Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
The original IRB oath, as quoted by Thomas Clarke Luby and John O’Leary, and which is among several versions in James Stephens’s own papers, ran: ‘I, AB., do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will do my utmost, at every risk, while life lasts, to make [other versions, according to Luby, […]
Read More
O’Leary studied both law and medicine but did not take a degree and for his involvement in the Irish Republican Brotherhood he was imprisoned in England during the nineteenth century. Born in Tipperary town, the Catholic O’Leary was educated at the local Protestant Grammar School, The Abbey School, and later the Catholic Carlow College. […]
Read More
The stadium stands at Croke Park commemorated a proud and famous trio of Irishmen, Michael Cusack of Co Clare, Michael Hogan of Co Tipperary and Pat Nally of Co Mayo. Patrick (Pat) William Nally was a member of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and well-known Connacht athlete from Balla, Co Mayo. It […]
Read More
“I have lived to see the greatest hour in Irish history.” –Thomas Clarke As seemed often the case, Clarke’s father was in the British army. At a young age, Clarke took up the nationalist cause, joining the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). In 1883, he was sentenced to penal servitude for life for treason (planning bomb […]
Read More
The Fenian Rising of 1867 was a rebellion against British rule in Ireland, organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood. After the suppression of the Irish People newspaper, disaffection among Irish radical nationalists had continued to smoulder, and during the later part of 1866, IRB leader James Stephens endeavoured to raise funds in the United States […]
Read More
THE FENIAN MOVEMENT – The Fenians wanted one simple desire for Ireland – Independence from British rule. The Great Hunger had a massive impact on Ireland. Many in Ireland believed that the government in London, to solve the ‘Irish Problem’, had deliberately did as little as possible to aid the people of Ireland – in […]
Read More
On 10 November 1861, 100,000 people defied the Irish bishops and followed the remains of Terence Bellew MacManus to Glasnevin Cemetery. Thirteen years previously Bellew had been sentenced to death for treason following the misbegotten Young Ireland Rebellion of 1848. His sentence was commuted in 1849 and he was transported to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) […]
Read More
‘If I die, I die in a good cause.’ –Thomas Ashe shortly before his death. Thomas Patrick Ashe was born in Lispole, Co Kerry. He trained as a teacher in De La Salle College, Waterford and worked as a school principal in Lusk, Co Dublin. Ashe also enjoyed writing poetry and was a talented singer. […]
Read More
The Fenians simply wheeled a barrel of gunpowder up to the wall of the facility when they expected the inmates to be at exercise in the adjacent yard. The explosion blasted a 60-foot gap in the wall; the inward-collapsing rubble might easily have been the death rather than the salvation of the prospective beneficiaries, except […]
Read More
The Irish Volunteers (IVF) was a military organisation publicly launched in Dublin by Irish nationalists. It emerged in response to an article, ‘The North Began’ written by Eoin MacNeill in the Gaelic League paper ‘An Claidheamh Soluis’. The IRB knew they would need a highly regarded figure as a public front that would conceal the […]
Read More