HMS Argenta – Republican Internment Prison Ship

14/09/2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

In an attempt to subvert the nationalist economic position, the Minister of Home Affairs, Dawson Bates, imposed martial law tactics to rend supremacy over both a rural and urban populous through violence, intimidation and economic sanctions. HMS Argenta (originally the American cargo ship S.S. Argenta) was a prison ship of the British Royal Navy. The […]

#OTD in Irish History – 5 September:

05/09/2018.Reading time 9 minutes.

1724 – In the guise of an Irish Patriot, M. B. Drapier, Jonathan Swift publishes ‘Drapier Letter III’ – one of a series of letters designed to incite the people against a new coinage. 1771 – Benjamin Franklin commences a visit to Ireland where he would later report he had ‘a good deal of Conversation […]

#OTD in 1945 – Birth of Van Morrison “Van the Man” in Belfast.

31/08/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

The Belfast Cowboy first achieved fame with a tight R&B band Them with whom he recorded Gloria, a song that still as fresh today as in 1964. A strong claim could be made that Van Morrison is the finest composer ever produced by the Emerald Isle. His body of work ranges from glorious pop like […]

#OTD in Irish History – 31 August:

31/08/2018.Reading time 11 minutes.

In the Liturgical calendar, it is the Feast day of St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, the Apostle of Northumbria. He was the founder and first bishop of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in England. A Christian missionary, he is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. Aidan is the anglicized form of the original Old […]

#OTD in 2013 – World-renowned poet and playwright Seamus Heaney died in the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin following a short illness, aged 74.

30/08/2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

“History says, Don’t hope On this side of the grave, But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme.” ―Seamus Heaney Seamus Heaney was awarded numerous prizes over the years and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. He was born to a farming […]

#OTD in Irish History – 30 August:

30/08/2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast day of Saint Fiacra. He was born in Ireland in the seventh century. Fiachra is an ancient pre-Christian name from Ireland. The meaning is uncertain, but the name may mean “battle king”, or it may be a derivative of the word fiach “raven”. The name can be […]

#OTD in Irish History – 29 August:

29/08/2018.Reading time 9 minutes.

1170 – Richard de Clare (Strongbow) marries Aoife Ní MacMurrough and sets a precedent for Norman rule in Ireland. 1729 – Birth of David La Touche, banking magnate and MP. 1798 – Cornwallis reaches Tuam, Co Galway. 1803 – Samuel Neilson, one of the founder members of the Society of United Irishmen and the founder […]

#OTD in 1969 – The British Army was deployed on the streets in the north of Ireland, which marked the beginning of ‘Operation Banner’.

14/08/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

Following on from the Peoples Democracy march of 1st January 1969 from Belfast to Derry and the subsequent rioting in the Bogside and other towns in the north of Ireland, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and its supporters were openly condemned by the Government of Northern Ireland as being manipulated by communists, republicans and […]

#OTD in 1981 – Death of Kieran Doherty, TD for Monaghan-Cavan, on the 73rd day of his hunger strike in Long Kesh prison.

02/08/2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Fuair siad bás ar son Saoirse na hÉireann. Kieran went on hunger-strike on Friday, 22nd May, having put his name forward for it long ago, as undaunted and full of fighting spirit as when he roamed free on the streets of Andersonstown. In June 1981, in the Free State general election, Kieran was elected a […]

Cave Hill, Belfast

25/07/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Cave Hill, or Cavehill, is a basaltic hill overlooking the city of Belfast. It forms part of the southeastern border of the Antrim Plateau. It is distinguished by its famous ‘Napoleon’s Nose’, a basaltic outcrop which resembles the profile of the famous emperor Napoleon. Cavehill is also the name of an electoral ward in Belfast. […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Belfast