Copy of the marquis of Kildare's household book, 1758

Hereunder is reproduced for the first time in its entirety a rare example of a servant-related manuscript of the eighteenth century. It came into the present author's possession some years ago by a kind loan from Maurice FitzGerald, ninth and present duke of Leinster.1 In the past 'The copy of the marquis of Kildare's household book, 1758' has provided the basis for an erudite article by Patricia McCarthy and has been referred to in other important works on servants in the eighteenth-century Irish country house, notably by Toby Barnard.2 The document is a record of household regulations and employment policies written down by James FitzGerald, marquis of Kildare, later 1st duke of Leinster (1722-73), governing servant life at Carton House in county Kildare and to a lesser extent Kildare (later Leinster) House, his town residence in Dublin. It is to be assumed that, although every entry was marked with FitzGerald's sign, 'K' and later T, the decisions recorded were at least very strongly influenced by his formidable wife, Lady Emily (1731-1814), daughter of the 2nd duke of Richmond

Alexander 'Baby' Gray (1858-1916) and the battle at Ashbourne, 28 April 1916

Alexander Gray was born in County Tyrone in October 1858. His father, the Reverend Alexander Gray, was a presbyterian minister who lived in Aghaloo, Lismulladown. In 1880, the young Alexander entered the Royal Irish Constabulary cadet school in the Phoenix Park, Dublin to train as a police officer. Like his fellow candidates for the cadet ship, he had to be aged between twenty-one and twenty-six, be unmarried, be at least five feet five inches tall and of good health: 'free from any physical defect of body, impediment of speech, defect of sight or hearing, disposition to constitutional or hereditary disease, well developed'.He had to receive certificates of good moral character from two clergymen or two magistrates of the county in which he was resident, before going to Dublin Castle to sit a competitive examination in subjects including arithmetic, orthography, English composition, geography, British history, Latin the law of evidence and the elementary principles of law. Then it was off to the training depot in the Phoenix Park. A cadetship was a preliminary step to the rank of sub-inspector to which qualified cadets succeeded as vacancies arose.Gray graduated from the RIC cadet school on 22 March 1882 at the age of twenty-three. The following January, he received his first posting as a 3rd sub-inspector to Dingle in County Kerry. By 1887, he had reached the position of district inspector in the area

Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts

Background Although 10000 steps per day is widely promoted to have health benefits, there is little evidence to support this recommendation. We aimed to determine the association between number of steps per day and stepping rate with all-cause mortality. Methods In this meta-analysis, we identified studies investigating the effect of daily step count on all-cause mortality in adults (aged ≥18 years), via a previously published systematic review and expert knowledge of the field. We asked participating study investigators to process their participant-level data following a standardised protocol. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality collected from death certificates and country registries. We analysed the dose– response association of steps per day and stepping rate with all-cause mortality. We did Cox proportional hazards regression analyses using study-specific quartiles of steps per day and calculated hazard ratios (HRs) with inversevariance weighted random effects models. Findings We identified 15 studies, of which seven were published and eight were unpublished, with study start dates between 1999 and 2018. The total sample included 47 471 adults, among whom there were 3013 deaths (10·1 per 1000 participant-years) over a median follow-up of 7·1 years ([IQR 4·3–9·9]; total sum of follow-up across studies was 297 837 person-years). Quartile median steps per day were 3553 for quartile 1, 5801 for quartile 2, 7842 for quartile 3, and 10 901 for quartile 4. Compared with the lowest quartile, the adjusted HR for all-cause mortality was 0·60 (95% CI 0·51–0·71) for quartile 2, 0·55 (0·49–0·62) for quartile 3, and 0·47 (0·39–0·57) for quartile 4. Restricted cubic splines showed progressively decreasing risk of mortality among adults aged 60 years and older with increasing number of steps per day until 6000–8000 steps per day and among adults younger than 60 years until 8000–10000 steps per day. Adjusting for number of steps per day, comparing quartile 1 with quartile 4, the association between higher stepping rates and mortality was attenuated but remained significant for a peak of 30 min (HR 0·67 [95% CI 0·56–0·83]) and a peak of 60 min (0·67 [0·50–0·90]), but not significant for time (min per day) spent walking at 40 steps per min or faster (1·12 [0·96–1·32]) and 100 steps per min or faster (0·86 [0·58–1·28]). Interpretation Taking more steps per day was associated with a progressively lower risk of all-cause mortality, up to a level that varied by age. The findings from this meta-analysis can be used to inform step guidelines for public health promotion of physical activity

Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts

Background Although 10 000 steps per day is widely promoted to have health benefits, there is little evidence to support this recommendation. We aimed to determine the association between number of steps per day and stepping rate with all-cause mortality. Methods In this meta-analysis, we identified studies investigating the effect of daily step count on all-cause mortality in adults (aged ≥18 years), via a previously published systematic review and expert knowledge of the field. We asked participating study investigators to process their participant-level data following a standardised protocol. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality collected from death certificates and country registries. We analysed the dose–response association of steps per day and stepping rate with all-cause mortality. We did Cox proportional hazards regression analyses using study-specific quartiles of steps per day and calculated hazard ratios (HRs) with inverse-variance weighted random effects models. Findings We identified 15 studies, of which seven were published and eight were unpublished, with study start dates between 1999 and 2018. The total sample included 47 471 adults, among whom there were 3013 deaths (10·1 per 1000 participant-years) over a median follow-up of 7·1 years ([IQR 4·3–9·9]; total sum of follow-up across studies was 297 837 person-years). Quartile median steps per day were 3553 for quartile 1, 5801 for quartile 2, 7842 for quartile 3, and 10 901 for quartile 4. Compared with the lowest quartile, the adjusted HR for all-cause mortality was 0·60 (95% CI 0·51–0·71) for quartile 2, 0·55 (0·49–0·62) for quartile 3, and 0·47 (0·39–0·57) for quartile 4. Restricted cubic splines showed progressively decreasing risk of mortality among adults aged 60 years and older with increasing number of steps per day until 6000–8000 steps per day and among adults younger than 60 years until 8000–10 000 steps per day. Adjusting for number of steps per day, comparing quartile 1 with quartile 4, the association between higher stepping rates and mortality was attenuated but remained significant for a peak of 30 min (HR 0·67 [95% CI 0·56–0·83]) and a peak of 60 min (0·67 [0·50–0·90]), but not significant for time (min per day) spent walking at 40 steps per min or faster (1·12 [0·96–1·32]) and 100 steps per min or faster (0·86 [0·58–1·28]). Interpretation Taking more steps per day was associated with a progressively lower risk of all-cause mortality, up to a level that varied by age. The findings from this meta-analysis can be used to inform step guidelines for public health promotion of physical activity. Funding US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

"A world turned upside down" a study of the changing social world of the landed nobility of County Meath, 1875-1945

Certainly it [one's life-story] cannot be written inpersonally. If one were to keep the teller out of it, it would be like a room without a fire, a book without a heart. Because it is a life. I make no claim for it, or excuse for it; but for those whom it interests, this is how we lived. And no one certainly will ever live like that again. [Lady Fingall, Seventy years young.] The above quote comes from the memoirs of Lady Elizabeth [Daisy] Fingall, which were published in 1937. She was born seventy-one years before, in 1866, the eldest daughter of George Burke of Danesfield in County Galway. In 1883, after something of a whirlwind romance, she married Arthur Plunkett, 11th Earl of Fingall, when she was just seventeen years old. Her memoirs essentially cover the period from the late 1870s to the late 1930s. As a social document they offer a valuable insight into what she herself rightly describes as "the twilight years" of the Irish landed class. Most particularly they describe the social lives of the Irish nobility into which Elizabeth Burke married. Her memoirs clearly illustrate that the nobility, who were invariably large landowners, moved usually, though not exclusively,in different social circles to the lesser gentry.(Elizabeth Burke's own experience demonstrates the exception to the rule here, for she was the daughter of an untitled middling-sized landowner who marries into the nobility.) They also show that the social lives of the nobility were much more varied and usually much more extravagant than those of the lesser gentry

Copy of the marquis of Kildare's household book, 1758

Hereunder is reproduced for the first time in its entirety a rare example of a servant-related manuscript of the eighteenth century. It came into the present author's possession some years ago by a kind loan from Maurice FitzGerald, ninth and present duke of Leinster.1 In the past 'The copy of the marquis of Kildare's household book, 1758' has provided the basis for an erudite article by Patricia McCarthy and has been referred to in other important works on servants in the eighteenth-century Irish country house, notably by Toby Barnard.2 The document is a record of household regulations and employment policies written down by James FitzGerald, marquis of Kildare, later 1st duke of Leinster (1722-73), governing servant life at Carton House in county Kildare and to a lesser extent Kildare (later Leinster) House, his town residence in Dublin. It is to be assumed that, although every entry was marked with FitzGerald's sign, 'K' and later T, the decisions recorded were at least very strongly influenced by his formidable wife, Lady Emily (1731-1814), daughter of the 2nd duke of Richmond

"A world turned upside down" a study of the changing social world of the landed nobility of County Meath, 1875-1945

Certainly it [one's life-story] cannot be written inpersonally. If one were to keep the teller out of it, it would be like a room without a fire, a book without a heart. Because it is a life. I make no claim for it, or excuse for it; but for those whom it interests, this is how we lived. And no one certainly will ever live like that again. [Lady Fingall, Seventy years young.] The above quote comes from the memoirs of Lady Elizabeth [Daisy] Fingall, which were published in 1937. She was born seventy-one years before, in 1866, the eldest daughter of George Burke of Danesfield in County Galway. In 1883, after something of a whirlwind romance, she married Arthur Plunkett, 11th Earl of Fingall, when she was just seventeen years old. Her memoirs essentially cover the period from the late 1870s to the late 1930s. As a social document they offer a valuable insight into what she herself rightly describes as "the twilight years" of the Irish landed class. Most particularly they describe the social lives of the Irish nobility into which Elizabeth Burke married. Her memoirs clearly illustrate that the nobility, who were invariably large landowners, moved usually, though not exclusively,in different social circles to the lesser gentry.(Elizabeth Burke's own experience demonstrates the exception to the rule here, for she was the daughter of an untitled middling-sized landowner who marries into the nobility.) They also show that the social lives of the nobility were much more varied and usually much more extravagant than those of the lesser gentry

"A world turned upside down" a study of the changing social world of the landed nobility of County Meath, 1875-1945

Certainly it [one's life-story] cannot be written inpersonally. If one were to keep the teller out of it, it would be like a room without a fire, a book without a heart. Because it is a life. I make no claim for it, or excuse for it; but for those whom it interests, this is how we lived. And no one certainly will ever live like that again. [Lady Fingall, Seventy years young.] The above quote comes from the memoirs of Lady Elizabeth [Daisy] Fingall, which were published in 1937. She was born seventy-one years before, in 1866, the eldest daughter of George Burke of Danesfield in County Galway. In 1883, after something of a whirlwind romance, she married Arthur Plunkett, 11th Earl of Fingall, when she was just seventeen years old. Her memoirs essentially cover the period from the late 1870s to the late 1930s. As a social document they offer a valuable insight into what she herself rightly describes as "the twilight years" of the Irish landed class. Most particularly they describe the social lives of the Irish nobility into which Elizabeth Burke married. Her memoirs clearly illustrate that the nobility, who were invariably large landowners, moved usually, though not exclusively,in different social circles to the lesser gentry.(Elizabeth Burke's own experience demonstrates the exception to the rule here, for she was the daughter of an untitled middling-sized landowner who marries into the nobility.) They also show that the social lives of the nobility were much more varied and usually much more extravagant than those of the lesser gentry

Land and politics in independent Ireland, 1923-48: the case for a re-appraisal

The primary aim of this article is to suggest that such traditional assumptions are fundamentally flawed. By focusing upon the administrative periods of Cumann na nGaedheal (1923-32) and Fianna Fail (1932-48), it argues the case that there is a need to reassess the centrality of the land question to both national and local politics after independence