#OTD in Irish History – 3 January:

03/01/2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

1663 – Thomas Crompton of Arklow, a clergyman, petitions the House of Lords that ‘Constantine Neal of Wexford, merchant, refuseth to restore the bell belonging to the steepl (sic) of Arklow, which he saw in his possession’. An order is made for its restoration. 1823 – Death of General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert. He was […]

Wren Day, also known as Wren’s Day or the Day of the Wren (Lá an Dreoilín), celebrated on St Stephen’s Day.

26/12/2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

The tradition is very much on the wane now but in some few localities Wrenboys still go out in Ireland on St. Stephens Day. The central theme of the wrenboy visit is the wren, an effigy of which is carried about in a holly branch or in a box or cage. Previously it was hunted […]

#OTD in Irish History – 18 December:

18/12/2018.Reading time 13 minutes.

In the Liturgical Calendar, today is the Feast day of St. Flannan. St. Flannan was an Irish saint who lived in the 7th century and was the son of a king of Thomond, an Irish Chieftain. He entered Molua’s monastery at Killaloe and became abbot there. He is remembered as a great preacher. He made […]

#OTD in Irish History – 10 December:

10/12/2018.Reading time 11 minutes.

1479 – Garret More Fitzgerald of Kildare, the ‘Great Earl’, holds a parliament in Dublin from 10 December; it will run, with adjournments, into 1481. 1690 – Sir John Dillon, MP for Co Meath, fights a duel with the Earl of Anglesey. 1826 – Birth of businessman, William Ford in Clonakilty, Co Cork. He moved […]

The Celts of Ancient Ireland

08/12/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

The first historical record of the Celts was by the Greeks about 700 BC, the Celts were a loose grouping of tribes that lived in an area north of the Alps around the Danube river in central Europe. Over the next few hundred years they spread east and west across Europe. The Celts first arrived […]

#OTD in 1879 – Birth of Anti-Treaty Nationalist and Politician, Austin Stack, in Tralee, Co Kerry.

07/12/2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

Under the influence of his father, Austin Stack joined the local Young Ireland Society and the local branch of the Irish National Foresters, and was a keen student of Irish history. Appalled at the Cinderella status of Gaelic football and hurling, he co-founded the John Mitchel club in Tralee and became its secretary. The remarkable […]

#OTD in 1944 – Charlie Kerins was hanged in Mountjoy Gaol by the English hangman Albert Pierrepoint.

01/12/2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

‘All I ask is that the ideals and principles for which I am about to die for will be kept alive until the Irish Republic is finally enthroned’. –Charlie Kerins When the serial killer of Rillington Place, John Christie, complained that his nose itched after his arms had been bound, Albert Pierrepoint assured him: “It […]

#OTD in 1920 – Lieutenant Eddie Carmody is murdered by Crown Forces in Ballylongford, Co Kerry.

22/11/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

Kevin Barry’s execution and Terence MacSwiney’s death precipitated a dramatic escalation in violence as the Irish War of Independence entered its most bloody phase. MacSwiney and Barry were elevated to the status of republican martyrs and presented to the world as examples of British tyranny in Ireland. But their deaths also led indirectly to a […]

#OTD in Irish History – 17 November:

17/11/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

1814 – Joseph Finegan, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, is born in Clones, Co Monaghan. 1852 – Sligo-born Brigadier Michael Corcoran’s Irish Legion is mustered into the Federal service; it is involved in the defense of Washington D.C. 1869 – For nearly 150 years, the Suez Canal has played a vital role […]

#OTD in Irish History – 7 November:

07/11/2018.Reading time 8 minutes.

1366 – Lionel of Clarence, third son of Edward III and king’s lieutenant in Ireland, leaves the country. 1730 – The Danish East India Company ship, Golden Lyon, is stranded near Ballyheige, Co Kerry. 1771 – Funeral of Charles Lucas in Dublin attracts ‘the most numerous crowds of people ever known in this Kingdom’. 1791 […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Co. Kerry