#OTD in Irish History | 11 August:

11/08/2023.Reading time 7 minutes.

In the Liturgical Calendar it is the Feast Day of Saint Attracta (also called Araght, and Naomh Adhracht in Irish), the patron saint of the parish of Tourlestrane, Co Sligo. Her legend states that she fled from home and took her vows as a nun under St Patrick at Coolavin. She then moved to Lough […]

#OTD in Irish History | 3 April:

03/04/2023.Reading time 16 minutes.

1793 – Birth of scientific writer and lecturer, Dionysius Lardner, in Dublin. 1798 – Writer John Banim, who was praised by Yeats as a writer who tried to ‘make one see life plainly,’ is born in Kilkenny. 1807 – Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co Kerry, resigns as Commissioner of the Treasury (UK) over the issue […]

#OTD in Irish History | 20 December:

20/12/2022.Reading time 13 minutes.

1638 – Birth of provost of Trinity College Dublin and founder of Marsh’s Library (the oldest public library in Ireland), Narcissus Marsh, in Wiltshire, England. 1645 – Edward Worcester, Earl of Glamorgan, aristocrat and inventor, is sent to Ireland to raise troops for the king; he makes two secret treaties with the confederates; one on […]

#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 […]