Willie James Pearse – Uilliam Seamus Mac Piarais – was an Irish republican executed for his part in the Easter Rising. He was a younger brother of Pádraig, a leader of the rising; Willie was very devoted to Pádraig and the brothers had a very close relationship. Pearse inherited his father’s artistic abilities and became […]
On the night of 14 November 1920, during the War of Independence, 28-year-old Fr. Michael Griffin, was taken from his home – by men suspected to be Black and Tans – and was never seen again. On 20 November, his body was found in an unmarked grave in a bog at Cloghscoltia near Barna; he […]
ON THIS DAY: 12TH NOVEMBER 1971: RTÉ bans several patriotic ballads including Dublin In The Green and The Patriot Game Lyrics of the The Patriot Game Come all ye young rebels, and list while I sing, For the love of one’s country is a terrible thing. It banishes fear with the speed of a flame, […]
Catherine McAuley was born in Dublin in 1778. In 1824 she used her inheritance from an Irish couple she had served for twenty years to build a large House of Mercy where she and other lay women would shelter homeless women, reach out to the sick and dying and educate poor girls. The House on […]
A HUGE temple, once surrounded by about 300 huge posts made from an entire oak forest, was discovered directly beneath the Hill of Tara in Co Meath. The Discovery Programme, set up under the auspices of the Heritage Council, carried out a survey of the Hill of Tara between 1992 and 1996 using sophisticated technology, […]
Pádraig Mac Piarais (Padraig Pearse) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary; he who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. Following his execution along with fifteen others, Pearse came to be seen by many as the embodiment of the rebellion. Pádraig, his brother Willie, […]
ON THIS DAY: 9TH NOVEMBER 1791: Napper Tandy convenes the first meeting of Dublin’s United Irishmen. The first meeting of the Society of United Irishmen Dublin at the Eagle Tavern in Eustace Street. Attended by such figures as Theobold Wolfe Tone, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, William Drennan and James Napper Tandy. #gript
In the decades after the 1916 Rising, Margaret Mary Pearse, sister of Pádraig and Willie, was a teacher at St. Enda’s until it closed in the mid 1930s. She became a senator later in the 1930s and served there until her death in 1968. The photo shows Margaret and students from St. Enda’s, c […]
ON THIS DAY: 6 NOVEMBER 1649: Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill, Gaelic chieftain, military commander and victor of the Battle of Benburb (1646), died in Cavan He was one of the most famous of the O’Neill dynasty of Ulster. O’Neill left Ireland at a young age and spent most of his life as a soldier and […]
ON THIS DAY: 6TH NOVEMBER 1913: Mahatma Gandhi arrested for leading Indian miners’ march in South Africa Within three years of his arrival in South Africa, Gandhi had become a political leader, providing hope to many Indians who had no political rights under the dispensation of the time. Some years later, an act was introduced […]
Tutankhamun (c. 1342 – c. 1325 BC) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the 18th dynasty during the New Kingdom of Egyptian history. His father was the heretical king Akhenaten, believed to be the mummy found in the tomb KV55. His mother […]
Kevin Gerard Barry was the first Irish republican to be executed by the British since the leaders of the Easter Rising. He was a 18-year-old medical student who had won a merit-based scholarship given annually by Dublin Corporation, which allowed him to become a student of medicine at UCD. Born on Fleet Street, Dublin, the […]