#OTD in Irish History – 14 July:

14/07/2018.Reading time 14 minutes.

In the Liturgical calendar, it is the Feast Day of Idus of Leinster, an Irish saint of the fifth century. He is said to be a disciple of Saint Patrick, who baptised him, he was made bishop of Alt-Fadha in Leinster by Patrick. 1749 – Birth of Matthew Lyon in Co Wicklow. Lyon attended school […]

#OTD in 1981 – Martin Hurson, Irish political prisoner, dies on hunger strike.

13/07/2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Fuair siad bás ar son Saoirse na hÉireann. On 29 May 1981, Martin Hurson joined the hunger-strike, replacing South Derryman Brendan McLoughlin who was forced to drop out because of a burst stomach ulcer. Having seriously deteriorated after forty days on hunger-strike, he was unable to hold down water and died a horrifically agonising death […]

National Day of Commemoration (Lá Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta) held on the nearest Sunday to this date commemorating all Irish people who died in past wars or United Nations peacekeeping missions.

11/07/2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

In Ireland, the National Day of Commemoration/Lá Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta, commemorates all Irish people who died in past wars or United Nations peacekeeping missions. It occurs on the Sunday nearest 11 July, the anniversary of the date in 1921 that a truce was signed ending the Irish War of Independence. The principal ceremony is held at […]

#OTD in 1921 – The Truce: Actions commanded by IRA H.Q. ended in the south at midday under the Truce.

11/07/2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

‘At this moment, there is more ill-will within a victorious assembly than ever could be anywhere else but in the devil’s assembly. It cannot be fought against. The issues and persons are mixed to such an extent as to make discernibility an utter impossibility except for a few.’ –Michael Collins Although the Anglo-Irish Treaty of […]

#OTD in 1921 – Belfast’s Bloody Sunday.

10/07/2018.Reading time 12 minutes.

Bloody Sunday or Belfast’s Bloody Sunday was a day of violence in Belfast on 10 July 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. In retaliation for an IRA ambush of a police raiding party, Protestant loyalists attacked Catholic enclaves, burning homes and businesses. This sparked gun battles between republican and loyalist paramilitaries, and street fighting […]

#OTD in 1897 – Birth of Tom Barry, in Co Kerry, one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.

01/07/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

As Commander of the 3rd West Cork Flying Column, Tom Barry was one of the great architects of modern guerrilla warfare in Ireland’s fight for freedom. He has been controversial, not because he sought controversy, but mainly due to his decisiveness and his military acumen during the Irish War of Independence. The son of an […]

#OTD in 1922 – The Provisional Government of the Irish Free State bombards the Four Courts in Dublin, and the Civil War begins.

28/06/2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

On 14 April 1922 a column of 200 men led by Rory O’Connor occupied the Four Courts, hoping to provoke an armed confrontation with British forces which were in the process of evacuating from Ireland following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty the previous winter which had split the IRA into two opposing factions. The […]

#OTD in 1922 – The Four Courts garrison kidnaps Free State General JJ O’Connell in retaliation for the arrest of Leo Henderson I/C Belfast Boycott.

27/06/2018.Reading time 8 minutes.

On 26 June 1922, a raiding party of anti-Treaty IRA men arrived at Ferguson’s garage on Dublin’s Baggot Street, accusing them of doing business with Belfast. They said, it was in violation of the boycott the IRA had placed on the city due to violence against nationalists there. Leo Henderson, their leader, seized a number […]

#OTD in 1957 – Death of nurse and member of Cumann na mBan, Elizabeth O’Farrell. Best known for delivering the surrender in the Easter Rising of 1916.

25/06/2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Elizabeth O’Farrell was born in Dublin in November 1884. In 1906 she joined Inghinidhe na hÉireann and along with her lifelong friend Julia Grenan she also joined Cumann na mBan, the women’s branch of the Irish Volunteers. As plans were put in place for the Easter Rising of April 1916, Elizabeth and Julia were sent […]

#OTD in 2010 – David Cameron issues a formal, state apology for the “unjustified and unjustifiable” killing of 14 civil rights marchers by British soldiers on Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972.

15/06/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Prior to the publication of the Saville Report, thousands of people converge at the Bloody Sunday Memorial to walk to the Guildhall; symbolically completing the march which was prevented from reaching its destination in 1972. Results of Bloody Sunday Inquiry under the aegis of Lord Saville are published twelve years after it was established by […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: IRA