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

30/08/2023.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:

30/08/2023.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:

29/08/2023.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 1872 – The first horse drawn tram cars enter service in Belfast.

28/08/2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

Belfast’s first trams operated in 1872 and were horse-drawn. Initially, the system was owned and operated by the Belfast Street Tramways Company. It was purchased by the Belfast Corporation on 1 January 1905 and electrified, using overhead wires, in 1905. Belfast’s electric trams were originally painted red and white. Some older, unmodernised trams retained this livery until the […]

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

14/08/2023.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.

02/08/2023.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

29/07/2023.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. […]

#OTD in 2010 – Death of snooker great, Alexander Gordon Higgins.

24/07/2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Alex Higgins, who hit the snooker world like the hurricane which became his nickname, was to become the biggest box-office draw the game has ever known. Snooker great Alex Higgins died on this date at age 59. Hurricane Higgins was one of the first ‘rock stars’ of snooker, winning world championships in 1972 and 1982. […]

#OTD in 2004 – Death of Joe Cahill, a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA).

23/07/2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

“I was born in a united Ireland, I want to die in a united Ireland”. –Joe Cahill 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 born to Joesph and […]

#OTD in 1798 – Death of United Irishman, Henry Joy McCracken.

17/07/2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

“The rich will always betray the poor.” –Henry Joy McCracken Henry Joy McCracken was a cotton manufacturer and industrialist, Presbyterian, radical Irish republican, and a founding member, along with Theobald Wolfe Tone, James Napper Tandy, and Robert Emmet, of the Society of the United Irishmen. McCracken was born in High Street, Belfast on 31 August […]

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

Tag: Belfast

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

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#OTD in Irish History | 30 August:

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#OTD in Irish History | 29 August:

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#OTD in 1872 – The first horse drawn tram cars enter service in Belfast.

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

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

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Cave Hill, Belfast

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#OTD in 2010 – Death of snooker great, Alexander Gordon Higgins.

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#OTD in 2004 – Death of Joe Cahill, a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA).

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#OTD in 1798 – Death of United Irishman, Henry Joy McCracken.

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