#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 1986 – Belfast-born Patrick Joseph Magee, is found guilty of planting the Brighton bomb which killed five people and nearly wiped out most of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet.

10/06/2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Belfast born, Patrick Joseph Magee is found guilty of planting the bomb at the Grand Hotel Brighton which killed five people, but missed its primary target, Margaret Thatcher. The bombing was testament to the ingenuity of the IRA and its bomb makers. The 30 lb bomb had been planted behind a bath in a room […]

#OTD in Irish History – 5 June:

05/06/2019.Reading time 10 minutes.

1646 – The Battle of Benburb: Eoghan Rua O’Neill, a superb military strategist, defeats Robert Munro’s Scottish army at Benburb in Co Tyrone. The victory is celebrated by Pope Innocent X with a Te Deum in Rome. 1686 – Richard Talbot, the Earl of Tyrconnell, appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, (the first Catholic to hold […]

#OTD in 1754 – Birth of Dr. William Drennan in Belfast; physician, poet, educationalist political radical and one of the chief architects of the Society of United Irishmen.

23/05/2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

William Drennan’s poetic output included some powerful and moving pieces. He is chiefly remembered today for “Erin” written in 1800, in which he penned the first reference in print to Ireland as “The Emerald Isle”: “Nor one feeling of vengeance presume to defile The cause, or the men, of the Emerald Isle.” Drennan came to […]

#OTD in 1946 – George Best, the greatest player of his generation and the world’s first superstar footballer, is born in Belfast.

22/05/2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

George Best is undoubtedly the finest soccer player ever, and probably one of the five finest footballers ever. Best was discovered by famed Belfast scout Bob Bishop who told Manchester United manager Matt Busby “I have found a genius.” He was not exaggerating. Best made his debut as a 17-year-old for United on 14 September […]

#OTD in 1920 – Birth of Joe Cahill, a prominent Irish Republican and former Chief of Staff of the Provisional IRA.

19/05/2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Joe was known for his comment. “I was born in a united Ireland, I want to die in a united Ireland”. In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in west Belfast where his parents had been neighbours with Irish revolutionary James Connolly. Cahill was the first child in a family of thirteen siblings […]

#OTD in 1974 – Three car bombs in Dublin and a fourth in Monaghan exploded without warning, injuring almost 300 people and killing 34, the greatest loss of life on a single day during the Troubles.

17/05/2019.Reading time 7 minutes.

On the morning of 17 May 1974, four cars are stolen in Belfast. That evening, they would explode without warning in Dublin and Monaghan resulting in the deaths of 34 civilians and injuries to more than 300. The bombings were the worst single atrocity in Ireland during the “Troubles.” The bombings were a Loyalist reaction […]

#OTD in 1972 – A 13-year-old Catholic girl, Martha Campbell, is shot dead by British soldiers in Springhill Crescent, Ballymurphy, Belfast.

14/05/2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

No enquiry, nor investigation has ever taken place surrounding the circumstances of Martha’s tragic death. Martha was the last person to die in the protracted gunfire that followed the bombing of Kelly’s Bar in Ballymurphy on the 13th May. The family is still fighting for justice for the murder of their beloved Martha. #truth #justice […]

#OTD in 1981 – Bobby Sands dies at Long Kesh prison on the 66th day of his hunger strike.

05/05/2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Fuair siad bás ar son Saoirse na hÉireann. Bobby Sands dies in prison following a 66 day hunger strike. Sands would be the first of ten men to die in an effort to gain political status in a very public battle with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In the House of Commons Thatcher commented on […]

#OTD in 1994 – Northern Ireland Lord Chief Justice, Sir Brian Hutton, quashed the conviction of Paul Hill for the murder of a former British soldier in 1974. Hutton declared that the conviction was ‘unsafe and unsatisfactory’.

21/04/2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

An appeals court overturned a 19-year-old murder conviction against Paul Hill, who spent nearly 15 years in prison for two IRA attacks that he insisted he never committed. The decision was the latest rebuke to the British police for mishandling high-profile terrorist cases in which innocent people have gone to jail. The court ruled that […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Belfast

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

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#OTD in 1986 – Belfast-born Patrick Joseph Magee, is found guilty of planting the Brighton bomb which killed five people and nearly wiped out most of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet.

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#OTD in Irish History – 5 June:

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#OTD in 1754 – Birth of Dr. William Drennan in Belfast; physician, poet, educationalist political radical and one of the chief architects of the Society of United Irishmen.

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#OTD in 1946 – George Best, the greatest player of his generation and the world’s first superstar footballer, is born in Belfast.

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#OTD in 1920 – Birth of Joe Cahill, a prominent Irish Republican and former Chief of Staff of the Provisional IRA.

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#OTD in 1974 – Three car bombs in Dublin and a fourth in Monaghan exploded without warning, injuring almost 300 people and killing 34, the greatest loss of life on a single day during the Troubles.

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#OTD in 1972 – A 13-year-old Catholic girl, Martha Campbell, is shot dead by British soldiers in Springhill Crescent, Ballymurphy, Belfast.

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#OTD in 1981 – Bobby Sands dies at Long Kesh prison on the 66th day of his hunger strike.

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#OTD in 1994 – Northern Ireland Lord Chief Justice, Sir Brian Hutton, quashed the conviction of Paul Hill for the murder of a former British soldier in 1974. Hutton declared that the conviction was ‘unsafe and unsatisfactory’.

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