Pennyfeather Lane is a minor lane connecting Friary Street (formerly Walkin Street) to High Street and Patrick Street in the centre of Kilkenny city. In the early part of the twentieth century the Capuchins held property on the Lane from Sir Lionel Harty of Belrobin, Dundalk, County Louth. In 1911, it was noted that the Capuchins held two houses on Pennyfeather Lane. On 29 Sept. 1916 a property lease was secured from the representatives of Sir Lionel Harty for 99 years at an annual rent of £60. A portion of this property was sub-let to tenants to cover some of the rent due to the Harty estate (Dr Reginald Griffin leased one house). The outright purchase of the premises on Pennyfeather Lane from the Harty Estate was accomplished in May 1940.
Menu card for a Unionist Banquet held in The Rotunda, Dublin, on 26 January 1893. The event was held to honour several Unionists MPs. The politicians were Horace Plunkett (1854-1932), the Irish Unionist Alliance MP for South Dublin from 1892 to 1900. Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster (1855-1909), the Liberal Unionist MP for West Belfast from 1892 to 1906. Richard Martin Dane (1852-1903), MP for North Fermanagh from 1892 to 1898. William Kenny QC (1846-1921), MP for St. Stephen’s Green (Dublin) from 1892 to 1898, and John Ross QC (1853-1935), MP for Londonderry city from 1892 to 1895.
This section contains many letters to Fr. Richard Henebry mainly from Irish correspondents. The files includes personal correspondence with many of the letters containing references to the activities of the Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Irish language scholarship and activism, Henebry's academic career, and to Ring College (Coláiste na Rinne) in the Waterford Gaeltacht (Gaeltacht na nDéise).
A carte de visite of members of the Catholic Boys' Brigade founded on Church Street in Dublin in March 1894. The photographic print (on card) was produced by W.F. O’Connor, 1 Wellington Quay, corner of Parliament Street, Dublin.
William Pearse was born in Great Brunswick Street in Dublin on 11 November 1881. He was the younger brother of Patrick Pearse, the writer, educationalist, and revolutionary. He joined the family sculpting business and ran it following the death of his father James Pearse in 1900. William attended classes at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art between 1897 and 1910 and he seemed destined to embark upon a career as an artist. He later became a full-time art teacher at Scoil Éanna, the Gaelic school founded by his brother in 1908. Although William was more of an artist than a revolutionary, he shared his brother’s interest in the Irish language and Gaelic culture. Like his elder brother, William was also a founding member of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. During the Easter Rising he served as a captain on the headquarters staff and stood alongside his brother as he read the Proclamation of Independence. William Pearse was one of the last, if not the last person, to leave the General Post Office after the evacuation order was given. Following the surrender, he was court-martialled and, contrary to expectations, executed in Kilmainham Jail (4 May 1916). William Pearse was the only one of the executed leaders to plead guilty, though he exercised no real authority during the rebellion and his leadership role was said to be minimal.
