ON THIS DAY: 4TH MARCH is shared by 3 famous people connected with Irish freedom, whose birthdays occurred on this day. Robert Emmet – 1778 was an Irish Republican and nationalist, patriot, orator and rebel leader. After leading an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1803 he was captured then tried and executed for high treason […]
The noted Victorian author Charles Dickens used his writings to highlight social issues that were of importance to him. One cause he reserved particularly harsh criticism was for individuals who styled themselves as philanthropists but whose charitable motives were more to serve their own vanity. In one of his early journalistic pieces Dickens poked fun at the […]
Tithe Wars nó as Gaeilge Cogadh na nDeachúna. People were obliged by law to pay Tithes for the upkeep of the Church of Ireland, which was the official state sanctioned Church. What was ‘owed’ could be taken in the form of money, land, rent, produce or livestock. Struggling farmers did not want to be forced […]
Following on from our post a few days back which discussed the vicious Shankill butchers (a loyalist gang connected with the UVF); a Catholic civilian Francis Rice, (24), was abducted, beaten, tortured and had his throat cut almost through to the spine. His torture and death was described as grotesque and obscene. His body was […]
The Shankill Butchers were a group of 11 loyalists, many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, which operated out of drinking dens in the Shankill Road area of Belfast hence the name. They abducted Catholics; tortured, maimed and mutilated their bodies before eventually killing them with butchers knives, axes and hatchets. Their […]
James Prior, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that a full public inquiry would take place into the matters surrounding the Kincora Scandal. The Kincora Boys’ Home was a boys’ home in Belfast, that was the scene of serious organised child sexual abuse, causing a scandal and attempted cover-up in 1980, with credible allegations […]
The level of poverty in Ireland was evidenced by further comments from O’Connell: “The last Population Returns of 1841 showed that, out of the whole rural population of Ireland, 46 per cent lived in a single room; the entire human family and the pigs occupied the same apartment together. The next fact was, that of […]
Many foreign tourists to this country are more than surprised to learn that the bones of St Valentine are to be found as relics in one of Dublin’s most beautiful, historic and mildly intriguing Catholic churches, that of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, otherwise known as Whitefriar Street Church on Aungier Street. […]
As reported in the Leinster Leader Newspaper on the 10 February 1917, an explosion occurred in the Naas Carpet Factory and several young female employees were injured. As penned in the article: A rather serious accident occurred in the Naas Carpet Factory on Monday morning last resulting in injures to several of the girls employed […]
In July 1534 Thomas FitzGerald, acting Lord Deputy of Ireland and the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, attacked Dublin Castle. Thomas and his followers wore silk fringes on their helmets thus giving this event the name “The Silken Thomas Affair”. The attack on the Castle, the seat of power in Ireland, had […]
On 30th January 1972, British Parachute Regiment shot dead civilians in a civil rights march in Derry city. It sent shockwaves through Britain and Ireland and people south of the border were angry and distraught. The first night 50 people picketed the British embassy, but on Monday morning walkouts took place at factories in Shannon […]
Thomas MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, to Joseph MacDonagh, a schoolmaster, and Mary Parker. He grew up in a household filled with music, poetry and learning and was instilled with a love of both English and Irish culture from a young age. A member of the Gaelic League, he was a teacher and […]