#OTD in 1796 – Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin receives its first prisoners.

12/08/2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

Kilmainham Gaol is one of the largest unoccupied gaols in Europe, covering some of the most heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s emergence as a modern nation from the 1780s to the 1920s. Attractions include a major exhibition detailing the political and penal history of the prison and its restoration. Located approximately three miles outside […]

#OTD in Irish History | 12 August:

12/08/2023.Reading time 11 minutes.

In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast day of St Muiredach mac Echdach of Killala. 1646 – Archbishop Giovanni Rinuccini, papal nuncio to the Irish Confederate Catholics, condemns their adherence to Ormond’s peace terms for failing to fully recognise Catholicism. 1652 – ‘Act for the Settling of Ireland’ allows for the transplantation to Clare […]

#OTD in 1916 – Irish Patriots, Seán MacDiarmada and James Connolly are executed at Kilmainham Gaol.

12/05/2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

The last executions of 1916 rebels are carried out. Ninety rebels were condemned to death. All but 15 were commuted to lengthy prison terms (most of whom were released in 1917). The executions were a watershed in Irish attitude to English rule. The vast majority of the Irish population begrudgingly accepted English rule and believed […]

#OTD in 1916 – James Connolly’s wife and daughter visit him in the Red Cross hospital in Dublin Castle where he lies seriously wounded.

09/05/2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

James Connolly’s daughter, Nora, wrote later in ‘Portrait of a Rebel Father’: “On Tuesday I went with mother. There were soldiers on guard at the top of the stairs and in the small alcove leading to Papa’s room. They were fully armed and as they stood guard they had their bayonets fixed. In the room […]

#OTD in 1916 – Easter Rising | Irish patriots, Michael Mallin, Eamonn Ceannt, Cornelius “Con” Colbert and Sean Heuston are shot dead in Kilmainham Gaol.

08/05/2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

Executions of Easter Rising Leaders continue by a British regime in Stonebreakers’ Yard at Kilmainham Gaol, completely insensitive to the fact it was creating numerous martyrs and generating an emotional calling cry for Irish rebellion that would culminate in the War of Independence. Shot dead on this day: Michael Mallin | Born in Co Dublin, […]

#OTD in Irish History | 8 May:

08/05/2023.Reading time 12 minutes.

1567 – Shane O’Neill’s army crosses the Swilly estuary at Farsetmore, and is defeated in a pitched battle by Hugh O’Donnell. Many drown while trying to escape; O’Neill loses 1,300 men. 1597 – Death of Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne. Fiach Mac Aodha Ó Broin was Lord of Ranelagh and sometime leader of the Clann Uí Bhroin, […]

#OTD in 1882 – Phoenix Park murders | The British chief secretary of Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and his under secretary, T.H. Burke are murdered.

06/05/2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

Arriving in Dublin on 6 May 1882, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Frederick Cavendish (who was married to the niece of British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone), attended to some formal business in Dublin Castle, the seat of the British government, before walking home to the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park. Joining Cavendish in […]

#OTD in 1916 – Easter Rising | Irish patriot, John MacBride, is executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol.

05/05/2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

Born in Westport, Co Mayo, MacBride travelled to America in 1896 to further the aims of the IRB, thereafter travelling to South Africa where he raised the Irish Transvaal Brigade, which became known as MacBride’s Brigade, to fight against the English during the Second Boer War where, as happened far too often in history, Irish […]

#OTD in 1916 – Easter Rising | Edward Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan, William Pearse (brother of Pádraig Pearse) and Joseph Mary Plunkett are executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol.

04/05/2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

Execution of 1916 Easter Rebellion Leaders at Stonebreakers’ Yard in Kilmainham Gaol continues. Joseph Mary Plunkett | Born in Dublin into a privileged background, his father was a papal count. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and the IRB in 1914. Plunkett was Director of Military Operations for the Rising, with overall responsibility for […]

#OTD in 1916 – Joseph Mary Plunkett and Grace Gifford are married in the chapel of Kilmainham Gaol the night before he was to be executed for his part in the Easter Rising.

03/05/2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

Grace was the second youngest of twelve children. Her sisters, Nellie and Muriel, were also avid nationalists as well as converts to Catholicism. Muriel married Thomas MacDonagh, who was executed in Kilmainham earlier on the day Grace married Joe Plunkett. It was said of the Gifford girls: “whenever those vivacious girls entered a gloomy Sinn […]

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

Tag: Kilmainham Gaol

#OTD in 1796 – Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin receives its first prisoners.

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#OTD in Irish History | 12 August:

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#OTD in 1916 – Irish Patriots, Seán MacDiarmada and James Connolly are executed at Kilmainham Gaol.

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#OTD in 1916 – James Connolly’s wife and daughter visit him in the Red Cross hospital in Dublin Castle where he lies seriously wounded.

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#OTD in 1916 – Easter Rising | Irish patriots, Michael Mallin, Eamonn Ceannt, Cornelius “Con” Colbert and Sean Heuston are shot dead in Kilmainham Gaol.

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#OTD in Irish History | 8 May:

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#OTD in 1882 – Phoenix Park murders | The British chief secretary of Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and his under secretary, T.H. Burke are murdered.

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#OTD in 1916 – Easter Rising | Irish patriot, John MacBride, is executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol.

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#OTD in 1916 – Easter Rising | Edward Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan, William Pearse (brother of Pádraig Pearse) and Joseph Mary Plunkett are executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol.

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#OTD in 1916 – Joseph Mary Plunkett and Grace Gifford are married in the chapel of Kilmainham Gaol the night before he was to be executed for his part in the Easter Rising.

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