Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
Pul na Sean Tinne, often referred to as a Blowhole, is an area of Downpatrick Head that provides visitors a clear view of the fault line which exists in rock formation. The softer rock has been eroded by the constant action of the waves and is evident at three locations where erosion has worked its […]
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1667 – Cattle exports to England are prohibited. 1671 – Catholic gentry present petition to Charles II. 1688 – Birth of Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, PC. He was an English political leader and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Dorset served twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, from 1731 to 1737 and again from […]
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1695 – Jonathan Swift was ordained as a priest in the Church of Ireland. 1702 – Birth of Thomas Arthur Lally in Romans, France. He was a French General of Irish Jacobite ancestry. Lally commanded French forces, including two battalions of his own red-coated Regiment of Lally of the Irish Brigade, in India during the […]
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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 […]
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In the Liturgical Calendar, today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents and, in Irish folklore, it was very unlucky to start something new. It was also believed that whichever day of the week the feast fell, that day would be unlucky throughout the following year. 1673 – Birth of Marmaduke Coghill (in Dublin), lawyer, […]
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“To all my friends I leave kind thoughts, to my enemies the fullest possible forgiveness and to Ireland the undying prayer for absolute freedom and independence, which it was my life’s ambition to try and obtain for her”. –Extract from Michael Davitt’s Will Michael Davitt was involved in a failed raid on Chester Castle to […]
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1727 – William Connolly is unanimously re-elected Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. 1848 – ‘Saturday Review’ Racist Anti-Irish Rant. As Ireland haemorrhaged population via starvation and emigration, it received little support from elements of the English press. 1856 – Birth of Cardinal Patrick O’Donnell near Glenties, Co Donegal. 1863 – Foundation of the […]
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There is a grave in Leigue Cemetery, Ballina, Co Mayo which has a concrete surface, placed there by the Gardaí in 1976, to prevent Frank Stagg’s body from being stolen. Forty-two years ago, the body was removed from the grave, during the night, without disturbing the concrete, and buried elsewhere in the cemetery. When Stagg […]
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1719 – The Toleration Act for Protestant Dissenters is passed. 1752 – Philip Twisden, Bishop of Raphoe and son-in-law of the politician Thomas Carter, dies bankrupt on this date, having been shot while allegedly masquerading as a highwayman. 1795 – Birth of William Grattan Tyrone Power, known professionally as Tyrone Power, was an Irish stage […]
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“We are the risen people, this time we must not be driven into the gutter. Even if this should mean dying for justice. The fight must go on. I want my memorial to be peace with justice.” –Frank Stagg Frank Stagg was the seventh child in a family of thirteen children, born at Hollymount near […]
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