Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
“SIR– On Friday last, the day for distributing a scanty ration, a large body of those who have been looked upon as “able-bodied,” but who are now in reality infirm from hunger, assembled around the issue-shop, in the vain hope that a few “crumbs” might remain for them. Their hope was vain. Even some of […]
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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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Wolfe Tone was one of the founders of the United Irishmen. In efforts to free Ireland from English rule, he had encouraged a French invasion of Ireland which due to bad planning and bad luck was never successful. In October 1798, French forces consisting of eight frigates were intercepted by British ships off Buncrana, Co […]
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“We learn from failure, not from success.” –Bram Stoker Stoker published his masterpiece, Dracula, in 1897. Deemed a classic horror novel not long after its release, Dracula has continued to garner acclaim for more than a century, inspiring the creation of hundreds of film, theatrical and literary adaptations. In addition to Dracula, Stoker published more […]
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There is a grave in Leigue Cemetery, Ballina, Co Mayo which has a concrete surface, placed there by the Gardaí in 1976, to prevent Frank Stagg’s body from being stolen. Forty-two years ago, the body was removed from the grave, during the night, without disturbing the concrete, and buried elsewhere in the cemetery. When Stagg […]
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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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In a Dáil statement, Éamon de Valera rejects Winston Churchill’s statement about Irish ports stating that there can be no question of handing over Irish ports for use by British forces while the country is partitioned. Britain (in what Churchill considered a short-sighted move) had returned the ports to Irish control in 1938. This move […]
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Judith Ward is unjustly convicted for the 1972 IRA coach bombing on the M62 motorway in northern England. She was handed 12 life sentences for the 9 soldiers, one civilian adult and two children killed in the bombing. Many more were injured. The English-born, Ward, had spent some years in Ireland. Following the explosion, the […]
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“In the letter of an “Out-Door Pauper” from Macroom, will be found the recital of the death at Sleaven, from famine, of a poor woman, returning from the Workhouse, where she and her children had received their daily meal. The Tallow Relief Committee, in a resolution just forwarded to the Lord LIEUTENANT and which we […]
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The Connaught Rangers (‘The Devil’s Own’) was an Irish regiment of the British Army originally raised in 1793 as the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers), which gained a reputation both for indiscipline and for its prowess as shock troops and street fighters with the bayonet while serving under the Duke of Wellington during the […]
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