A strange history lesson from Infrequently Asked Questions recounting the true story of the 19th century London Necropolis Railway, specially designed to haul corpses from the city out to the countryside on one final journey.
Category Archives: History
Hostels In Ireland tweets:
The old Hotel of the Isles at Lettermullan became an An Óige property on 17th April 1953 and would continue to be so for a further 13 years until 1966.
(Pic: Norman Campion)
A short 68mm film (recently published by MoMA) from 1902 featuring the town of Wuppertal in north west Germany which – while the rest of the western world was busy investing in trams – went for the more complex but infinitely cooler Suspension Railway option.
This footage of the town as seen from its train – 12 m above the ground – is uniquely drone-like in scope, unlike the stationary camera angles favoured at the time.
The Schwebebahn is still in use today, carrying 25 million people a year along its 13km track.
A ‘visual excavation’ of Western history by British photographer Drew Gardner wherein descendants of historically significant people pose, recreating famous portraits of their ancestor.
But there’s more going here than mock-ups. The photograph of Shannon LaNier (top pic) is especially significant.
He’s the sixth-great grandson of Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, who the third U.S. president enslaved and forced to bear his children, a story that’s long been left out of historical narratives.
(From top: Shannon LaNier, Jefferson’s sixth-great grandson; Hugo de Salis, fourth-great grandson of Napoleon. Napoleon in his study, by Jacques-Louis David, 1812; Helen Pankhurst, great granddaughter of women’s rights activist Emeline Pankhurst; Tom Wonter, Wordsworth’s fourth-great grandson. William Wordsworth, portrait by William Shuter, 1798; Gerald Charles Dickens, Dickens’ great, great grandson. Charles Dickens, portrait by Herbert Watkins, 1858; Isambard Thomas, Brunel’s third-great grandson. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, portrait by Robert Howlett, 1857; Irina Guicciardini Strozzi, the 15th great granddaughter of Lisa del Giocondo. The Mona Lisa by Leonardo DaVinci.)
A short directed by Dane Winn inspired by the true story of Ada Blackjack who was stranded for two years on the Arctic island of Wrangel in the 1920s. To wit:
Stranded on an arctic island with a dying man in 1921, an Alaskan seamstress must overcome her fears of the wilderness and find the strength to survive if she ever hopes to return home to her son.
Old Ireland In Colour tweets:
…let The Handmaid’s Tale memes begin!
Actually, the Marchioness of Waterford (born Beatrix Frances Petty-FitzMaurice) and baby (Blanche Maud de la Poer Beresford). 1898
Original image: National Library Of Ireland
Quit Winin’
at
A 3rd century AD mosaic floor discovered beneath a vineyard at Negrar di Valpolicella near Verona, northern Italy.
The team discovered the tiles, as well as portions of the villa’s foundation, “a few meters” below the vineyard’s surface, according to the statement. To make the “archaeological treasure … hidden under our feet available and accessible,” the researchers will collaborate with authorities and the vineyard’s owners. The process will likely require both significant time and resources.
MORE: Ancient Roman Mosaic Floor Unearthed Beneath Italian Vineyard (Smithsonian)
George’s Street (now O’Connell Street), Limerick, circa 1900.
Old Ireland In Colour tweets:
From no. 120 on left: O’Mahony & Co., XL Café/Int’l Hotel, GWR Enquiry Office. From no. 26 on right: MacMahon’s Confectionery/Temperance Hotel/Restaurant, Carroll.
(Source: National Library Of Ireland)
Old Ireland In Colour tweets (yesterday, in fairness):
A religious man (priest, Jedi?) sitting at the entrance to a cell on Skellig Michael (Ahch-To in @StarWars) over 100 years ago. c. 1890-1910. Photo: Thomas H. Mason
(Original source: National Library Of Ireland)