Tag: History

#OTD in Irish History | 8 December:

08/12/2021.Reading time 15 minutes.

In the Liturgical Calendar, today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. If it falls on a week day, Roman Catholic schoolchildren are given a holiday, marking the beginning of the Christmas season. 1757 – The Rotunda Hospital opened in Dublin. Initially located in George’s Lane on the site of a recently closed theatre, the […]

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Edward Delaney’s ‘Famine’ Memorial

07/12/2021.Reading time 8 minutes.

Edward Delaney (1930–2009) was an Irish sculptor born in Claremorris, Co Mayo in 1930. His best known works include the 1967 statue of Wolfe Tone and ‘famine’ memorial [in memory of the victims of An Gorta Mór 1845-1852] at the northeastern corner of St Stephen’s Green in Dublin and the statue of Thomas Davis in College […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 7 December:

07/12/2021.Reading time 9 minutes.

521 – Birth of Saint Columba (Columba of Iona) or in Old Irish, as Colm Cille, Columbkill, Columbkille or Columcille (meaning ‘Dove of the church’). He was an outstanding figure among the Gaelic missionary monks who, some of his advocates claim, introduced Christianity to the Kingdom of the Picts during the Early Medieval Period. He […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 6 December:

06/12/2021.Reading time 12 minutes.

In the Liturgical Calendar, today is the Feast of St Nicholas. St Nicholas (Naomh Nioclás) is believed to have been buried in Newtown Jerpoint in Kilkenny some 800 years ago. 1679 – St. Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, is accused of instigating the ‘Irish Popish’ Plot and arrested. 1745 – Charles Edward Stuart’s army begins […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 5 December:

05/12/2021.Reading time 11 minutes.

1640 – John Atherton, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, was executed on a charge of immorality. Atherton was accused of buggery (homosexuality) with a man, John Childe, his steward and tithe proctor. They were tried under a law that Atherton himself had helped to institute. They were both condemned to death, and Atherton was executed […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 4 December:

04/12/2021.Reading time 14 minutes.

1831 – Birth of Robert Horatio George Minty. Westport born Minty would become a Civil War Brevet Major General in the Union army. His campaigns included Chickamauga and Atlanta. Minty was in command of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry that captured fleeing Confederate President Jefferson F. Davis at Irwinsville, Georgia on 9 May 1865. 1879 – […]

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Uraicecht Becc | Old Irish for ‘Small Primer”

03/12/2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

Uraicecht Becc is an Old Irish legal tract on status. Of all status tracts, it has the greatest breadth in coverage, including not only commoners, kings, churchmen and poets, but also a variety of other professional groups, including judges. However, it does not go into as much detail for each group and level as do […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 3 December:

03/12/2021.Reading time 11 minutes.

1366 – With the sliotar topping 93mph (150km/h) from a good strike, hurling is the fastest game on grass. It was first played here at least 3,000 years ago, and first crops up in print in statutes banning its mayhem on this date. Ancient chroniclers report violent days-long matches between whole towns, but these might […]

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