Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
‘The best ballad singer I ever heard in my life’ was Bob Dylan’s verdict on Liam Clancy, who died at age 74 on this date. He was the last remaining member of the best-known of all Irish folk groups, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, who made an impression that was strong enough for them […]
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In response to the executions, on 30 November, Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA, ordered that any member of Parliament (TD) or senator who had signed or voted for the ‘murder bill’ should be shot on sight. He also ordered the killing of hostile judges and newspaper editors. On the same day, […]
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Cusack was an Irish teacher and founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association. A romantic nationalist, who was associated with the Fenian movement. He was active in the Gaelic revival: a member of the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language which was founded in 1876, and later the Gaelic League who in 1879 broke […]
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On 18 September 1867 about fifty Irish Fenians, led by William Allen, attacked a prison van guarded by a large number of unarmed police at Hyde Road in Manchester, England. Their aim was to release two important Fenian prisoners, Thomas J. Kelly and Timothy Deasy. In the course of freeing the men, an unarmed police […]
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‘Ah, well, I suppose it has come to this’, as the rope was being placed round his neck. Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly was an Australian bushranger of Irish descent. His legacy is controversial; some consider him to be a murderous villain, while others view him as a folk hero and Australia’s equivalent of Robin Hood. Kelly […]
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Liam Lynch was born in Barnagurraha, Co Limerick to Jeremiah and Mary Kelly Lynch. At 17 he was apprenticed to O’Neill’s hardware in Mitchelstown. Shortly after his apprenticeship began he joined the Gaelic League and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He joined the Irish Volunteers after witnessing the arrests of the Kent family by British […]
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Born in Ballyneale, just outside Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, Kiely competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri. Kiely faced a monumental task in St. Louis; the ten events by which all-around ability was measured were all contested in a single day, in the following order: 100 yards, shot put, high jump, 120 […]
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The Fenian Brotherhood, the Irish Republican Brotherhood’s US branch, was founded by John O’Mahony and Michael Doheny, both of whom had been “out” (participating in the Young Irelander’s rising) in 1848. Members were commonly known as “Fenians”. O’Mahony, who was a Celtic scholar, named his organisation after the Fianna, the legendary band of Irish warriors […]
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Michael Cusack convenes the first meeting of the ‘Gaelic Athletic Association for the Preservation and Cultivation of national Pastimes’ in Hayes’ Hotel, Thurles, Co Tipperary. Cusack could never have envisioned that the GAA would develop into the largest amateur sports organisation in the world. His legacy can be viewed every August/September when more than 80,000 […]
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“Come on, he cried, Come show your hand, you have boasted for so long, How you would crush this rebel band with your armies great and strong”. No surrender”, was his war cry, “Fight on lads, no retreat” –Brave Treacy cried before he died, shot down in Talbot Street.” Irish Revolutionary, Seán Treacy was born […]
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