#OTD in 1815 – Battle of Waterloo, when British forces, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, a Dubliner, defeat Napoleon’s forces.

18/06/2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

The Iron Duke wasn’t the only Irish presence on the day — Napoleon’s horse Marengo was reared in Co Wexford, and the Duke of Wellington’s mount was from Co Cork. Arthur Wellesley was born in what is now Dublin’s Merrion Hotel and spent much of his childhood in Ireland, not that he was proud of it. […]

#OTD in 1994 – Loughinisland Massacre: The UVF shot dead six Catholic civilians and wounded five others during a gun attack on a pub in Loughinisland, Co Down.

18/06/2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

While the Republic of Ireland – Italy game is going on, two members of the Loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force walk into The Heights Bar in Loughinisland, Co Down with assault rifles and kill six Catholics who are watching the game. One of the dead was 87-year-old Barney Green, the oldest victim of the Troubles. No […]

#OTD in 1921 – Coolbawn Massacre: Thirty-six IRA Volunteers in Kilkenny tried to ambush a British Army convoy, at Coolbawn, between Castlecomer and Athy traveling with a mine.

18/06/2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Ireland lost two of its finest men on this date when John Hartley (Glenmore) and Nicholas Mullins, (Thomastown) were killed while attempting to ambush a force of Black and Tans who were escorting explosives to the nearby mines. The ambush had been set on the orders of Michael Collins who directed that pressure needed to […]

#OTD in Irish History – 18 June:

18/06/2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

1264 – The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in Co Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature. 1329 – The Bishop of Ossory is charged with fomenting feuds among the magnates; he flees to England and then, when summoned before the king, he flees to Rome. The king (Edward III, aged […]

#OTD in 1981 – Death of activist, writer and member of the Senate, Nora Connolly O’Brien, in Dublin.

17/06/2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

Nora Connolly was born in Edinburgh in 1893. She was the second daughter of James Connolly, and the family moved to Dublin having lived for a time in the United States and Belfast. Her father was an organiser for the Dublin Socialist club and the family lived in poverty for much of her childhood. For […]

#OTD in 1903 – An elephant named Sita kills her keeper tending her sore foot in Dublin Zoo.

17/06/2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Dublin Zoo was opened in 1831, making it the fourth oldest zoo in Europe. The Zoo’s first elephant was a female called Sita, and her keeper was James McNally. In 1903 Sita cut her foot and as James was applying ointment to her wound, she knocked him down with her trunk and stamped on his […]

#OTD in 1957 – Birth of singer, songwriter and guitarist, Philip Chevron, in Dublin.

17/06/2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Philip Chevron was most widely known as guitarist for the Shane MacGowan led punk/folk rock band, The Pogues. He grew up in Santry, a suburb of Dublin. He was regarded as one of the most influential figures in Irish punk music. His most evocative Pogues work is ‘Thousands are Sailing’ which he wrote shortly after […]

#OTD in Irish History – 17 June:

17/06/2019.Reading time 10 minutes.

1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: Rebels capture Tinahely, Co Wicklow and burn the town. Tinahely is unusual in that there is no Church in the village. Most of the village dates from the early part of the 19th century as it was rebuilt by Lord Fitzwilliam after it was burnt during the 1798 rebellion. The […]

The Gaelic Harp

16/06/2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

No musical instrument has ever had to carry so much baggage, surely, as the Irish harp. It has been the symbol both of Ireland under English rule and of the Irish Free State. Unadorned, on a green background, it was a rebel flag in 1916. While its earliest origins are lost, the Irish harp has […]

#OTD in 1904 – Bloomsday: On this date, James Joyce had his first date with Nora Barnacle; ultimately, it became the date on which everything takes place in his masterpiece, Ulysses.

16/06/2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Today is Bloomsday when Leopold Bloom, the main character in James Joyce’s Ulysses takes a long rambling walk around Dublin. Joyce picked this date as it commemorates his first date with his future wife, Nora Barnacle.

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Category: History

#OTD in 1815 – Battle of Waterloo, when British forces, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, a Dubliner, defeat Napoleon’s forces.

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#OTD in 1994 – Loughinisland Massacre: The UVF shot dead six Catholic civilians and wounded five others during a gun attack on a pub in Loughinisland, Co Down.

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#OTD in 1921 – Coolbawn Massacre: Thirty-six IRA Volunteers in Kilkenny tried to ambush a British Army convoy, at Coolbawn, between Castlecomer and Athy traveling with a mine.

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#OTD in Irish History – 18 June:

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#OTD in 1981 – Death of activist, writer and member of the Senate, Nora Connolly O’Brien, in Dublin.

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#OTD in 1903 – An elephant named Sita kills her keeper tending her sore foot in Dublin Zoo.

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#OTD in 1957 – Birth of singer, songwriter and guitarist, Philip Chevron, in Dublin.

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#OTD in Irish History – 17 June:

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The Gaelic Harp

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#OTD in 1904 – Bloomsday: On this date, James Joyce had his first date with Nora Barnacle; ultimately, it became the date on which everything takes place in his masterpiece, Ulysses.

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