#OTD in Irish History | 21 October:

1449 – Birth of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, in Dublin Castle at a time when his father, the Duke of York, had begun to challenge Henry VI for the crown. His godfather was James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond. He was the third of the four sons of Richard and Cecily who survived […]

Read More

#OTD in 2004 – Death of Joe Cahill, a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA).

“I was born in a united Ireland, I want to die in a united Ireland”. –Joe Cahill In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in west Belfast where his parents had been neighbours with Irish revolutionary James Connolly. Cahill was the first child in a family of thirteen siblings born to Joesph and […]

Read More

#OTD in 2017 – Death of Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander and Sinn Fein political leader who helped negotiate peace in Northern Ireland after decades of sectarian violence, and became a senior official in its power-sharing government.

Martin McGuinness, former IRA chief of staff and a key figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, died just two months after stepping down as deputy first minister. The 66-year-old Irish republican died after a short illness in Derry’s Altnagelvin hospital surrounded by his family. He had a rare genetic disease caused by deposits of […]

Read More

#OTD in 1988 – At Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast, a gunman kills three mourners and injures at least 50 people attending a funeral for IRA members Maireád Farrell, Daniel McCann, and Sean Savage executed in Gibraltar.

Loyalist gunman Michael Stone kills three people at a funeral for IRA members (Maireád Farrell, 31, Daniel McCann, 30, and Sean Savage, 23,) who were executed in Gibraltar by SAS troops. Stone wanted to kill Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and others whom he believed to be members of the IRA. He claimed the attack […]

Read More

#OTD in 1978 – La Mon Restaurant Bombing | Twelve people, all Protestant civilians, were killed and 23 seriously injured when an incendiary bomb exploded at the restaurant of the La Mon House Hotel, Gransha, near Belfast.

The La Mon restaurant bombing was an incendiary bomb attack by the IRA on 17 February 1978 that is widely considered to have been one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles. It took place at the La Mon House hotel and restaurant near Belfast. The IRA left a large incendiary bomb, containing a napalm-like […]

Read More

#OTD in Irish History | 7 February:

1873 – Death of journalist, novelist, and short story writer, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, in Dublin. He is often called the father of the modern ghost story. Although Le Fanu was one of the most popular writers of the Victorian era, he is not so widely read anymore. His best-known works include Uncle Silas (1864), […]

Read More

#OTD in Irish History | 28 January:

1547 – Henry VIII dies (‘self-proclaimed’ King of Ireland). His nine-year-old son, Edward VI becomes King. 1610 – The crown and the Irish Society of London, a consortium of city companies, agree to carry out the plantation of Derry, Coleraine and part of Tyrone. The Honourable Irish Society is the organisation created by royal charter […]

Read More

#OTD in 1946 – Birth of film and stage actor, Stephen Rea (born Graham Rea) in Belfast.

Stephen Rea has appeared in films such as V for Vendetta, The Butcher Boy, This Is My Father, Evelyn, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire, Breakfast on Pluto and Black 47. Rea was nominated for an Academy Award for his lead performance as Fergus in the 1992 film The Crying Game. He has had important […]

Read More

#OTD in Irish History | 21 October:

1449 – Birth of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, in Dublin Castle at a time when his father, the Duke of York, had begun to challenge Henry VI for the crown. His godfather was James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond. He was the third of the four sons of Richard and Cecily who survived […]

Read More

#OTD in 2004 – Death of Joe Cahill, a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA).

“I was born in a united Ireland, I want to die in a united Ireland”. –Joe Cahill In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in west Belfast where his parents had been neighbours with Irish revolutionary James Connolly. Cahill was the first child in a family of thirteen siblings born to Joesph and […]

Read More