in the RIC needs to start with their service record and find the service number, according to Michael Guilfoyle.

Britain's most important double agent of the Second World War almost had his cover blown because his homesick wife could not stand living in England, according to secret files made public for the first time.

British army records relating to the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence have been opened to the world in one of the most ambitious online projects for family researchers and historians.

A hero of the ‘Great Escape’ who spent five months in solitary confinement in a German concentration camp was denied compensation by the British government after being told he had not endured enough hardship.

We’ll need our humour and a balanced reading of our history this Easter to negotiate a path through the treacherous waters of commemoration. Let’s hope we can also make room for the voices of the children of the centenary of the Rising, writes Clodagh Finn.

The department stores and shopping streets are beautifully lit and decorated, but Christmas is not exactly in the air in Britain, where unexpectedly mild temperatures are causing some daffodils to bloom and some ice rinks to suspend operations.

If you’re off to the British capital for the Rugby World Cup and plan hanging around for a few days , then Conor Power has the lowdown on how to fall in love again with London town.

If you've had a hectic weekend, here's the best shows and films on TV to unwind to tonight.

Here's what to watch on the box tonight.

Declan O’Donnell, Helen James and Hugh Wallace are the judges on Home Of The Year on RTÉ One on Thursday.

Cork-based couple Nora and Katriona go for a casino-themed event on Don’t Tell The Bride, on RTÉ2 on Thursday.

Margaret Thatcher's most senior official warned privately that her financial sector reforms were giving birth to a new culture of corner-cutting and "unscrupulous" practices in the City, according to newly-released UK government papers.

Garret FitzGerald made an impassioned appeal to Margaret Thatcher to save their talks on the future of the North, warning that failure could trigger a civil war that would “drag down” the entire island, according to newly-released official papers.

Garret FitzGerald made an impassioned appeal to Margaret Thatcher to save their talks on the future of Northern Ireland, warning that failure could trigger a civil war that would “drag down” the entire island, according to newly-released official papers.

The Ballylickey botanist; the Skibbereen astronomer; the Cloyne caterpillar collector, Madame Dragonfly. Robert Hume highlights the lives and achievements of three female scientists from Co Cork, and the obstacles they faced to achieve recognition of their work

At the inquest into Peaches Geldof’s death, her grieving husband told a candid tale of her drug addiction. Susannah Butter profiles the young musician raising their sons alone

David Cameron will “look at” the possibility of fulfilling Gerry Conlon’s dying wish for people he nominated to have access to secret government documents about the 1974 IRA Guildford pub bombing for which he was wrongly jailed.

British government officials had first expressed concern — almost 70 years after the sinking of the Lusitania — about a cover-up of the truth of the tragedy.

I’M just back from a holiday in France. I stayed for a few days in Dinan, a beautiful medieval town in Brittany.

Clivia miniata may have foliage like Agapanthus but it is frost tender and must be kept protected during winter.

Ronald Reagan issued a last-ditch appeal to Margaret Thatcher to abandon her campaign to retake the Falklands and to hand over the islands to international peacekeepers, according to official British documents made public today.

British TV presenter Justin Lee Collins has been found guilty of harassing his former partner, Anna Larke.

Television presenter Justin Lee Collins’s relationship with an ex-girlfriend accusing him of harassment brought out “the demon” in him, a court heard today.

Comedian and television presenter Justin Lee Collins has never hit anyone in his life, he told his trial for domestic and emotional abuse today.

The girlfriend of Justin Lee Collins was accused of trying to blackmail the comedian.

The former girlfriend of comedian and television presenter Justin Lee Collins was accused of being a fantasist yesterday.

The 27-year-old singer Katie Melua tied the knot on Saturday with former World Superbike champion James Toseland in a lavish ceremony at the Nash Conservatory at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London.

Singer Katie Melua has tied the knot with former World Superbike champion James Toseland.

Des O'Driscoll gives the lowdown on what's will be hot on the box over the next seven days.

British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s secret attempts to end the IRA hunger strikes are revealed in official documents made public for the first time today.

The Last Great Seed Hunt: The Story of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, Carolyn Fry/Gail VinesKew, £25. eBook (not available)

A 12-YEAR-OLD Irish girl required medical treatment after vomiting a seven-foot worm as she sailed to a new life in Canada in the 19th century, documents revealed yesterday.

AN extremely rare ship’s pass signed by King James II and famous diarist Samuel Pepys is to go on public display in Ireland.

An extremely rare ship’s pass signed by King James II and diarist Samuel Pepys will go on public display in Dublin, it was revealed today.

MARGARET Thatcher complained in private about the numbers of immigrants coming to Britain from south Asia, saying they were being given council houses at the expense of “white citizens”, it was disclosed yesterday.

US giant Kraft Foods has made a £10.2bn (€11.5bn) takeover offer for British confectionery group Cadbury, it was revealed today.

Damien Enright on how borders are non-existent for birds.

XAVIER METZ, a Frenchman, runs a cashew farm in Madagascar. While he and his family were walking in a remote area of the country last year, they came upon a strange-looking palm tree with its branches covered in flowers.

NOT FAR from where I live there’s a forestry plantation of lodge-pole pines. If you look at it from a distance you’ll notice an odd, umbrella-shaped tree in the middle of the plantation that towers over the pines.