#OTD in 1895 – Death of Young Irelander, Author and Poet, Denny Lane.

Denny Lane, one of the most popular of the Young Ireland leaders, and the writer of the two well-known poems, ‘Kate of Araglen’ and ‘Carraigdhoun’ (or ‘Lament of the Irish Maiden’). Although a Catholic, he graduated from the mainly Protestant Trinity College, Dublin, where he joined the College Historical Society, became a friend of Charles […]

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#OTD in 1649 – Death of Owen Roe O’Neill.

Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, anglicised as Owen Roe O’Neill “Red Owen”, was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous of the O’Neill family of Ulster. An Irish rebel commander during a major Roman Catholic revolt (1641–52) against English rule in Ireland; his victory at Benburb, on 5 June 1646, was one of […]

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The Fenian Brotherhood

The Fenian Brotherhood, the Irish Republican Brotherhood’s US branch, was founded by John O’Mahony and Michael Doheny, both of whom had been “out” (participating in the Young Irelander’s rising) in 1848. Members were commonly known as “Fenians”. O’Mahony, who was a Celtic scholar, named his organisation after the Fianna, the legendary band of Irish warriors […]

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#OTD in 1814 – Birth of Irish writer, who was the chief organiser and poet of the Young Ireland movement, Thomas Osborne Davis in Mallow, Co Cork.

Thomas Osborn Davis was born in the town of Mallow, Co Cork, the son of a Welsh father, a surgeon in the Royal Artillery, and an Irish mother. Through his mother he was descended from the Gaelic noble family of O’Sullivan Beare. His father died one month after his birth and his mother moved to […]

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#OTD in 1846 – O’Connell and the Young Irelanders party split over use of physical force.

The name Young Ireland was originally used in a disparaging way to describe the group of young Repeal Association members who were associated with The Nation newspaper. At the time, the Repeal Association was campaigning for the repeal of the Act of Union 1800 between the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The term was […]

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#OTD in 1646 – The Battle of Benburb | Eoghan Rua O’Neill, a superb military strategist, defeats Robert Munro’s Scottish army at Benburb in Co Tyrone.

The Battle of Benburb took place during the Irish Confederate Wars, the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, between the Irish Confederate Ulster army under Owen Roe O’Neill, and the Scottish Covenanter army in Ulster, commanded by Colonel Robert Monro. After a period of inactivity, O’Neill, who was a very cautious general, […]

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#OTD in 1895 – Death of Young Irelander, Author and Poet, Denny Lane.

Denny Lane, one of the most popular of the Young Ireland leaders, and the writer of the two well-known poems, ‘Kate of Araglen’ and ‘Carraigdhoun’ (or ‘Lament of the Irish Maiden’). Although a Catholic, he graduated from the mainly Protestant Trinity College, Dublin, where he joined the College Historical Society, became a friend of Charles […]

Read More

#OTD in 1649 – Death of Owen Roe O’Neill.

Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, anglicised as Owen Roe O’Neill “Red Owen”, was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous of the O’Neill family of Ulster. An Irish rebel commander during a major Roman Catholic revolt (1641–52) against English rule in Ireland; his victory at Benburb, on 5 June 1646, was one of […]

Read More

The Fenian Brotherhood

The Fenian Brotherhood, the Irish Republican Brotherhood’s US branch, was founded by John O’Mahony and Michael Doheny, both of whom had been “out” (participating in the Young Irelander’s rising) in 1848. Members were commonly known as “Fenians”. O’Mahony, who was a Celtic scholar, named his organisation after the Fianna, the legendary band of Irish warriors […]

Read More