By T.S. Flynn

The conventional story is that Thomas Keneally discovered Schindler's List in a Beverly Hills luggage shop. The more important story is why he immediately understood Oskar Schindler. Long before Kraków entered his imagination, Keneally had spent a lifetime writing about convicts, exiles,…

Empire, Convicts and First Encounters in Australia's North

By Tim Flynn

My interest in Fort Dundas began not in an archive but on the Tiwi Islands themselves.

Having worked on the islands, I came to appreciate their distinct character. Although only a short distance from the Northern Territory mainland, the Tiwi Islands…

Irish history is filled with soldiers, revolutionaries, politicians and adventurers. Occasionally, however, a figure emerges who refuses to fit neatly into any single category. Arthur Lynch was one such man. Engineer, scientist, physician, journalist, soldier, author and Member of Parliament, he lived a life of such…

LUAIN -- On August 24, 1968, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marched from Coalisland to Dungannon in County Tyrone…

LUAIN -- On August 17, 1778, Bernardo O'Higgins, the father of Chilean independence, was born in Chile. Bernardo's mother was…

DOMHNAIGH -- On August 9, 1876, Josephine Bracken, whose parents were from Belfast, was born in Victoria City, British Hong Kong. Her father James, a soldier in the British army, was a native of County Offaly. Josephine's mother, a McBride, died in childbirth. She was adopted…

LUAIN -- On June 8, 1853, John Mitchel escaped from Australia, eventually making it to the United States. Mitchel, a member of the Young Ireland Party, was born in Comnish, Co. Derry. John was the son of a Presbyterian minister. He obtained a…

DOMHNAIGH -- On March 1, 1776, Irish-born Andrew Lewis was appointed a brigadier general in the …

MÁIRT -- On Dec. 16, 1971, soldier and politician General Richard Mulcahy (left) died in Dublin. Mulcahy was born in Waterford. After being educated in the Christian Brothers schools, Richard went to work for the postal service, like his father before him. He was a member of the Gaelic…

DOMHNAIGH -- On August 17, 1778, Bernardo O'Higgins, the father of Chilean independence, was born in Chile. Bernardo's mother was…

LUAIN -- On August 11, 1744, during the War of Austrian Succession, the Irish Brigade of Spain fought at the battle of Velletri, in Italy, against an Austrian army commanded by Irishman Field Marshal Count Maximillian Ulysses Browne, of Limerick. The surprise attack of Browne's Austrians…

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 8, 1853, John Mitchel escaped from Australia, eventually making it to the United States. Mitchel, a member of the Young Ireland Party, was born in Comnish, Co. Derry. John was the son of a Presbyterian minister. He obtained…