#OTD in 1935 – Nineteen Donegal islanders are drowned when their yawl founders.

At 5.30pm on Saturday the 9 of November 1935, a yawl left Burtonport harbour, for Arranmore Island. In order to avoid being kept at sea too long in the dark, in the heavy swell, it was apparently decided to take a short course between rocks which the sea is studded for a large area between […]

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#OTD in 1887 – Celtic Football Club was born in Glasgow.

A meeting in the church hall of St Mary’s parish in East Rose Street (now Forbes Street), Calton, Glasgow, established by Irish Marist Brother Walfrid, and while those present would have harboured well-intentioned ambitions for the new sporting organisation, none of them could ever have imagined that Celtic would go on to become one of the […]

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#OTD in 1918 – Over five hundred die in the Irish Sea following the sinking of the R.M.S. Leinster by U-boat 123.

The Leinster was operating as a passenger ship and mail boat, although most of those who died were soldiers returning from leave, many of them Irishmen who fought in the British Army in World War I. First World War 1914-1918. On one side were Germany, Austro-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. On the other side were the […]

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#OTD in 1971 – Death of Revolutionary, Margaret Skinnider, in Glenageary, Co Dublin.

“Scotland is my home, but Ireland my country.” –Margaret Skinnider Margaret Skinnider’s mother was Scottish and her father was originally from Co Monaghan. She became a mathematics teacher in Scotland and was active in the women’s suffrage movement. She also joined the Glasgow branches of the Irish Volunteers and Cumann na mBan in 1914; she also […]

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#OTD in 1942 – Twenty miles off the coast of Donegal, the luxury Cunard liner Queen Mary – converted into a troop carrier for the war smashes into her escort ship, the British cruiser Curaçao.

The Curaçao which had connected with the Queen Mary to escort her for the final two hundred miles to the port of Greenock, Scotland sinks with the loss of 338 men. As were his orders, Captain Cyril of the Queen Mary which was carrying an estimated 15,000 US troops does not stop to mount a […]

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The Banshee

As we move into the darkest months of the year, it seems fitting to visit a spectre as ancient as life itself – the Banshee. A banshee is a female spirit in Irish mythology who heralds the death of a family member, usually by shrieking or keening. Her name is connected to the mythologically-important tumuli […]

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Pobull Fhinn | Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Pobull Fhinn is a stone circle on the Isle of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. The modern standard spelling would be “Poball Fhinn” – Fionn’s people. The stones were probably named after the legendary hero Fionn mac Cumhaill. The stones are also known as “Sòrnach Coir’ Fhinn,” or “the fireplace of Fionn’s cauldron” and […]

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#OTD in 1316 – Battle of Athenry | Irish rising in support of Edward the Bruce of Scotland.

Many of the men of Erin all, around the great plain— Many sons of kings, whom I name not, were slain in the great defeat: Sorrowful to my heart is the conflict of the host of Midhe and Mumha. On the day of St Laurence the martyr these deeds were committed; and Fedlim was twenty-three […]

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#OTD in 1608 – Preparations commence for the plantation of six Ulster counties (Armagh, Cavan, Coleraine, Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone).

The Plantation of Ulster was presented to James I as a joint “British”, or English and Scottish, venture to ‘pacify’ and ‘civilise’ Ulster, with at least half the settlers to be Scots. James had been King of Scots before he also became King of England and needed to reward his subjects in Scotland with land […]

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