#OTD in Irish History | 6 May:

06/05/2023.Reading time 16 minutes.

1074 – Donatus (or Dunan), the first Bishop of Dublin, dies on this date and is buried in Christ Church Cathedral. Patrick, his successor, is sent to Canterbury for consecration (records are unreliable – the date of his death is also recorded as 23 November). 1384 – Philip de Courtenay lands at Dalkey and campaigns […]

#OTD in Irish History | 20 April:

20/04/2023.Reading time 14 minutes.

1176 – Death of Anglo-Norman lord, Richard Fitzgilbert de Clare, known as Strongbow, in Dublin. Strongbow came from England to Ireland at the urging of Diarmait Mac Murchadha. 1608 – Sir Thomas Phillipps was granted a license by James I to the Old Bushmills distillery in Co Antrim, which is thought to date from at […]

#OTD in 1689 – The Williamite War in Ireland begins.

12/03/2023.Reading time 7 minutes.

The Williamite War in Ireland was between the newly recently crowned King William III of the House of Orange and King James II of the House of Stuart, whom he had recently replaced on the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. To the Irish the Williamite War was known as An Cogadh na dá Righ […]

#OTD in 1972 – Patrick Cotter O’Brien’s remains were examined and it was determined that, while alive, he stood approximately 8 feet 1 inch tall.

06/02/2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

For many years Patrick Cotter O’Brien (born Patrick Cotter), was believed to be the first of only 16 people in medical history to stand at a verified height of eight feet (244 cm) or more. Only Anton de Franckenpoint reached this height before him. Patrick Cotter O’Brien was born in Kinsale, Co Cork. His real […]

#OTD in 1601 – The Battle of Kinsale | Hugh O’Neill and Red Hugh O’Donnell are heavily defeated by Mountjoy.

24/12/2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

If any one single battle of Ireland’s Nine Years War was pivotal in nature, it is the Battle of Kinsale. Kinsale is a sleepy little port town in the southeastern portion of the country. Through tactical blunder, it became the focus of a battle that would permanently destroy Ireland’s hopes for independence during this time […]