#OTD in 1982 – Five men charged with conspiring to smuggle arms to the IRA in 1981 were acquitted in Federal Court in Brooklyn, NY.

Five men charged with conspiring to export arms to the Irish Republican Army were acquitted in Federal Court in Brooklyn, NY, apparently because a jury believed defence contentions that the Central Intelligence Agency had sanctioned their gun-running operation. No evidence directly linking the CIA to the operation was offered at the seven-week trial, and denials […]

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The Rock of Cashel | Home of the High Kings of Munster

Rising from the Golden Vale of Tipperary, steeped in mythology and immersed in over two millennia of history, the Rock of Cashel, also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick’s Rock (Carraig Phádraig), is a historic site in Ireland’s province of Munster. The Rock of Cashel served as the traditional seat of the […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 12 September:

In the Liturgical calendar, it is the Feast day of St. Ailbe, Bishop of Emly, Tipperary. Mexico – Commemoration of the mass hanging of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion. 1653 – Ireland and Scotland are represented by six and five members respectively in the ‘Barebones’ parliament which is in effect from 4 July to this date. […]

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#OTD in 2002 – Death of Bobby Clancy of the Clancy Brothers.

Bobby Clancy was a singer and musician best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers, one of the most successful and influential Irish folk groups. He accompanied his songs on five-string banjo, guitar, bodhrán, and harmonica. Bobby Clancy was born in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, to Robert J. Clancy and Johanna McGrath. He was the […]

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#OTD in 1830 – Birth of Fenian, John O’Leary, in Tipperary.

W.B. Yeats evidently equated the death of ‘Romantic Ireland’ with the rise of an Irish generation that believed that ‘men were born to pray and save [souls]’ alone. That he was inspired to write such a ballad while witnessing the creation of the Ulster Volunteers and the Irish Volunteers indicates that he saw religion as […]

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#OTD in 1848 – A gunfight takes place between Young Ireland Rebels and police at Widow McCormack’s house in Ballingarry, Co Tipperary.

The Young Irelander Rebellion was a failed Irish nationalist uprising led by the Young Ireland movement, part of the wider Revolutions of 1848 that affected most of Europe. It took place on 29 July 1848 in the village of Ballingarry, South Tipperary. After being chased by a force of Young Irelanders and their supporters, an […]

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Rock of Cashel, Co Tipperary

The Rock of Cashel (Carraig Phádraig) is a medieval complex steeped in centuries of history. It is thought that the first main structures to be built on the site of the Rock of Cashel were erected in the fourth or fifth century AD. Said to have been founded by Conall Corc, King of Munster, it […]

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#OTD in 1916 – Easter Rising leaders | Pádraig Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh were executed by a firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol.

The first of the 1916 rebels were shot dead in the Stonebreakers’ Yard at Kilmainham Gaol after being found guilty (without legal defence or jury) of taking part ‘in an armed rebellion for the purposes of assisting the enemy.’ The fact that they were involved in armed rebellion is beyond doubt, but the primary purpose […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 1 May (Bealtaine):

Beltane, Lá Bealtaine, the first day of Summer in modern Ireland was celebrated by the Celts, and is now also celebrated by Neopagans and Wiccans. 1169 – A small party of Normans arrive on the southern coast of Co Wexford and established a bridgehead for further invasions. 1171 – Diarmaid MacMurrough, king of Leinster, died […]

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#OTD in 1922 – Birth of folk singer, Patrick Clancy, in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary.

Paddy Clancy, was an Irish folk singer best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In addition to singing and storytelling, Clancy played the harmonica with the group, which is widely credited with popularising Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalising it in Ireland. He also started and ran […]

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