Monthly Archives: March 2016

A decade on from the 1916 Easter Rising, 40,000 Dubliners gathered in the Phoenix Park for Poppy Day. Thousands of poppies were sold in the city, and there were physical clashes between republicans and those observing the day. This post … Continue reading →

In April and May, 1941, as the price of its loyalty to the Allied cause against the scourge of Nazism, Belfast suffered four air raids by German bombers. There was a heavy loss of life — almost 1,000 people perished … Continue reading →

The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern German Ostern, developed from an Old English word which usually appears in the form Ēastrun, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre. The most widely accepted theory of … Continue reading →

Holy Monday….Our Lord Jesus demonstrates genuine faith in God and affirms his Messianic destiny in the Cursing of the Fig Tree and the Cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem Holy Tuesday…Our Lord Jesus taught from early morning until late at … Continue reading →

The Declaration of Nazareth  He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet … Continue reading →

In November 2014, on the Feast of Columbanus, the Ullans Academy, in accordance with its Memorandum of Association, published two initial volumes of the Bible in Plain Scots or standard Ullans. Until this time the Bible has not been completely … Continue reading →

It remains difficult to see how the damage done to the Ulster Scots movement and the establishment of a statutory Academy can be rectified at this stage. But the blame must surely lie with those who were embued with narrow sectarian and political … Continue reading →

The remit of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Ulster Scots (MAGUS) appointed by the former Minister Nelson McCausland in March 2011 was  “to produce a coherent strategy for supporting the development of the Ulster-Scots sector”. The group was then invited, however, to advise … Continue reading →

On 23rd March 2010, the  then Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister Nelson McCausland unveiled his plans for the way forward of the Ulster-Scots Academy. Speaking at North Down Museum in Bangor – home of the Raven Maps, a key artefact … Continue reading →

Some five years ago, Liam Logan, an esteemed member of our Ullans Academy, requested information from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure regarding further developments in the saga of the Ulster-Scots or Ullans Academy, which I had established in 1992. We had … Continue reading →