#OTD in Irish History – 10 February:

10/02/2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

1800 – The House of Lords votes for the Act of Union which sees Ireland lose its own parliament, direct rule is imposed on Ireland and ‘the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland’ is created. 1842 – Birth of astronomer and writer, Agnes Mary Clerke, in Skibbereen, Co Cork. In 1885, she published her […]

#OTD in 1921 – While the War of Independence was supported (actively or passively) by the majority of Irish, the Catholic church railed against the violence.

24/01/2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

A letter from the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. Thomas P Gilmartin is read at masses, following an ambush on English forces near Kilroe, Co Galway where members involving ‘D’ company, the ‘Auxiliary’ company in Galway had been ambushed: ‘The misguided criminals who fired a few shots from behind a wall and then decamped to a […]

#OTD in Irish History – 19 January:

19/01/2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

1003 – Death of Abbot, Kilian of Cologne. Kilian was a native of Ireland. In 974, he and a group of Irish missionaries, led by Minnborinus of Cologne (died 986), arrived at Cologne where they established St. Martin’s Abbey in an island on the Rhine. Minnborinus ruled as first abbot; upon his death, Kilian succeeded […]

#OTD in Irish History – 12 January:

12/01/2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

1709 – Birth of Benjamin Burton, politician and Revenue Commissioner. 1729 – Edmund Burke, orator, statesman and philosopher, is born in Arran Quay, Dublin. 1745 – Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Earl of Chesterfield, is the first official to allow Dubliners to roam in the Phoenix Park, and installed the central “Phoenix Monument”, a phoenix bird on […]

Giant’s Grave

10/01/2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Moytura is where the Tuatha Dé Danann began their invasion by taking on the Fir Bolg in a battle for the possession of Ireland. It’s name in Irish is Cath Maighe Tuireadh, meaning ‘Battle of the Plain of Pillar’. The Danann won. Some thirty years later, a second battle of Moytura was fought, this time […]

#OTD in Irish History – 6 January:

06/01/2019.Reading time 7 minutes.

In the Liturgical Calendar, today is Epiphany and Little Christmas (Nollaig Bheag) and/or Women’s Christmas (Nollaig na mBan) and/or Twelfth Day (the traditional end of the Christmas season) and for Irish Roman Catholics, a Holy Day of Obligation. 1562 – Shane O’Neill submits to Queen Elizabeth at Whitehall, but rebels again within months. 1654 – […]

#OTD in 2003 – Death of Bridget Dirrane who died at the age of 109. She was Ireland’s second oldest person.

31/12/2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Bridget Dirrane was the oldest native of Ireland’s Aran Islands and the second oldest person in Ireland. Éamon de Valera was the Irish political leader she most admired, but in a life touching three centuries, she met Pádraig Pearse, went on hunger strike in Mountjoy gaol, campaigned for John F Kennedy in Boston, and was […]

#OTD in 1891 – Death of painter and artist, Augustus Nicholas Burke.

28/12/2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Born in 1828 in Co Galway, Augustus Burke was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy in London and the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. He resided in Holland and Brittany for a number of years before returning to Dublin. His portraits include a Breton Farmyard; The Feast-day of Notre Dame de Tremala, Brittany and […]

#OTD in Irish History – 23 December:

23/12/2018.Reading time 9 minutes.

1686 – Birth of writer, economist and philanthropist, Samuel Madden, in Dublin. 1688 – James II of flees from England to France. William had married James’ daughter Mary, and they had overthrown him as monarch of Britain and Ireland. James was supported by much of the Irish population because of his Catholic religion. James was […]

#OTD in 1920 – IRA members and brothers Patrick and Harry Loughnane were abducted and killed by Black and Tan Auxiliaries at Kinvara, Co Galway.

26/11/2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

County Galway saw its share of controversial incidents during the War of Independence. Most of these incidents were carried out by Crown Forces, specifically the RIC and a new force, the Auxiliaries, created in order to help the RIC in dealing with militant republicanism. Patrick Loughnane (aged 29) was a local IRA leader and Sinn […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Co. Galway