Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, also called Máel Sechnaill Mór, Máel Sechnaill II, anglicised Malachy II, was King of Mide and High King of Ireland. His great victory at the Battle of Tara against Olaf Cuaran in 980 resulted in Gaelic control of the Kingdom of Dublin. Clann Cholmáin branch of the Uí Néill dynasty. He […]
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1793 – The Convention Act (1793) was aimed at preventing the recurrence of events like the Convention of the Volunteers in 1782 where armed groups (of Protestants) from various parts of Ireland assembled in Dublin and were able to overawe the Government at a time when there were few troops in the country. Contrary to […]
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The site of Lady Well in Killyon is typical of the sites of holy wells in the Boyne valley. There is a tumulus nearby which shows that the place was of importance in pagan times. The site of Lady Well in Killyon had probably been an important chief’s residence at the time of St Patrick, […]
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In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast day of St Muiredach mac Echdach of Killala. 1646 – Archbishop Giovanni Rinuccini, papal nuncio to the Irish Confederate Catholics, condemns their adherence to Ormond’s peace terms for failing to fully recognise Catholicism. 1652 – ‘Act for the Settling of Ireland’ allows for the transplantation to Clare […]
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“The world is large when its weary leagues two loving hearts divide, “But the world is small when your enemy is loose on the other side.” –John Boyle O’Reilly As a youth in Ireland he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, for which crime he was transported to Western Australia. After escaping to […]
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Francis Ledwidge, the Irish nationalist and poet, was born in Slane, Co Meath on 19 August 1887 the son of a poor labourer. Leaving school at the age of 14 he worked in various manual labour positions while developing a love for and honing his own poetical talents. It was in 1911 that Ledwidge first […]
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In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast Day of Saint Peter and Paul. 1315 – The Irish annals state that Edward de Brus “took the hostages and lordship of the whole province of Ulster without opposition and they consented to him being proclaimed King of Ireland and all the Gaels of Ireland agreed to […]
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Poet, writer and nationalist John Boyle O’Reilly was born in Dowth Castle, Co Meath, near Drogheda. For his part in the IRB and Fenian conspiracy, O’Reilly was sentenced to twenty years’ penal servitude. He served nearly two years in English prisons before being put aboard the convict ship Hougoumont, and transported to Australia in 1868, […]
Read MoreThis year, the Summer Solstice falls on 21 June and is the longest day of the year, when there are approximately 17 hours of light and when the sun is at its highest point of the year in the northern hemisphere. The name comes from the Latin solstitium meaning “sun stands still”. It happens because […]
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During 1899 and 1902, members of the British-Israel Association of London came to Co Meath to dig up the Hill of Tara. These ‘British-Israelites’ believed they would find buried there the Ark of the Covenant, the chest said to contain the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets. Their strange and unlawful activity provoked a protest […]
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