‘The Silver Tassie’ by Sean O’Casey

23/09/2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

The Silver Tassie is a four-act Expressionist play about the First World War, written between 1927 and 1928 by playwright, Seán O’Casey. It was O’Casey’s fourth play and attacks imperialist wars and the suffering that they cause. O’Casey described the play as “A generous handful of stones, aimed indiscriminately, with the aim of breaking a […]

#OTD in Irish History | 23 September:

23/09/2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

1586 – At the Battle of Ardnaree in Co Mayo, Sir Richard Bingham, governor of Connacht, surprises a force of redshanks (Scottish mercenary light infantrymen) engaged by the Burkes of Mayo; 1,000 redshanks and 1,000 camp followers are killed. Bingham hangs the leaders of the Burkes. 1922 – Anti-Treaty fighter Michael Neville, is taken from […]

#OTD in 1170 – Diarmait Mac Murchada and the Normans march on the Norse kingdom of Dublin, avoiding an Irish force that awaits them to the south of it.

21/09/2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Dublin falls to them on this date. Some Norsemen, including the king of Dublin, Ascall mac Ragnaill, flee to the Hebrides or the Isle of Man. The Normans and Diarmait held a council of war at Waterford and agreed to take Dublin. High King Ruaidrí deployed a large army near Dublin to intercept them. As […]

#OTD in 1920 – Kevin Barry is arrested after IRA Volunteers ambushed a lorry full of British Soldiers on Church St, Dublin.

20/09/2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

Fuair siad bás ar son Saoirse na hÉireann! Eighteen year old medical student Kevin Barry is captured following an ambush on British troops in Dublin in which one soldier is killed. On 1 November 1920, he would become the first Irish rebel to be executed by Britain since the 1916 executions, thus cementing his place […]

#OTD in 1803 – Robert Emmet, Irish patriot, is executed in Dublin.

20/09/2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

O! BREATHE not his name! let it sleep in the shade, Where cold and unhonoured his relics are laid; Sad, silent, and dark be the tears that we shed, As the night dew that falls on the grave o’er his head. But the night dew that falls, though in silence it weeps, Shall brighten with […]

#OTD in 1803 – Robert Emmet is found guilty of high treason, and before sentence of death was pronounced, Emmet was allowed deliver his justly celebrated speech from the dock.

19/09/2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

My lords, as to why judgment of death and execution should not be passed upon me according to law, I have nothing to say; but as to why my character should not be relieved from the imputations and calumnies thrown out against it, I have much to say. I do not imagine that your lordships […]

#OTD in 1919 – Official founding of ‘The Squad’, an IRA counter-intelligence and assassination squad.

19/09/2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

The Squad was officially established at 46 Rutland Square on the 19 September 1919. Although at the time it had been in operation for two months and had already carried out two killings. Members were paid £4.10s per week. Officially the unit was a part of the Dublin Brigade under Dick McKee from Finglas, but […]

#OTD in 1851 – Death of Anne Devlin, in The Liberties, Dublin.

18/09/2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

Born in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow. Her cousins, Michael Dwyer and Arthur Devlin, took part in the 1798 Rebellion. After the acquittal and release from Wicklow Gaol of her father in 1800, her family moved to Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, where she met Robert Emmet who was leasing a house in nearby Butterfield Lane from where he […]

#OTD in 1889 – Kathleen Behan, née Kearney, ‘Mother of All the Behans’ and folk singer is born in Dublin.

18/09/2023.Reading time 11 minutes.

“What I have, I hold.” –Kathleen Behan History has cast Kathleen Behan in supporting roles, reducing her to the “sister of” or “mother of” someone important. But she deserves so much more – Kathleen was a political powerhouse, raconteur, and gifted singer who, in the course of her long and often tragic life, managed to […]

#OTD in 1903 – Frank O’Connor, (pseudonym of Michael O’Donovan), short-story writer and author of poetic translations from Irish is born in Cork.

17/09/2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Frank O’Connor’s memoir ‘An Only Child’ is an evocative work detailing his upbringing in poverty in his native Cork. He fought in the Irish War of Independence and supported the Anti-Treaty side in 1922 for which he was interned for a period of time. O’Connor served as a director of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in […]

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

Tag: Dublin

‘The Silver Tassie’ by Sean O’Casey

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#OTD in Irish History | 23 September:

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#OTD in 1170 – Diarmait Mac Murchada and the Normans march on the Norse kingdom of Dublin, avoiding an Irish force that awaits them to the south of it.

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#OTD in 1920 – Kevin Barry is arrested after IRA Volunteers ambushed a lorry full of British Soldiers on Church St, Dublin.

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#OTD in 1803 – Robert Emmet, Irish patriot, is executed in Dublin.

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#OTD in 1803 – Robert Emmet is found guilty of high treason, and before sentence of death was pronounced, Emmet was allowed deliver his justly celebrated speech from the dock.

Like this:

#OTD in 1919 – Official founding of ‘The Squad’, an IRA counter-intelligence and assassination squad.

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#OTD in 1851 – Death of Anne Devlin, in The Liberties, Dublin.

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#OTD in 1889 – Kathleen Behan, née Kearney, ‘Mother of All the Behans’ and folk singer is born in Dublin.

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#OTD in 1903 – Frank O’Connor, (pseudonym of Michael O’Donovan), short-story writer and author of poetic translations from Irish is born in Cork.

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