Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
“Give us the future, we’ve had enough of your past, give us back our country to live in, to grow in, to love.” –Michael Collins, during the treaty negotiations. Michael Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the […]
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1651 – The Navigation Act provides that goods imported to any Commonwealth lands shall be carried in English ships only. 1834 – Opening of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the first public railway on the island of Ireland. 1849 – First tenant protection society established at Callan, Co Kilkenny. 1895 – Victoria Cross winner Billy […]
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Dáil Éireann passed emergency legislation which allowed for the execution of those captured bearing arms against the Free State. The legislation passed to the National Army powers of punishment for anyone “taking part in or aiding and abetting attacks on the National Forces”, having possession of arms or explosives “without the proper authority” or disobeying […]
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In what would turn out to be a momentous decision, de Valera opted NOT to be one of the negotiators stating that the Irish parliament “recognised themselves but no one else did. He really believed it was vital at this stage that the symbol of the Republic should be kept untouched and that it should […]
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1649 – Siege of Drogheda ends: The first siege occurred during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, when Phelim O’Neill and the insurgents failed to take the town. The second more famous siege happened in 1649 during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, when the New Model Army under Oliver Cromwell took the town by storm and […]
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World Suicide Prevention Day – #WSPD 1315 – Battle of Connor: Major victory for Edward the Bruce in his invasion of Ulster. 1602 – “Red” Hugh O’Donnell dies in Simancas, Spain; evidence suggests he was poisoned by an English spy. 1649 – Oliver Cromwell seizes Drogheda. 1763 – The Freeman’s Journal is founded in Dublin […]
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In the Liturgical calendar, this is the feast day of St Ciarán of Clonmacnoise. He was one of the early Irish monastic saints and Irish bishop. He is sometimes called Ciarán the Younger to distinguish him from Saint Ciarán of Saighir. He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He dies on this date […]
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Michael Collins paid a visit to Armagh on 4 September 1921, in what the ‘Irish News’ described as “his first official visit to the city.” The implication may well be that he had been in Armagh on IRA business in the past few years, but he was now a leading figure in the Dáil Éireann […]
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Éamon de Valera was a man loved by his supporters but distrusted and hated by those who blamed him for the Irish civil war. (That latter sentence could equally apply to Michael Collins from the opposite side of the political divide.) Although born in Brooklyn, New York, “Dev” had an almost mystical and spiritual belief […]
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“If war comes upon us, it will come as a thief in the night.” –Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera’s title was not recognised by Britain. He would remain President until defeated upon the vote on the Treaty in January 1922. The history of Ireland is full of many grim ironies. He was proposed for […]
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