Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
Today is the Feast day of St. James. Since mediaeval times, Dubliners held an annual drinking festival in the Saint’s honour. Fittingly, Guinness chose St. James’ Gate as the site for their brewery. St. James is the patron saint of hatmakers, rheumatoid sufferers, and labourers. 1633 – Thomas (Viscount) Wentworth becomes Lord Deputy of Ireland. […]
Read More
In the Liturgical Calendar, the Feast Day of Declán mac Eircc (also Déclán or Declan), Declanus in Latin sources, was an early Irish saint of the Déisi Muman, who was remembered for having converted the Déisi in the late 5th century and for having founded the monastery of Ardmore (Ard Mór) in what is now […]
Read More
W.B. Yeats evidently equated the death of ‘Romantic Ireland’ with the rise of an Irish generation that believed that ‘men were born to pray and save [souls]’ alone. That he was inspired to write such a ballad while witnessing the creation of the Ulster Volunteers and the Irish Volunteers indicates that he saw religion as […]
Read More
1803 – In opposition to the Act of Union, Robert Emmet leads an armed outbreak that is easily suppressed. 1830 – Birth of Fenian, John O’Leary, in Tipperary; referred to famously by Yeats in his poem “September 1913″: ‘Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone/It’s with O’Leary in the grave’. 1834 – St. Vincent’s Hospital, established by […]
Read More
1606 – A commission is instituted to remedy defective land titles. 1691 – The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the Jacobites and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 (old style Julian calendar), equivalent to 22 July new style (Gregorian calendar), […]
Read More
1688 – Death of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde PC, an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier. He was the second of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom. He was the friend of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who appointed him commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to […]
Read More
1616 – Death in Rome of Aodh Mór Ó Néill (anglicised as Hugh The Great O’Neill), 3rd Baron Dungannon and 2nd Earl of Tyrone. He led an unsuccessful uprising against the English, and was eventually forced into exile as part of “the Flight of Earls.” 1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: Rebel camp at Timahoe surrenders. […]
Read More
1608 – Preparations commence for the plantation of six Ulster counties (Armagh, Cavan, Coleraine, Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone). 1735 – Garrett Wellesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, politician, musician, and father of Duke of Wellington, is born in Co Meath. 1771 – Colonel Thomas Talbot is born at Malahide Castle near Dublin. He was the fourth […]
Read MoreAsenath Nicholson: “They walk fearlessly upon dangerous precipices and even descend to the sea in search of eggs, which the seagulls deposit there in the sides of the cliffs. Two men were dashed from a fearful height and dreadfully mangled, one was killed instantly, and the other lingered a few week s and died.” Taken […]
Read More
1561 – Battle of Red Sagums: Shane O’Neill defeats the English, destroying much of Sussex’s withdrawing army. 1579 – James Fitzmaurice lands forces in Dingle with the intention of encouraging an uprising against England. 1689 – The Mountjoy ship breaks the blockading boom and ends the Siege of Derry after 238 days. 1794 – Feargus O’Connor, […]
Read More
You must be logged in to post a comment.