How the Bog Bodies told their story In March 2003, in a bog on the border of Meath and Offaly, in a place called Clonycavan, a body emerged from the peat beneath the shovel of a cutting machine. The workers stopped their machinery immediately and after inspecting the body suspected they had unearthed evidence of […]
The infamous and notorious Black and Tans will not be forgotten in Irish history. 100 years ago, the first tranche of them arrived from Britain, mainly recruited from the unemployed veterans of World War 1. They had 3 months training and their pay was ten shillings a day. Their ‘uniforms’ were mixed, some with Khaki […]
A farmer’s son, Peadar Ó Laoghaire was born in Clondrohid, Cork, and grew up in the Muskerry Gaeltacht. The Ó Laoghaire family have been in this area for centuries and he was a descendant of the Carrignacurra branch of same family. Both his mother and father were of the Ó Laoghaire clan. His mother was a […]
Today marks the centenary of the Battle of Crossbarry, a hugely significant victory for Tom Barry’s flying column in the War of Independence, and one of the largest battles in that conflict. Barry’s men were outnumbered 10 to 1 according to accounts, and were being trapped by a huge encircling operation involving 1,000 British troops […]
St Patrick is now one of the world’s best known Catholic figures but the earliest known celebration of the saint is believed to have been held on March 17, 1631, marking the anniversary of his death in the 5th century. In that year, bubonic plague raged across parts of Europe, especially impacting Italy where the epidemic […]
Britain’s Salt Act of 1882 prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt, a staple in their diet. Indian citizens were forced to buy the vital mineral from their British rulers, who, in addition to exercising a monopoly over the manufacture and sale of salt, also charged a heavy salt tax. Though it affected everyone, it […]
Thomas Clarke was born in Hampshire in the UK to Irish parents. They moved back to Dungannon when Thomas was 7 years old and the family spent the rest of his youth there. When he was 20, he joined the IRB and quickly rose to prominence, becoming head of the local IRB circle. He was […]
Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha was born near Dingle, Co. Kerry in 1883, one of nine children to Patrick Sugrue and Ellen Cleary. He attended the local CBS until he was 16 where he was educated under English, and learned to read and write Irish from a local school master with the assistance of the Irish grammer […]
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 […]
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 […]