#OTD in Irish History – 13 February:

13/02/2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

1689 – William and Mary, daughter of James II, are proclaimed king and queen jointly. 1820 – Death of lawyer and English informer, Leonard McNally. 1850 – Michael Kelly, fourth Roman Catholic archbishop of Sydney is born in Waterford. Kelly was a leading figure in the foundation in 1901 of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association […]

#OTD in Irish History – 25 January:

25/01/2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

1356 – The 1st Earl of Desmond dies; Kildare is his replacement as justiciar. 1533 – England’s King Henry VIII, Lord of Ireland and ‘self declared’ King of Ireland (1541) marries Anne Boleyn after divorcing Catherine of Aragon. 1627 – Birth of chemist and alchemist, Robert Boyle, physicist, in Lismore, Co Waterford. Boyle is largely […]

#OTD in Irish History – 16 January:

16/01/2019.Reading time 12 minutes.

1362 – Birth of Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, and 9th Earl of Oxford KG. He was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England. He was the ninth Earl of Oxford and the first and only Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin. 1700 – Richard Levinge, an […]

The War Hollow

11/01/2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

Viking influence in the Celtic lands goes back to the very beginning of the Viking Age, when men from Scandinavia decided to make the perilous journey across the seas to take what treasures they could. One of these Viking raiders was Magnus Olaffson (Magnús Óláfsson), better known as Magnus Barelegs or Barefoot, the king of […]

#OTD in Irish History – 7 January:

07/01/2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

1878 – Death of John O’Neill. Born in Co Monaghan, he was an officer in the American Civil War and member of the Fenian Brotherhood. O’Neill is best known for his activities leading the Fenian raids on Canada in 1866 and 1871. He had won the only success the Fenians ever achieved in their numerous […]

#OTD in Irish History – 30 December:

30/12/2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

1691 – Robert Boyle, pioneer chemist and physicist dies. 1820 – Birth of author, Mary Anne Sadlier. Born Mary Anne Madden in Cootehill, Co Cavan, Sadlier published roughly sixty novels and numerous stories. She wrote for Irish immigrants in both the United States and Canada, encouraging them to attend mass and retain the Catholic faith. […]

#OTD in Irish History – 22 December:

22/12/2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

1691 – Patrick Sarsfield and The Wild Geese sail out of Cork harbour for France. The Flight of the Wild Geese refers to the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on 3 October 1691, following the end of […]

#OTD in 1887 – Birth of trade unionist and revolutionary, Winifred Carney, in Bangor, Co Down.

04/12/2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

Close to the entrance of Milltown Cemetery is a limestone monument which marks the grave of a remarkable woman – Maria Winifred Carney. Winnie was born in Bangor, Co Down, but moved to the Falls Road in Belfast at an early age. She was born into a fairly comfortable family, and was one of seven […]

#OTD in Irish History – 2 December:

02/12/2018.Reading time 8 minutes.

1649 – Oliver Cromwell abandoned the siege of Waterford. Marching west into the territory secured by Lord Broghill, Cromwell dispersed his army into winter quarters at Cork, Youghal and Dungarvan. 1738 – Birth of Richard Montgomery in Swords, Co Dublin. He was a soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a […]

#OTD in 2005 – Death of football player, George Best.

25/11/2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

‘With feet as sensitive as a pickpocket’s hands, his control of the ball under the most violent pressure was hypnotic. The bewildering repertoire of feints and swerves… and balance that would have made Isaac Newton decide he might as well have eaten the apple.’ –Hugh McIlvanney, Observer sportswriter. The ‘Belfast Boy’ was undoubtedly the finest […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Co. Antrim