In 1530 Catholic Irish owned 100% of the land in Ireland. By 1703 they only owned 14% of the land in Ireland. Whether Gaelic Irish/Old English-owned, or New English-owned, the tenants were mostly subsistence farmers who struggled to pay predatory rents. Since the Elizabethan and various Stuart plantations and, more recently, the Cromwellian and Williamite…
Anne was the Protestant full sister to Mary II, wife of William III, and she was crowned shortly after William’s death on 8 March 1702. Her marriage to Prince George of Denmark & Norway was arranged in the early 1680’s with a view to developing an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain Dutch maritime power. Her uncle (Charles…
Introduction: Sir Isaac Newton is, perhaps, best known as an English physicist and mathematician who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution. His book “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”, first published in 1687, laid the foundations for classical mechanics Newton made…
Introduction These items are unusual insofar as they fall into several categories, i.e. coin tokens, unofficial notes. Either way, they are ‘para-numismatic’ items and are also collected by those interested in militaria, republican memorabilia and banknotes. They were produced for use in the Ballykinlar Internment Camp in Co Down towards the end of the Irish…
Introduction The impending war in Europe was of major concern to Ireland and most politicians were worried that a war in Europe would re-open the wounds of our own Civil War of 1922-23. The 1930’s were difficult for Ireland :- There were pro- and anti-fascist movements in Ireland and the IRA continued to pursue its own…
Background It is generally agreed that the first coins used in Ireland for trade purposes were those imported by the Dublin vikings in the mid-10th C and that these coins comprised a mixture of mainly Anglo-Saxon, with some European and Islamic (Kufic) coins also turning up in hoards and single finds. However, one pound (240…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 