One hundred years ago this week the British handed over Dublin Castle to the Provisional Government. There have been many events and features to mark this including interesting pieces from The Irish Story written by John Dorney here and by John Gibney on the RTE website entitled "The Castle has fallen". History Ireland's podcast on the handover of power - which includes Festival contributor Edward Madigan - is definitely worth a listen and can be heard on their website. Our featured image shows Michael Collins and others at the Castle after the handover and is courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.

There's a hugely significant literary anniversary this year - 100 years since the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses. This week Festival contributor Ambassador Dan Mulhall took part in a discussion about Joyce's great work on BBC Radio 4's Open Book programme, along with novelist Colm Toibin. There is also the newly launched Ulysses 100 digital platform developed by the Museum of Literature in Dublin (MoLI), in partnership with the Irish government which will promote and collect information on events relating to the centenary.

Moving to a completely different period of time and a very different location, the Irish Times profiled Michael Harmel. Harmel was born in South Africa to Irish parents and became a leading anti-apartheid activist. He eventually fled into exile, dying in Prague in 1974.