#OTD in 1921 – Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith and the other plenipotentiaries return from London to present Britain’s proposed treaty draft to government colleagues.

Presentation of the British draft of the Anglo-Irish Treaty took place from 1-6 December, with the delegates returning to Dublin on this date for two days to present the proposed draft to their colleagues, they returned to London to further negotiate and signed the Treaty (Articles of Agreement) on 6 December 1921. Collins was not […]

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#OTD in 1942 – Death of Peadar Kearney, writer of the Irish National Anthem, ‘A Soldier’s Song’.

Peadar Kearney was born at 68 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin in 1883, he often walked along Gardiner Street to the Custom House and along the Quays. His father was from Louth and his mother was originally from Meath. He was educated at the Model School, Schoolhouse Lane and St Joseph’s Christian Brothers School in Fairview, […]

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#OTD in 1920 – Irish War of Independence | In Dublin, 31 people are killed in what became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’.

A day of carnage in Dublin in an increasingly bitter and bloody Irish War of Independence; in total, 31 people were killed. Early in the day, Michael Collins ‘Squad’ and the Dublin Brigade wipes out much of British Intelligence in Dublin. Hours later, British troops take horrible revenge. In a superbly executed guerilla operation, Michael […]

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#OTD in 1921 – Éamon de Valera and the 1921 Treaty Negotiations.

At a cabinet meeting Éamon de Valera advised ‘that whilst the utmost co-operation should exist between Dublin and London, the plenipotentiaries (negotiators) should have a perfectly free hand but should follow original instructions regarding important decisions.’ This statement by De Valera, in retrospect lacked clarity. The binding legality of the Treaty signing in December (providing […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 2 November:

All Souls’ Day 1719 – The Toleration Act for Protestant Dissenters is passed. 1752 – Philip Twisden, Bishop of Raphoe and son-in-law of the politician Thomas Carter, dies bankrupt on this date, having been shot while allegedly masquerading as a highwayman. 1795 – Birth of William Grattan Tyrone Power, known professionally as Tyrone Power, was […]

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#OTD in 1923 – The Oriel House CID is disbanded and its members transferred to the Dublin Metropolitan Police.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the Irish Free State was an armed, plain-clothed counter-insurgency police unit that operated during the Irish Civil War. It was organised separately from the unarmed Civic Guard. The unit was formed shortly after the truce with the British (11 July 1921) and disbanded in October 1923. The CID was […]

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#OTD in 1920 – After 74 days on Hunger Strike in Brixton Prison, England, the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney died.

Following his court-martial in August 1920, Terence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork, greeted his sentence of two years in prison by declaring: ‘I have decided the term of my imprisonment: I shall be free, alive or dead, within a month.’ Four days earlier, British troops had stormed the City Hall in Cork and arrested […]

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#OTD in 1851 – Birth of American financier, Thomas Fortune Ryan, in Charlottesville, Virginia, with ancestry to Protestant Anglo-Irish settlers in the 17th century.

Thomas Fortune Ryan was born near Lovingston, a small Nelson County community south of Charlottesville, Virginia. Despite certain myths regarding his background, Ryan was neither orphaned nor penniless as a youth and he traced his ancestry to Protestant Anglo-Irish settlers in the 17th century. At age 17, Ryan perceived a lack of economic opportunity in […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 16 October:

In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast Day of St. Gall (Gallen, or Gallus, c. 550 – c. 646). He was an Irish disciple and one of the traditionally twelve companions of Saint Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. 1588 – Birth of Franciscan friar and historian, Luke Wadding, in Co […]

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