Previously unseen poems, slogans, and autographs of Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, and Countess Markievicz capture the swarm of republican activity in Clare to kickstart Éamon de Valera’s political career 100 years ago.

The most intriguing book dedications sometimes offer hints about the support other people have given the writer.

Game of Thrones conquered the Emmy kingdom, winning top drama for the second consecutive year and becoming the most honoured prime-time TV series ever on a night of surprises and sharp political jabs.

One of the key commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising centenary has taken place with President Michael D Higgins honouring all those who fought and died for Irish freedom.

Sinéad Callanan, a student of Castletroy College in Limerick, was a prizewinner in the all-island Decade of Centenaries schools essay competition for this study of Na Fianna Éireann

With two and a half weeks of school holidays, Jonathan deBurca Butler suggests now is a great time to take a trip to Dublin where a plethora of 1916-inspired exhibitions and events are taking place

Another glance at the activities 100 years ago this week of key figures in the upcoming Rising, as recorded by authorities at the time, or recalled later by the participants.

Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip married former model and reality TV star Sofia Hellqvist in the chapel of the royal palace in Stockholm on Saturday.

MY mother’s gone radio silent; it’s Tuesday afternon and her Monday morning phone call that has punctuated my life as inevitably and reliably as the weekly shop, never arrived. 

Your perfume has much to contend with this time of year, with damp wool and lashings of anti-frizz/root-boosting spray leading the charge.

I’m a natural risk-taker.

Exhibition shows how female artists were often more innovative, writes Colette Sheridan

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has accused the Government of taking a “highly partisan” and “often tribal” approach to Ireland’s past, as preparations get under way to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising.

Michelle O’Donnell Keating is not a household name in Ireland, but perhaps she should be.

Sligo councillors yesterday attacked their officials and legal advisors for refusing to tell them why they went to court over rights of way at Lissadell House.

PRESUMABLY, if Edward Snowden ever returns to America, or is captured and brought there, he will meet at least the same fate as Jim Larkin.

Luxembourg’s Prince Guillaume and Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy have put the finishing touches on their two-day wedding extravaganza with a religious ceremony at the tiny duchy’s Notre Dame Cathedral.

Plans for a Leonard Cohen extravaganza at Lissadell House this year have been scuppered over a row about rights of way through the estate, an international promoter has said.

It could be the end of the road for the Dame who plays the Dowager in Downton.

A 100-YEAR-OLD horse-drawn farm cart carried the last Knight of Glin to his final resting place in Co Limerick yesterday.

SCOTLAND Yard could widen its investigation into hacking amid claims Tony Blair and Kate Middleton have been victims.

A GOOD bit of local history comes with Listowel’s Gurtenard House – home to a local TD, Dan Moloney, in the mid-1900s, lived in for a while by a land agent, but also an occasional home in the late 1800s to the Earl and Countess of Listowel.

BOOKMAKERS got a screamer of a result in the featured Listed Danehill Dancer Stakes at Tipperary yesterday, with victory going to the outsider of the six-strong field, the 14-1 shot Anadolu.

In 1910 Russia, Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy), the newly appointed private secretary to the great Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer), arrives at the writer’s estate — the battleground for a very public war.

Concert promoters confirmed today what Leonard Cohen fans have been saying for days – Everybody Knows the singer-songwriter will perform in Ireland this summer.

NEXT week marks 90 years since the election of the first Irish woman to parliament — Countess Constance Markievicz.

YOU could be forgiven for thinking you’d walked on to a movie set — say, the Great Gatsby — when you pull up at the entrance to the Capella Castlemartyr Resort: it is a set-dressed timepiece and package, aimed at the wealthy and those seeking to unwind, and prepared to pay for the privileges.

GUESTS at the opulent Capella hotel in Castlemartyr can avail of any service they desire once it’s legal and moral, president and chief executive Horst Schulze pledged yesterday at the opening of the €80 million resort.

Merchant-Ivory’s final collaboration, The White Countess (SPHE, €21.99) is a beautifully-shot film that serves as a fitting, though overlong finale to the duo’s work.

THE appearance of Charles Haughey on yesterday’s Leaving Certificate ordinary level history paper may have been welcomed by many students who paid attention to the news the previous day.

CROWDS thronged the streets and guns and tanks abounded but Dublin was a far quieter place than it was 90 years ago - mainly because the public address system didn’t work.

HAVING wrung its hands at the prospect of spending €30 million refurbishing Lissadell House, the ancestral home of Countess Markiewicz, the Government turned down the chance of buying it for the nation.

Sue Smith’s Tipsy Mouse left his connections hoping that one day he can emulate his Grand National-winning full-brother Royal Athlete after he had put up a game performance to win at Haydock Park yesterday.

The everyday contents of one of Ireland’s most historically well-connected stately homes are to go under the hammer today.

THE Government was roundly criticised by local politicians yesterday for its failure to buy Lissadell House, the Sligo stately home where Countess Markievicz and her sister, poet Eva Gore Booth, spent their formative years.

Mystery surrounded the identity of the new owner of one of Ireland’s most historic stately homes today.

ON a wistful West Cork wander for a country house of distinction and a bit of land to spare?

Campaigning was under way this weekend to force the Government to bid for one of Ireland’s most historically well-connected stately homes.

The Minister for Transport has unveiled a memorial to Countess Constance Markievicz in Co Sligo.

The Queen is expected to increase her financial support for the Earl and Countess of Wessex following their decision to give up their businesses.