Ciarán Casey
@ciaranmcasey
Economic historian at UL. Author of 'The Irish Department of Finance, 1959-1999' and 'Policy Failures and the Irish Economic Crisis'.
The Commission on Emigration (1954) bemoaning the lot of young Irish adults.
From the Commission on Emigration (1954). It should be the county motto tbh
This year has been 40% wetter than the long term average in Dublin. Have we managed to combine the worst policies of both the political right and left into one cunning package?
And data centres, obviously? Even by Irish standards, a gung-ho data centre policy while refusing to invest properly in water infrastructure is bananas
So much of the dicussion on mid-century Irish health metrics focuses on policy debates and the church. Any comparative analysis suggests it was almost all about medicine
The first appearance of this font which I feel they used for the next fifty years
It's really fascinating in fairness. This is a pretty contemporary source but the most compelling I've found. It's a massive achievement in fairness and so rarely commented on
One of the weirdest findings on this material wellbeing project is the all-cause death rates in the UK fell sharply during WW2 but not in Ireland. The best explanation I've seen is food price controls but if anyone has a competing explanation please shout
Deep in a statistical abstract from 1948. I'm actually amazed only 1% of @rte.ie broadcasting time was religious services
I'm writing a book on material wellbeing since independence and quite chuffed with these two epigraphs from Cumann na nGaedheal for the opening chapter
Young people in the 1940s wasting their money instead of saving for a house
Future civilisations will marvel at this image. Sages will debate its meaning
Oh and the only girls to do Greek and 'Physics and Chemistry' for the leaving
Props to the sole boys to do music and Spanish for the Inter Cert in 1942 (both passed)
In his essay on making tea he says the pot should be brought to the kettle rather than vice versa. Good to see he's following his own rules here
It shouldn't need reiteration but most of the kids who ended up in industrial schools were just guilty of being poor.
I'm going through the government reports for the past century and the introduction of the school medical service is one of the most interesting things. The public health problems were jaw-dropping, even after years of operation. Here's the results from the inspections in Dublin, 1936-7
Back when official reports were entitled using the I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)' format. Catchy stuff
From an inspector of boarded out (foster) children in 1932. Saying the quiet part loud