#OTD in 1920 – Tomás Mac Curtain is elected Sinn Féin Mayor of Cork city.

31/01/2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

After Sinn Féin’s sweeping victory in the November 1918 general election and the setting up of the First Dáil in 1919 it was clear that the British government and the Republicans were on a collision course. The War of Independence began with the Soloheadbeg ambush on the same day that the First Dáil met. Tomás […]

#OTD in 1969 – Death of Politician and IRA leader during the War of Independence and Civil War, Dan Breen.

27/12/2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

Dan Breen was an iconic IRA figure in both the War of Independence and also the Civil War. Breen was involved in what is accepted as the first action of the War of Independence (1919-1921) when with Sean Treacy and others, he ambushed and killed two RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) constables James McDonnell and Patrick […]

#OTD in 1894 – Birth of nationalist revolutionary and politician, Dan Breen, in Grange, Donohill, Co Tipperary.

11/08/2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

One of the most famous fighters in the fight for Irish freedom, Dan Breen is born in Co Tipperary. He was an iconic IRA figure in both the War of Independence and also the Civil War. Breen was involved in what is accepted as the first action of the War of Independence 1919-1921 when with […]

#OTD in 1919 – Dan Breen and Seán Treacy rescue their comrade Seán Hogan from a Dublin-Cork train at Knocklong, Co Limerick; two policemen guarding him are killed.

13/05/2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

In one of the most dramatic events in the Irish War of Independence, a handcuffed young Tipperary volunteer, Seán Hogan, was rescued from a train while sat between four armed members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). Two RIC were killed in the attack and a number of the volunteers wounded. The rescue was undertaken […]