History / Heritage Resource List

Dun

Even better than reading is getting out there

Anyone any recommendations for places that they've been to? I'd love to go to Egypt / South America, clichéd and all as they are.

I was in Newgrange for the first time this year and I must say it was one of the most fantastic places I've ever been (I'm dead into me heritage stuff ). The Visitor Centre was fantastic, and full of models and explanations regarding the time that all the mounds (there are tons of them) were created. When we actually went into Newgrange itself it was unbelievably cool, especially when they turned off the lights so you could see how dark it was. They had a light down the tunnel that imitated some of the effect of the sunlight creeping in on the Winter Solstice. The tour guide was brilliant and did a great job of telling the history of the site without making it too long or boring. Unfortunately we hadn't as much time there as we would have liked, otherwise I would have gone to Knowth also, but that calls for a return trip sometime

Anyone lucky enough to actually get in there for the Winter Solstice? Apparently you used to have to book years in advance as they can only fit so many people in, but nowadays they run a lottery system.

DadaKopf

Take a walk around the Liberties and Smithfield. Great stuff there spanning 1000 years.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Egypt is alright, its kinda smelly though :P

The pyramids are pretty cool though, and you get to ride out on CAMELS!!!!!!!

more of a sort of holidayish type thing though


I'd love to go to moscow, now that'd be sweet :P

/me dreams of sitting in red square having his stomach being cut to bits by russian vodka

Gordon

I loved Egypt, have always been fascinated by heiroglyphics (even translated one when in a tomb). It was crazy to be a tourist but my parents lived there so we got a lesser experience than tourists do inch'alla. I didn't go to Luxor or the valleys but they are meant to be astounding. I would highly recommend simply going to the great pyramids to be in awe for the whole day, they are simply massive. Of course the museum is worth a look to see the old mummys etc.

As for Moscow Truckle - you should go mate it's pretty cool too. Everything there is just massive. I recommend you go with a Russian or get a Russian to take you round (I was fortunate to have gone with my Russian gf at the time). To see how people live in mass blocks - a poor gypsy living next door to a rich business man is unreal. Any museums, statues, special buildings are feckin huge man, you get a sore neck walking around the cool places. Oh and you'll like it there coz you can drink beer in the streets

Dónall

When I was in national school we were taken, in pairs, to view the hanging chamber at Kilmanham Jail. Which sort of marked me forever (the previous year we'd viewed Oliver Plunkett's shriveled head but that just seemed unreal, like a dirty puppet.)

The newish Clonmacnoise visior's centre is small but very good. I especially liked the illustrations of the monks who don't look at all like the typical image you'd have of monks (probably a medieval image), they had longish hair and white habits.
They've also somehow managed to put the original round tower inside for protection and put a perfect replica outside - or maybe they built the visitor centre round it or something.

Spain is great for historical visits. You wouldn't know where to begin. Toledo has a very well preserved old town from the middle ages when Jews, Muslims and Christians all lived (fairly) happily together. Then go down to Cordoba and walk streets that were there two thousand years ago, and if that doesn't fire your imagination......

Btw, is Padraig Pearse's st.Enda´s school a museum or something? And if so what's it like?

Johnmb

Greece, I absolutely love it. If you were to go to see the sites I'd recommend going early or late in the year. My two favourite visits were made in March and early November. I got pretty decent weather and the crowds were gone. Everthing was still open, and you could still book all the day trips from Athens (to Delphi, etc.), as there were still some tourists around, but you could see everything, and have room to breathe (much better than going in July/August). Beautiful country, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who has any interest in history, archaeology, world heritage, or just nice scenery and nice people.

Gordon

Yeah Greece has some spectacular places. One amazing place is called Meteora. If I remember it is North West of Athens. It was featured in a James Bond with the English eyebrow actor, he was hiking up to a monastery to rescue a ballerina!

Meteora is massive needles of rock that are impossible to get up to except by basket on a rope, or long winding crazy paths in some cases. At the top are monasteries that are still being used by old beardy Greek Orthodox geeks. They are awesome to look at (the monasteries - not the 'pappas'!)

Delphi is another quite cool place - the seat of all knowledge, but if you go anywhere go to Meteora. God I love Greece actually

Uyeia Mas!

ozt9vdujny3srf

Wheres all the juicy (free) stuff on the web.

btw, www.stmarys.ie/cathalbrugha

A work of sheer genious :P

Clintons Cat

This is a nice quirky site.Bit like the Straightdope but for History Nerds Historybuff

ozt9vdujny3srf

http://www.klickireland.com/20Battalion/Cathal_Brugha.htm

http://www.homepage.tinet.ie/irishhistory/An%20Irishman.htm

http://www.islandireland.com/Pages/history/archives/postcards/easter5.html

http://www.1914-1918.net/worcester.htm


^a bit specialised but there ya go :P

May as well throw in the sites sources :P

also www.cossackeb.com

Mark

VERY specialized indeed Truckle

A current favourite is this bad babeh, in which many a quiz may be found!

Bard

www.historicalinsights.ie
- Historical Walking Tours of Dublin. In just 2 hours, this award-winning and entertaining 'seminar on the street' explores Dublin's development, the influence of the American and French Revolutions, the Potato Famine, the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, partition - and the current peace process. Highly recommended.

www.historychannel.com
- including Today In History - this is the web site for "The History Channel" on TV. Huge amounts of historical facts and figures available.

www.thehistorynet.com
- provides numerous articles on World War II, Wild West, American History, Civil War, British Heritage, Military History, Aviation History and more...

wwwvms.utexas.edu/~jdana/irehist.html
- Irish History On The Web. - Large index of Irish History resources.

www.history.org
- Colonial Williamsburg. Exploring the history of the American nation.

www.nhm.ac.uk
- British Museum of Natural History

www.amnh.org
- American Museum of Natural History

www.mnh.si.edu
- The Smithsonian Institute Museum of Natural History

www.english-heritage.org.uk
- English Heritage web site. Maintaining and caring for the historic environment of England.

www.irishheritagetrail.com
- Irish Heritage Trail. not a tour anywhere in Ireland, but a self-guided, three mile walking tour that takes you through the downtown, North End, Beacon Hill and Back Bay of Boston, MA.

www.irishroots.net
- Irish Family History Foundation. - The co-ordinating body for a network of government approved genealogical research centres in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland which have computerised tens of millions of Irish ancestral records of different types.

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Any more?