#OTD in Irish History – 16 February:

16/02/2019.Reading time 10 minutes.

1768 – The Octennial Act limits Irish parliaments’ life to eight years. 1822 – Birth of engineer, James Thomson, in Belfast. 1841 – The Maplin Sands lighthouse was first lit, constructed and built by blind Irish engineer, Alexander Mitchell, from Dublin, which began in 1838 at the mouth of the Thames. A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse […]

#OTD in 1921 – The IRA ambush a train at Upton believing it is transporting an estimated fifteen British soldiers.

15/02/2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) mounted an attack on a train carrying British soldiers at Upton, Co Cork. The action was a disaster for the IRA; three of its volunteers were killed and two wounded. Six British soldiers were wounded, three seriously. Six civilian passengers were killed and ten wounded in the crossfire. Cork was […]

#OTD in Irish History – 15 February:

15/02/2019.Reading time 12 minutes.

1782 – The first Dungannon Convention of the Ulster Volunteers calls for an independent Irish parliament; Grattan continues to campaign for the same objective. 1793 – A third convention of Dungannon – a gathering of Volunteers from Ulster is held. 1794 – The United Irishmen published a plan for parliamentary reform, advocating universal male suffrage, […]

#OTD in 1921 – Two IRA Volunteers, the Coffey brothers, were assassinated in their beds by unknown gunmen in Enniskeane, Cork.

14/02/2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Volunteers James and Timothy Coffey were from Breaghna, Enniskeane, Co Cork, the eldest boys in the family of eight of farming parents James and Margaret Coffey. In the early hours of Monday 14 February 1921, the soldiers of the Essex Regiment and Black and Tans were escorted by two masked civilians, who were members of […]

#OTD in 1895 – Birth of Revolutionary, Sean Treacy in Co Tipperary.

14/02/2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

“Come on, he cried, Come show your hand, you have boasted for so long, How you would crush this rebel band with your armies great and strong”. No surrender”, was his war cry, “Fight on lads, no retreat” –Brave Treacy cried before he died, shot down in Talbot Street.” Revolutionary, Seán Treacy was born at […]

#OTD in 1921 – Three IRA prisoners Ernie O’Malley, Frank Teeling and Simon Donnelly escape from Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin.

14/02/2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

Ernie O’Malley, Frank Teeling and Simon Donnelly escaped from Kilmainham Gaol. The escape was carried out under the orders of Michael Collins, and he had specific reasons for arranging the escape of each of the men. Simon Donnelly had only been in the prison for four days, but he was well-known to the authorities and […]

#OTD in Irish History – 14 February:

14/02/2019.Reading time 12 minutes.

St Valentine’s Day, commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day, is a holiday observed on 14 February. Many churches claim to be Valentine’s final resting place, including the Carmelite Church on Whitefriar Street in Dublin. According to the story told there, the St’s remains were given to Fr John Sprat by Pope Gregory XVI and a shrine still […]

#OTD in 1898 – Birth of revolutionary and politician, Frank Aiken, in Co Armagh.

13/02/2019.Reading time 1 minute.

‘Neutrality is not like a simple mathematical formula which has only to be announced and demonstrated in order to be believed and respected. It has in fact always been one of the difficult problems …. Instead of earning the respect and goodwill of both belligerents it is regarded by both with hatred and contempt.’ –Frank […]

#OTD in Irish History – 13 February:

13/02/2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

1689 – William and Mary, daughter of James II, are proclaimed king and queen jointly. 1820 – Death of lawyer and English informer, Leonard McNally. 1850 – Michael Kelly, fourth Roman Catholic archbishop of Sydney is born in Waterford. Kelly was a leading figure in the foundation in 1901 of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association […]

#OTD in Irish History – 12 February:

12/02/2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

1722 – Thomas Burgh, MP for Naas, and Richard Stewart, MP for Strabane, receive the first £2,000 of £8,000 from the Irish parliament for operating their colliery at Ballycastle, Co Antrim. 1782 – The right of habeas corpus is introduced in Ireland. 1818 – Bernardo O’Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Irish War of Independence