A NOVEL LIFE-HISTORY IN AGLAOTHAMNION-DIAPHANUM-SP NOV (CERAMIACEAE, RHODOPHYTA) FROM BRITTANY AND THE BRITISH-ISLES

A diminutive species of Aglaothamnion (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta), A. diaphanum sp. nov., is described from Brittany (Atlantic France), the Isles of Scilly (off S.W. England) and western Ireland. Aglaothamnion diaphanum is confined to the sublittoral zone, where it grows almost exclusively on algae and sessile animals attached to hard substrata. Thalli are delicate, and branched distichously in one plane. The main axes are ecorticate but may form loose non-corticating rhizoidal filaments. The lateral branches bear a characteristic, regularly alternate distichous series of branchlets, the first of which is always adaxial. All vegetative cells are uninucleate. The majority of field-collected plants bear only bisporangia, but a few bisporangial plants also form spermatangia; some male plants and a single female specimen have been collected. The spermatangial branchlets consist of 3-5 spermatangial mother cells each bearing 2-4 spermatangia, which are constricted around a central nucleus. None of the U-shaped carpogonial branches showed any sign of fertilization, and the gametangia appear to be non-functional. The bisporangia are ovoid and contain two uninucleate spores separated by an oblique curved wall. The occurrence of bisporangia and the lack of adherent cortication distinguish A. diaphanum from two similar species, Aglaothamnion bipinnatum (P. Crouan et H. Crouan) Feldmann-Mazoyer and Aglaothamnion decompositum (J. Agardh) Halos. The life history in culture of French and Irish isolates of A. diaphanum consists of a series of bisporangial generations, a single plant of which also formed spermatangia. Apical cells of bisporophytes are haploid (n = c. 32), but the first division of meiosis, with chromosome pairing and crossing over, occurs in dividing bisporocytes. The germinating bispores are haploid. Endodiploidization may occur in the early stages of sporangium development, as in some phycomycete fungi, or in vegetative cells that subsequently give rise to bisporocytes. This is the first demonstration in the red algae of meiotic bisporangia on plants of which the apical cells, at least, are haploid.

Poverty and power: the Irish Poor Law in a north Antrim town 1861-1921

This examines the workings of the Irish Poor Law in the town of Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, during the period between the end of the Great Famine and Partition. It focuses both on those who administered and those who used the poor law and argues that for the former it provided an important route into local politics and for the latter it represented a crucial strand in the limited strategies for survival open to them. It also demonstrates the impact that local political outlook had on both the administration and the experience of poor relief.

Defending the Irish Border: The Map of Watchful Architecture

This chapter offers an analysis of a map of the Irish border. The Map of Watchful Architecture charts the history of defensive structures in the border region.

Modelling the Performance of Irish Credit Unions, 2002 to 2010

This study undertakes a modeling based performance assessment of all Irish credit unions between 2002 and 2010, a particularly turbulent period in their history. The analysis explicitly addresses the current challenges faced by credit unions in that the modeling approach used rewards credit unions for reducing undesirable outputs (impaired loans and investments) as well as for increasing desirable outputs (loans, earning assets and members’ funds) and decreasing inputs (labour expenditure, capital expenditure and fund expenses). The main findings are: credit unions are subject to increasing returns to scale; technical regression occurred in the years after 2007; there is significant scope for an improvement in efficiency through expansion of desirable outputs and contraction of undesirable outputs and inputs; and that larger credit unions, that are better capitalised and pay a higher dividend to members are more efficient than their smaller, less capitalised, and lower dividend paying counterparts.

Military Service Pensions for Veterans of the Irish Revolution, 1916–1923

In 1924 the Irish Free State government passed legislation to award pensions to veterans of the Irish revolution and Civil War. This article argues that the motivation for the pensions was the need to placate the national army after a failed mutiny in 1924 and that this explains their unusual nature in being based on service alone rather than disability. It will also explore the problems this created for defining service, examine the extension of eligibility to former republican enemies of the state and women revolutionaries in 1934, and describe the application and assessment procedure.

The Joy and Roy of Irish

A short play as part of theatre company Kabosh's walking-tour-with-performances 'The West Awakes', focusing on aspects of the history and culture of West Belfast. My piece dramatised the contribution of Belfast Protestants and Unionists to the Irish language.