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1834

Some years resonate down the ages.

• 800 and Charlemagne is crowned Emperor.
• 1066 and William the Conqueror invades England.
• 1834 and Kilronan House, Dublin, is built.

Well, okay, so 1834 was a bog standard year. Nonetheless, if you were living then, you'd remember it well. Yes, 1834 was the year that:

Slavery was abolished in the British colonies. It had been prohibited in England itself since 1807, but finally the work of the Emancipation Party bore fruit. Not that the newly freed slaves started dancing in the streets. Under the legislation, field slaves were bound as "apprentices" to their owners for another 6 years.

Germany took the first major step toward unification with the formation of a customs union, the Zollverein, under Prussian leadership. Just like the current European Union, the abolishment of customs duties between the 17 German states led to closer ties and increased trade. Of course, the Zollverein led ultimately to the Kaiser, unlike the EU which will only lead to peace, prosperity, and happiness.

In 1800 Madame Marie Tussaud had come to England after spending several years attending guillotine executions to take wax death masks of the severed heads. For decades she toured England displaying her waxwork gallery. Finally, in 1834, Madame Tussaud established a permanent home for her collection at Baker Street in London.

In Russia, Nikolai Gogol published Taras Bulba about the Cossack people. Alexander Pushkin published a short novella, The Queen of Spades, and in Britain Bulwer Lytton published the historical novel, The Last Days of Pompeii. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, creator of The Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan and Christabel died. "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree..."

In Philadelphia a huge race riot erupted in the summer (does it never end?) when nearly 500 unemployed labourers invaded the black ghetto and tried to drive the Negroes out of town. A town meeting some months later condemned the bigotry and made some financial compensation to the riot's victims.

Charles Darwin was sailing home on the Beagle. This was year 3 of the 5 year voyage that brought Darwin to the Galapagos and eventually to his theory of the Origin of Species.

Hans Christian Andersen released a series of gloomy children's tales that have enchanted people ever since. Tales Told for Children included The Tinderbox, the Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, and Little Ida's Flowers.

The American Congress debated (and in early 1835 passed) a bill to totally pay off the national debt. Shall we 'ere see the like again?

Famine hit Japan and a financial crisis crippled the shogun's government. A new senior counsellor was appointed and he initiated the reforms that would eventually sweep the Shogunate from power.

The first passenger train in Ireland began to ply its route between Dublin and Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire). The event was celebrated in a series of 12 woodcuts which were heavily subscribed by the public.

Cyrus McCormick unveiled his automatic grain-reaping machine. Of all the events of the year, this was probably the most important, since it led directly to the industrial revolution reaching onto the farms of the world. Cyrus' father, a blacksmith, had tried for years to invent such a machine, and his son eventually succeeded - though he ditched school more often than he attended to work on the device.

The dislocations of the industrial revolution caused a huge rise in the numbers of the poor. To deal with the number of paupers, England instituted a system of workhouses. These were deliberately designed to be "uninviting places of wholesome restraint." Among the wholesome restraints were the separation of husbands from wives and parents from children. Dinners were eaten in silence. Wholesome tasks included stone breaking, bone-grinding, and hand-grinding wheat. Within 4 years the system was exported to Ireland, just in time for the Famine years of 1845 to 48. Tens of thousands died in the workhouses from overcrowding, disease, and inadequate diet.

In India, Sikhs led by their greatest ruler Ranjit Singh captured the city of Peshawar. Singh united the Sihks and extended their power to the borders of British India. He did this by creating a French trained army which swept the Punjab into the Sikh domain.

Daniel O'Connell, the uncrowned King of Ireland, had succeeded in gaining Catholic Emancipation with the help of the Duke of Wellington - victor at Waterloo. His next endeavour, repeal of the Act of Union with England, was doomed to failure. But, during 1834 he was planning his campaign for Repeal including the "monster meetings" where he would speak to upwards of a quarter million people.

During O'Connell's lifetime the population of Ireland more than doubled. Lands were divided and subdivided again. At the same time cheap British imports ruined hundreds of Irish businesses. By the end of 1834, it was calculated that over 2 million people were out of work for more than 30 weeks every year.

Louis Braille taught at the National Institute for Blind Children in Paris. He invented his system for reading by touch while only 15 and continued as a teacher at the school for the rest of his life. Despite the obvious benefit of the system, the school's director burnt every copy of every Braille book in existence and forbade students to use Braille. The kids defiantly passed notes to each other in Braille and refused to abandon the system of raised dots which Louis had invented.

Davy Crocket, American frontiersman and former Congressman, headed for Texas where a group of disgruntled U.S. citizens had declared independence from Mexico. General Santa Ana spent this year consolidating his grip on Mexico before heading to Texas to put down the revolt. He would score a major victory the next year by defeating Crocket and a band of dedicated defenders at the Alamo.

Charles Babbage had just invented his "analytical engine" - the first programmable calculating machine. Punched cards such as those used on looms of the day were his input method- beating IBM by more than a century. Throughout 1834 Babbage publicised his invention but could convince no one of the potential utility for such a device. His engine never was completed and his invention totally forgotten until the 1960's when academic researchers resurrected his work.

Kilronan House was built in 1834 in an up and coming area of Dublin. It was designed in the fashionable Georgian style. The invention of mass produced glass panes made relatively inexpensive windows possible and the era's architects were the first to design large window expanses to bring the outdoors inside. Harmony of design and careful balancing of decorative elements were also key elements of Georgian design. Ceiling molds and roses added an elegant touch to the rooms. Hardwoods from distant mountainsides were widely used and the overall effect was one of luxurious dignity and a comfortable grandeur.

You can experience the relaxed and timeless refinement of a typical Georgian home at Kilronan House. Step out of Europe's most exciting millennial city for a restful stay in 1834... with modern plumbing.

Int. Tel: + 353 1 475-5266
Int. Fax: + 353 1 478-2841

Within Ireland: 01 475-5266
Fax in Ireland: 01 478-2841