The Sullivan brothers were raised in an Irish-Catholic family, the brothers great-grandfather had emigrated from Ireland. Early on the morning of 13 November, during the naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the SS Juneau was torpedoed and badly damaged. Late that morning, while south of San Cristobal Island withdrawing with other survivors of the 13 November action, […]
The story of Ireland is, in many ways, a story of continuous migration. Many disparate groups came to Ireland over the millennia, each one leaving their mark on the character of the island. Early Stone-age settlers came, and were followed by the Iron-age Celts. Viking traders founded the first towns in Ireland. Christian missionaries built […]
The Sullivan brothers were raised in an Irish-Catholic family, the brothers great-grandfather had emigrated from Ireland. Early on the morning of 13 November, during the naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the SS Juneau was torpedoed and badly damaged. Late that morning, while south of San Cristobal Island withdrawing with other survivors of the 13 November action, […]
John Barry, credited as the “Father of the American Navy” dies in Philadelphia, PA. Barry was born in Ballystampson, Co Wexford on 25 March 1745 to a poor tenant farming family who were at one stage evicted for inability to pay rent. Barry was an exceptional sailor and military tactician. Over his 17 year service […]
In 1167, Diarmaid Mac Murchadha was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland – Ruaidri Ua Conchobair. The grounds for the dispossession were that Mac Murchada had, in 1152, abducted Derbforgaill, the wife of the King of Breifne, Tiernan O’Rourke. To recover his kingdom, Mac Murchada solicited help from King Henry II […]
John Kelly lived in Killanne in the parish of Rathnure and was a leader who fought in the United Irishmen Rebellion of 1798. While Kelly was obviously well-known to rebels and loyalists alike during the short duration of the Wexford rising, almost nothing is known of him outside this time. He was one of the […]
English troops defeat Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill, effectively putting an end to the 1798 rebellion. With the rebels scattered in the north, attention shifted once again to those still ‘out’ in Wexford, and the army laid plans to attack their camp at Vinegar Hill. On 21st June, General Gerard Lake attempted […]
The Battle of New Ross was the bloodiest of the 1798 rebellion. The southern force of the Wexford rebels had swelled to almost 10,000 by the morning of 5 June. Most of this force was armed only with pikes. If they could succeed in taking New Ross, the way would be open to spread the […]
1646 – The Battle of Benburb: Eoghan Rua O’Neill, a superb military strategist, defeats Robert Munro’s Scottish army at Benburb in Co Tyrone. The victory is celebrated by Pope Innocent X with a Te Deum in Rome. 1686 – Richard Talbot, the Earl of Tyrconnell, appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, (the first Catholic to hold […]
The Battle of Enniscorthy was a land battle fought between forces of the British Crown and a force of Irish Rebels at Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. The attack began at about 1pm, when the Rebels drove a herd of cattle through the towns’s Duffry gate, creating disorder among the loyalist defenders. After a defense of about […]
