Category: History
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An Internet Geek’s Introductory Guide to Irish Genealogy
So you want to get started with building your Irish family tree? Here are some initial tips from someone who has recently used (mostly) online tools to link back five or six generations… Software Firstly, I’d recommend getting a desktop application for storing your findings! There are various mobile apps…
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The Irishwoman Who Drained the Marsh of Marseillette
Famed soldier in the United Irishmen Miles Byrne refers in his Memoirs to a tract of wetlands bought by a Mrs Doyle Lawless near Carcassonne. In fact, he alludes to a link between her and Napoleon, when he says: “We have no Bonaparte [there in Ireland] to encourage and protect…
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The Dillons in France
Part of the Irish Brigade, Dillon’s Regiment was brought from Ireland to France in 1690 by Count Arthur Dillon (1670-1733) during the Williamite War. However, the Dillons originally came from France: Henri de Léon of Brittany arrived in Ireland some 500 years earlier with the Normans and Prince John. Dillon…
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An Irish Regiment in Carcassonne
Did you know that over 260 years ago, Caserne Laperrine, the large military barracks beside Les Jacobins and originally built from 1709 to 1735, was once host to a battalion of Irish soldiers, part of Dillon’s Regiment from 1763 to 1764? Amongst them were many famous officers in the regiment,…
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Linking Ireland and Carcassonne
Carcassonne has neolithic origins, but likely owes its original oppidum (town) name of Carsac (later Carcaso) to the Gauls, a Celtic people. The Irish journalist Seamus MacCall laments in a 1938 Irish Press article that “Carcassonne is still a Celtic city, and in Carcassonne is Tara, Cruachan, Cashel, and the…
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