#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 1923 – Republican officer Tom Barry, after contacts with some former IRA comrades on the Free State side, proposes that the Anti-Treaty IRA call a truce. Liam Lynch turns down the idea.

10/02/2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Tom Barry was born in Killorglin, Co Kerry, the son of a former RIC officer who had become a shopkeeper. His family moved to Rosscarbery, Co Cork in his youth, and he was educated for a period at Mungret College, Co Limerick from 25 August 1911 to 12 September 1912. The reason for his short […]

#OTD in 1922 – In reprisal for the executions, Liam Lynch, Anti-Treaty IRA Commander, issues a general order to his forces to kill members of the Dáil (T.D.s) and senators who had voted for the Emergency Powers legislation.

30/11/2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

In response to the executions, on 30 November, Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA, ordered that any member of Parliament (TD) or senator who had signed or voted for the ‘murder bill’ should be shot on sight. He also ordered the killing of hostile judges and newspaper editors. On the same day, […]

#OTD in 1922 – Four Anti-Treaty IRA men from Dublin, who were captured with weapons in Co Wicklow, are shot by firing squad.

17/11/2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

In the first use of the powers enacted under the Public Safety Act, five Anti-Treaty IRA fighters who had been captured with arms in Co Wicklow were shot by firing squad in Dublin. On 19 November, three more Anti-Treaty IRA men were executed, also in Dublin. On 24 November, Robert Erskine Childers, an acclaimed author […]

#OTD in 1893 – Birth of General Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff, IRA, in Limerick.

09/11/2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Liam Lynch was born in Barnagurraha, Co Limerick to Jeremiah and Mary Kelly Lynch. At 17 he was apprenticed to O’Neill’s hardware in Mitchelstown. Shortly after his apprenticeship began he joined the Gaelic League and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He joined the Irish Volunteers after witnessing the arrests of the Kent family by British […]

#OTD in Irish History – 9 November:

09/11/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

1711 – The first Irish parliament of Queen Anne is dissolved. 1791 – Napper Tandy convenes the first meeting of Dublin’s United Irishmen. 1875 – Birth of Sir Hugh Percy Lane. He is best known for establishing Dublin’s Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (the first known public gallery of modern art in the world) and […]

#OTD in 1920 – Cork IRA volunteer, Michael Fitzgerald, dies following a sixty-seven day hunger strike.

12/10/2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Michael Fitzgerald also known as Mick Fitzgerald, was among the first members of the Irish Republican Army and played an important role in organising it. He rose to the rank of Commandant OC in the 1st Battalion, Cork No.2 Brigade. He died in the 1920 hunger strike at Cork Gaol. His death is credited with […]

#OTD in 1922 – Republican leader Tom Barry, who was captured in the Dublin fighting, escapes from an internment camp in Gormanston.

28/09/2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

During the negotiations that preceded the Truce that ended the War of Independence, the British had demanded that Tom Barry be handed over to them before progress could be made on other matters. Michael Collins refused. Barry opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 6 December 1921, because, according to him, it betrayed the Irish Republic and […]

#OTD in Irish History – 11 August:

11/08/2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

In the Liturgical Calendar it is the Feast Day of Saint Attracta (also called Araght, and Naomh Adhracht in Irish), the patron saint of the parish of Tourlestrane, Co Sligo. Her legend states that she fled from home and took her vows as a nun under St Patrick at Coolavin. She then moved to Lough […]

#OTD in 1923 – Frank Aiken orders the Anti-Treaty fighters to “dump their arms” and return home.

24/05/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

After General Liam Lynch was shot by Free State soldiers in the Knockmealdown Mountains and died later that evening in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. Many historians see his death as the effective end of the Civil War, as the new IRA chief of staff Frank Aiken declared a ceasefire on 30 April and on 24 May […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Liam Lynch