Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast Day of Saint Tola, a seventh-century Irish Roman Catholic saint also referred to as ‘a good soldier of Christ’. Tola, the reputed son of Donchad is also referred to as Thola or Tolanus. He died between 733 and 737. 1493 – Kildare, who has been suspected of […]
Read More
1613 – A charter incorporates Derry as the city of ‘Londonderry’ and creates the new county of ‘Londonderry’. Despite the official name, the city is more usually known as simply Derry, which is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire, which in modern Irish is spelt Doire, and translates as ‘oak-grove/oak-wood’. The name derives from […]
Read More
1646 – Peace between the confederates and James Butler, the Marquis of Ormond and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, leads to a split within the confederation, i.e. between confederates and royalists. 1719 – John Cairnes, son of David Cairnes, former MP for the city of Derry, was killed in a duel in Newcastle, England. 1772 – […]
Read More
In the Liturgical calendar, it is the Feast Day of St Suairlech, Bishop of Fore, Co Westmeath. 1174 – Death of St Gelasius of Armagh (meaning ‘servant of Jesus’). He was the learned abbot of Derry for sixteen years and consecrated bishop of Armagh c. 1138, when Saint Malachy resigned and served as primate of […]
Read More
1787 – The Tumultuous Risings Act imposed penalties for rioting and for interference with the collection of tithes. 1838 – William Edward Hartpole Lecky, historian and philosopher, was born in Blackrock, Co Dublin. 1854 – Harry Furniss, caricaturist, was born in Wexford. 1856 – Birth of New Zealand statesman and Prime Minister from 1912 to […]
Read More
In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast day of the Annunciation to Our Lady. 1306 – Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scots. 1635 – A shower of hailstones, with stones as large as four inches in circumference, was reported in Castletown, Co Offaly – a hen was killed and a woman was injured. […]
Read More
In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast Day of Saint Mac Cairthinn, also Macartan, a very early generation of saints in Ireland and is recognised as the first Bishop of Clogher. He is known as Saint Patrick’s ‘Strong Man’ for his dedication and faithfulness. 1603 – James VI of Scotland comes to the throne […]
Read More
1845 – Birth of John Thomas Browne in Ballylanders, Co Limerick. He was an Irish Catholic Mayor of Houston, Texas. 1846 – Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey speaks in the House of Lords on the state of Ireland and accepts that ‘Ireland is our disgrace’. If such be the state of things, how then […]
Read More
Feast Day of Saint Darerca of Ireland, sister of Saint Patrick. 1686 – With the return of a Catholic monarchy – James II – payments to the Catholic hierarchy are authorised; Catholics are appointed to government positions; replacement of Protestant by Catholic soldiers intensifies. 1768 – Birth of writer, Melasina Trench, in Dublin. 1829 – […]
Read More
1181 – John Cumin (or Comyn) was elected archbishop of Dublin and consecrated by the pope at Velletri on this date. He is the first Englishman to be appointed to an Irish see. 1656 – Death of Bishop James Ussher. The Dublin-born cleric deduced from biblical studies the exact date of the Creation (23rd October, […]
Read More