Feast of Saint Brigid of Kildare – Naomh Bríd – (c. 450 – 525) one of Ireland’s patron saints. She was an early Irish Christian nun, abbess, and foundress of several monasteries of nuns, including that of Kildare, which was famous and revered. Her feast day is shared by Dar Lugdach, who tradition says was […]
ON THIS DAY: Bloody Sunday – 14 civilians were shot dead on the streets of Derry by the British Parachute Regiment on 30th January 1972. They had been taking part in a civil rights march against internment without trial. 26 civilians were shot; 13 were killed outright while the death of another man happened four […]
This Sunday sees the 50th anniversary of the murders of 14 innocent civilians who were shot dead by soldiers of the British Parachute regiment during a civil rights march in Derry on January 30, 1972. Thirteen died that day, with one man, John Johnston dying later from injuries. The killings sparked a wave of outrage […]
Today, the Cork Fenian Society will host a commemoration to mark the 200th anniversary of Cath Chéim an Fhia (Battle of Keimaneigh), a battle between Irish tenant farmers – organized in secret, agrarian reform societies known chiefly as The Whiteboys and The Rockites – against the British militia in 1822. On a frigid January 22 […]
The St Vincent de Paul Society who ran a Free Night Shelter in Dublin City centre released figures for the year to date. They indicated there were a total of 16,785 admissions the previous year year (1920), a 5,180 increase on the year previous to that. In addition the number of free meals supplied has […]
Thomas Ashe trained as a teacher and worked as a school principal in Lusk, Co. Dublin. He was a poet, piper and talented singer and having being reared in the Gaeltacht in Kerry, was an avid supporter of the Irish language. This brought him to the governing body of the Gaelic League, he was also […]
William Higgins was born in Drumlish, the thirteenth and youngest child, of William and Elizabeth Higgins. Initially he was educated by his mother and that would form his early formation. The rising of 1798 was deeply impressed on the mind of the young boy. The Longford Leader’s article on the unveiling of a statue in […]
Daniel Breen – Dónall Ó Braoin – was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. He was born in Grange, Donohill parish, County Tipperary, his father died when Dan was six, leaving the family very poor. He was educated locally, before becoming a plasterer […]
St. Stephen was the first Christian Martyr, killed by stoning for refusing to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. Saul of Tarsus was present as a prominent persecutor of Christians. It was on this day December 26, 415 AD, his remains were recovered after having been lost for centuries. It is said that as the […]
By this time, 1.5 years into the worst starvation Ireland had experienced in the 19th century, the death and destruction of famine was gaining international headlines. Accounts were so horrific that many thought they were exaggerated, alas, it was not the case. Several went themselves to establish the truth only to find it worse than […]
Willie Clancy was born into a musical family in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare. His parents both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute. Clancy’s father had been heavily influenced by local blind piper Garret Barry. Willie started playing the whistle at age 5, and later took up the flute. He first […]
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 […]