101 years ago the Government of Ireland Act passed through both houses of parliament in London. The Act divided Ireland into two territories, “Southern Ireland” and “Northern Ireland”, each intended to be self-governing. “Northern Ireland” as defined by the Act, amounting to six of the nine counties of Ulster, Down, Derry, Armagh, Antrim, Fermanagh and […]
Grace Gifford was born in Dublin on the 4th March 1888. She was the second youngest of 12 children born to Frederick Gifford, a Catholic, and Isabella Julia Burton, a protestant. Grace and her sisters attended Alexandra College in Earlsfort Terrace. At age 16, Grace went to the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, where she […]
Saint Finnian of Clonard was a member of Clanna Rudhraighe from the Ulaid in the vicinity of New Ross. According to some sources, Finnian studied for a time at the monastic centre of Martin of Tours in Gaul. Tours was noted for its austerity. He later went to Wales and continued his studies at the […]
On this night, the Black and Tans burnt Cork City Centre with a devastating series of fires that swept through the city centre; looted businesses, assaulted firefighters and shot at the local population. The burning and the subsequent controversy is one of the most significant events of the Irish War of Independence; on the day […]
ON THIS DAY: 3RD DECEMBER 1974: Maguire Seven charged with possessing materials for bomb making 40-year-old Irish born Anne Maguire, from North London, was convicted of possessing nitro-glycerine, which was then allegedly passed on for use to the IRA. Her husband, Patrick Maguire, 42 was also sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. Her two younger sons, […]
Known as the fastest field game in the world, a sliotar can top 93mph from a good strike. Hurling is also mentioned in the 11th/ 12th century Leabhar na hUidre, while further descriptions are to be found in 13th/14th century romantic tale Cath Mhaigh Tuireadh Chunga. This latter account details a very bloody hurling game […]
The Book of Kells is Ireland’s greatest cultural treasure and the world’s most famous medieval manuscript. It contains the four Gospels in Latin based on the Vulgate text which St Jerome completed in 384AD, intermixed with readings from the earlier Old Latin translation. The book is written on vellum (prepared calfskin) in a bold and […]
November 1920 in many ways marked a turning point in the War of Independence. It was a month in which the military conflict reached new levels with around 100 killed on both sides. It also witnessed a marked escalation in the number of officially sanctioned reprisals against the civilian population who by this stage, outside […]
St. Colmán is referenced and presented in many different sources such as the Irish Annals, geneologies and martyrologies. Born around 530 AD, he is associated through Irish genealogy, with the leading ruling dynasty of Munster of the time, with the Éoganachta, centred in Cashel from the 6th – 10th centuries. Colmán is remembered as the […]
The Irish Citizen Army was founded at the height of the Dublin Lockout of 1913 to protect strikers at their demonstrations from the police. Three years later it took part, alongside the Irish Volunteers, in the insurrection of Easter 1916. Its leader James Connolly along with his second, Michael Mallin, were executed for their part […]
Joseph Mary Plunkett, Seosamh Máire Pluincéid, was an Irish nationalist, poet, journalist, revolutionary and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising. Throughout his life, Joseph Plunkett took an active interest in Irish heritage and the Irish language; joined the Gaelic League and began studying with Thomas MacDonagh, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. The […]
Glaisne Ó Cuilleanáin was born in a family in Connaught remarkable for its piety. He was the oldest of six brothers, of whom were devoted themselves to the service of Christ in the ranks of the clergy secular or regular. He went to Louvain to study there, and later to Rome. Having completed his studies, […]