#OTD in 1949 – Birth of Thin Lizzy lead singer, Phil Lynott.

20/08/2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Image | When asked by a journalist what it felt like to be black and Irish, Phil quipped, “Kinda like a pint of Guinness”. Irish rock star, bassist, singer and founder of Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott is born in England to single mom Philomena Lynott. At about age four, Lynott moved to Dublin to live with […]

#OTD in 1907 – A memorial arch is dedicated at St Stephens Green Dublin in honour of the Irish soldiers who died fighting for “King and country” in the Boer war.

19/08/2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

Five years on from the war, the Fusiliers’ Arch was unveiled in the heart of Dublin, as a testament to the actions of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in South Africa. While the war ended in a British victory, it was a bloody and costly one. In financial terms, a war that would supposedly be over […]

#OTD in 1878 – Birth of Oliver St John Gogarty, writer, and the model for the ‘stately, plump Buck Mulligan’ in Joyce’s “Ulysses”.

17/08/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

Oliver St John Gogarty was a poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, politician, and well-known conversationalist. As a Sinn Féiner during the Irish War of Independence, Gogarty participated in a variety of anti-Black and Tan schemes, allowing his home to be used as a safe house and transporting disguised IRA volunteers in his car. Following the ratification […]

#OTD in 1920 – Birth of Maureen O’Hara, born Maureen FitzSimons in Ranelagh, Co Dublin.

17/08/2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

“Above all else, deep in my soul, I’m a tough Irishwoman.” –Maureen O’Hara Perhaps the most famous redhead in the world, actress Maureen O’Hara (born Maureen Fitzsimons) is born in Dublin. O’Hara is probably most famous for her role in John Ford’s The Quiet Man where she played opposite John Wayne. Blessed with fiery red […]

#OTD in 2008 – Death of singer and folk musician, Ronnie Drew.

16/08/2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. Ronnie Drew was born in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. He was best known for his long beard and his voice, which was once described by Nathan Joseph as “like the sound of coke being crushed under a door”. For more than 30 years, the distinctive voice of the […]

#OTD in Irish History – 16 August:

16/08/2018.Reading time 13 minutes.

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 […]

#OTD in 1882 – Unveiling of Daniel O’Connell monument in Dublin.

15/08/2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

One of Dublin’s finest sculptors, John Henry Foley designed this imposing and remarkably beautiful memorial to Daniel O’Connell which was unveiled at the south end of what was called Sackville street – the name was changed to O’Connell street in 1924 – to admiring crowds gathered in the pouring rain on 15 August 1882. In […]

#OTD in 1598 – Nine Years War: Battle of the Yellow Ford – Irish forces under Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, defeat an English expeditionary force under Henry Bagenal.

14/08/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

The Battle of the Yellow Ford was fought in western Co Armagh, during the Nine Years War. It was fought between the Gaelic native Irish army under Aodh Mór Ó Néill and Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill and a crown expeditionary force from Dublin under Henry Bagenal. The crown forces were marching from Armagh town to […]

#OTD in 1649 – Oliver Cromwell sets sail for Ireland and the commencement of one the most vicious military campaigns inflicted on Ireland.

13/08/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

On his arrival, he was received with all possible demonstrations of joy; the great guns echoing forth their welcome, and the acclamations of the people resounding in every street. Cromwell came into the city — where the concourse of people was very great, they were all flocking to see him of whom they had heard […]

#OTD in 1796 – Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin receives its first prisoners.

12/08/2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

Kilmainham Gaol is one of the largest unoccupied gaols in Europe, covering some of the most heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s emergence as a modern nation from the 1780s to the 1920s. Attractions include a major exhibition detailing the political and penal history of the prison and its restoration. Located approximately three miles outside […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Dublin