St Patrick is now one of the world’s best known Catholic figures
22 other young men joined the hunger strike and 10 men died.
Great cruelty during Famine
The European Parliament called for the legalisation of abortion in Ireland. The opinion, passed in Strasbourg by 321 votes to 122; it carried no legislative weight but provoked a storm of political controversy. It was not the first and wouldn’t be the last time institutions within the European Union would admonish Ireland for it’s pro-life […]
“No apology. God bless the Republic”
On the 5th February 1981, republican prisoners in Long Kesh issued a statement to the British government that unless the prisoners were awarded special category status, there could be further hunger strikes. There had been several smaller strikes in the Maze and Armagh Women’s Prison previously following the tradition of Thomas Ashe, Terence MacSwiney, Frank […]
The Fenian Rising of 1867 nó Éirí Amach na bhFíníní was a rebellion against British rule in Ireland, organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood. The Fenians were a transatlantic association consisting of the IRB, founded in Dublin by James Stephens in 1858, and the Fenian Brotherhood, founded in the United States by John O’Mahony and […]
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 […]