Tag: Erskine Childers

#OTD in 1948 – Death of writer and playwright and member of Cumann na mBan, Lily O’Brennan.

30/05/2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

Lily O’Brennan, sister of Áine Ceannt, was born in Dublin in 1878. She was a writer and playwright and joined Cumann na mBan upon its inception; she was a member of the Inghinidhe Branch. During the Rising she served with the Marrowbone Lane garrison. She was arrested and held in Kilmainham Gaol and was released […]

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#OTD in 1923 – The Father of Government minister Kevin O’Higgins is shot dead by Republicans at the family home in Stradbally, Co Laois.

11/02/2023.Reading time 1 minute.

When the Irish Civil War broke out in June 1922, Kevin O’Higgins tried to restore law and order by introducing tough measures. Between 1922 and 1923 he personally ordered the execution of seventy-seven republican prisoners including, Rory O’Connor (who had been best man at O’Higgins’ wedding), Liam Mellows, Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey. O’Higgins and […]

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#OTD in 1922 – Four Anti-Treaty IRA men from Dublin, who were captured with weapons in Co Wicklow, are shot by firing squad.

17/11/2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

In the first use of the powers enacted under the Public Safety Act, five Anti-Treaty IRA fighters who had been captured with arms in Co Wicklow were shot by firing squad in Dublin. On 19 November, three more Anti-Treaty IRA men were executed, also in Dublin. On 24 November, Robert Erskine Childers, an acclaimed author […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 17 November:

17/11/2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

1814 – Joseph Finegan, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, is born in Clones, Co Monaghan. 1852 – Sligo-born Brigadier Michael Corcoran’s Irish Legion is mustered into the Federal service; it is involved in the defense of Washington D.C. 1869 – For nearly 150 years, the Suez Canal has played a vital role […]

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#OTD in 1922 – The Free State’s Provisional Government puts the “Public Safety Bill” before the Dáil.

27/09/2022.Reading time 9 minutes.

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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#OTD in 1914 – Irish Volunteers during the Howth Gun Running.

26/07/2022.Reading time 9 minutes.

The plan was first conceived in April 1914, in response to the Curragh incident on 20 March. Many Irish believed that the British army could not be relied on to enforce Home Rule when it was enacted, and many Irish Volunteers also felt that availability of arms would aid recruitment. At a lunch attended by […]

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#OTD in 1870 – Erskine Childers, novelist, member of the Royal Navy, and later an Irish nationalist, is born in London.

24/06/2022.Reading time 1 minute.

Erskine Childers was the author of ‘Riddle of the Sands’, an arms smuggler via The Asgard, father of the fourth president of Ireland, Erskine Hamilton Childers, and would be executed by the Free State government for carrying an unlawful weapon. Childers supported the Anti-Treaty forces in the vicious Irish civil war which bedeviled the country. […]

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#OTD in 1948 – Death of writer and playwright and member of Cumann na mBan, Lily O’Brennan.

30/05/2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Lily O’Brennan, sister of Áine Ceannt, was born in Dublin in 1878. She was a writer and playwright and joined Cumann na mBan upon its inception; she was a member of the Inghinidhe Branch. During the Rising she served with the Marrowbone Lane garrison. She was arrested and held in Kilmainham Gaol and was released […]

Read More

#OTD in 1923 – The Father of Government minister Kevin O’Higgins is shot dead by Republicans at the family home in Stradbally, Co Laois.

11/02/2022.Reading time 1 minute.

When the Irish Civil War broke out in June 1922, Kevin O’Higgins tried to restore law and order by introducing tough measures. Between 1922 and 1923 he personally ordered the execution of seventy-seven republican prisoners including, Rory O’Connor (who had been best man at O’Higgins’ wedding), Liam Mellows, Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey. O’Higgins and […]

Read More

#OTD in 1922 – Four Anti-Treaty IRA men from Dublin, who were captured with weapons in Co Wicklow, are shot by firing squad.

17/11/2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

In the first use of the powers enacted under the Public Safety Act, five Anti-Treaty IRA fighters who had been captured with arms in Co Wicklow were shot by firing squad in Dublin. On 19 November, three more Anti-Treaty IRA men were executed, also in Dublin. On 24 November, Robert Erskine Childers, an acclaimed author […]

Read More