Tag: RTÉ

#OTD in 1944 – Birth of entertainer and folk musician, Jim McCann.

05/03/2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

As a young man, McCann attended University College Dublin as a student of medicine, but became interested in folk music during a summer holiday in Birmingham in 1964. He began to perform in folk clubs in the area, and, upon his return to Dublin, he joined a group called the Ludlow Trio in 1965. In […]

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#OTD in 1914 – Fethard Lifeboat Disaster | the tragedy saw nine crewmen of the Fethard on Sea Helen Blake Lifeboat lose their lives while trying to rescue the crew of the Mexico.

20/02/2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

The tragedy saw nine crewmen of the Fethard ‘Helen Blake’ Lifeboat lose their lives while trying to rescue the crew of the Mexico that had gone aground at the treacherous islands. One of the Mexico crew – a Portuguese sailor – died of exposure on the Keeragh Islands on 21 February 1914, as relatives of […]

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#OTD in 1964 – While weather bound in Dublin Che Guevara speaks to RTÉ reporter Sean Egan.

18/12/2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Argentine-born Major Ernesto Che Guevara, the revolutionary leader and ‘Comandante’ of the Cuban Revolution, was interviewed by RTÉ at Dublin Airport, when as Cuban Minister for Industries he was travelling on a diplomatic mission. On his way from New York to Algeria after a meeting of the UN General Assembly, Che Guevara’s flight was redirected […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 5 December:

05/12/2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

1640 – John Atherton, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, was executed on a charge of immorality. Atherton was accused of buggery (homosexuality) with a man, John Childe, his steward and tithe proctor. They were tried under a law that Atherton himself had helped to institute. They were both condemned to death, and Atherton was executed […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 26 November:

26/11/2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

1594 – Birth of historian and genealogist, James Ware, in Dublin. 1624 – Birth in Dublin of John Stearne, founder and first president of the College of Physicians. 1651 – Death of Henry Ireton, Cromwell’s Son-in-Law. Henry Ireton was effectively Cromwell’s Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. Shortly after the Siege of Limerick ended (27 October) Ireton took […]

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#OTD in 1971 – RTÉ bans several patriotic ballads including Dublin In The Green and The Patriot Game.

12/11/2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

‘Merry Ploughboy’ | ’Off to Dublin in the Green’ (Dominic Behan) Performed by The Dubliners Oh, I am a merry ploughboy and I plough the fields all day Till a sudden thought came to my head, that I should roam away For I’m sick and tired of slavery since the day that I was born […]

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#OTD in 1944 – Birth of entertainer and folk musician, Jim McCann.

26/10/2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

As a young man, McCann attended University College Dublin as a student of medicine, but became interested in folk music during a summer holiday in Birmingham in 1964. He began to perform in folk clubs in the area, and, upon his return to Dublin, he joined a group called the Ludlow Trio in 1965. In […]

Read More