The day for which Holyhead had so anxiously prepared had finally arrived: newly-crowned King George IV (1820-1830) was making his first visit to Holyhead as a stop-off in his inaugural grand tour. In the early evening hours of Monday, August 6,…

Mary Delany (1700-1788) was no stranger to crossing the Irish Sea. She had made one trip to Ireland as a young widow in 1731 and, when she later lived in Ireland between 1744 and 1767, she made regular visits back to England. Delany generally made…

In September of 1727, Jonathan Swift embarked on a return trip to Ireland from London. Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Swift was riding high on the success of his recently published Gulliver’s Travels. He was also though anxious for news…