tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22368633228900106482024-03-19T01:46:51.723-07:00Irish History on the Day that's in it Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.comBlogger3843125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-79466050205192038672024-03-18T10:03:00.000-07:002024-03-18T10:03:58.123-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlSMGEF8EmK6FcYSYxZ8AK85d_IAOutxUFS-7S95RWz13N5nP7mZb0ylKVuPNSPnHIrqhHDb3uQYNVJ7LEEG9k4KsLXa9hU7ZJNYg0hxfp89SZbm3yISWSRxoJihJ7l_dhgaJBgXbWq-aSzGqCfZ3q6W0akLGRnCRUUyZHCyOqjMwYb_5ZKXzCXfy8X_kM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="261" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlSMGEF8EmK6FcYSYxZ8AK85d_IAOutxUFS-7S95RWz13N5nP7mZb0ylKVuPNSPnHIrqhHDb3uQYNVJ7LEEG9k4KsLXa9hU7ZJNYg0hxfp89SZbm3yISWSRxoJihJ7l_dhgaJBgXbWq-aSzGqCfZ3q6W0akLGRnCRUUyZHCyOqjMwYb_5ZKXzCXfy8X_kM" width="196" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFTB46GK5PTwJLupj8sotJvNkvMw20KvKoSzVw7rnGdsj_xeFMmPAnjQZtZAf7QBF9BpXaKh9f6otpEP59nHCTPM6RQty_SCowA1fxj_mtKH777JKBxwfFEecHuL0ooWMVurj8L4D3Ql7U5pkXtAHx6io74gs0ez57UrLT90QwEakqggAhvyN7kl-ALTNX" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="267" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFTB46GK5PTwJLupj8sotJvNkvMw20KvKoSzVw7rnGdsj_xeFMmPAnjQZtZAf7QBF9BpXaKh9f6otpEP59nHCTPM6RQty_SCowA1fxj_mtKH777JKBxwfFEecHuL0ooWMVurj8L4D3Ql7U5pkXtAHx6io74gs0ez57UrLT90QwEakqggAhvyN7kl-ALTNX" width="200" /></a></div><div>18 March 1792: Lady Arabella Denny died in Dublin on this day. She is best remembered today as the Founder of the Magdalene Asylums in this Country. Arabella Fitzmaurice was born in County Kerry in 1707 to the family of Thomas Fitzmaurice, subsequently the 1st Earl of Kerry. He was notorious for his hot temper – a ‘tyrant’ according to his grandson - but he had showed courage and talent as a soldier. Her mother was Anne Petty, daughter of Sir William Petty, who was the only person who could calm her spouse.</div><div><br /></div><div>From an early age Arabella showed compassion to those less fortunate than herself in this life. She set up a makeshift Dispensary on her father’s estate to care for his tenants medical needs. In 1727 she married Colonel Arthur Denny, M.P. for Kerry. They had no children and in 1742 the Colonel died of Apoplexy. She had to leave their Castle & move up to Dublin City. By 1748 she was living in Blackrock County Dublin where she resided at Peafield Cliff House (now <i>Lios na Uisce/</i>Lisnaskea House). </div><div><br /></div><div>Due to her interest in charitable affairs she became involved in the Dublin Foundling Hospital which took in orphans and unwanted babies. She donated from her own funds a Clock that chimed every twenty minutes to help regulate feeding times for the suckling infants. However Lady Arabella was struck by the terrible plight of unmarried pregnant girls on the city’s streets. Their fate was not a good one. She decided to found an Institution in Dublin that could take in these unfortunates and provide a safe environment for them to recover after birth and reform themselves. The first Magdalene Asylum was founded at Whitechapel in London England in 1758.</div><div><br /></div><div> We don’t know if Lady Arabella had been to the one in London or whether its mode of operation was recommended to her but in 1767 she founded the first one in this Country on Leeson Street Dublin for fallen women or penitent prostitutes, who were provided with accommodation, clothing, food and religious instruction. Lady Arabella was a member of the Church of Ireland and her idea was that Protestant girls and women in trouble could through Redemption become part of civil society once again regardless of their previous misdeeds. </div><div><br /></div><div>However Lady Denny while well off knew that such an enterprise cost money and just as important in Georgian Dublin the sanction of the Protestant Ascendency. She roped in as many members of High Society to help fund her project as she could and she got no less a personage than Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III to act as patron. For good measure she also later established a chapel adjacent to the asylum and managed to rope in George Viscount Townsend the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to attend the first divine service to be held there. As a result of such patronage many fashionable ladies were happy to attend and donate their purses to alleviate the plight of others.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 1778 Lady Arabella had reached her 71st year and decided to resign as the head of the Committee that ran the Asylum. She retired to her beautiful home in Blackrock where she lived out her days in the company of her niece Catherine Fitzmaurice. She became poorly but her mind was still active. What exercised her mind the most though was a morbid fear of being buried alive! She gave instructions that on her demise she was to be left on her deathbed for 72 hours before she was lowered into her grave. When she passed from this World her wishes were duly carried out.</div><p></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-11957764558152576382024-03-17T08:34:00.000-07:002024-03-17T08:34:29.314-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG5jB2RNPs3wGOnEcEnboUfvm4ZkP-refXmJNOOIYsZV64yUIN8l3xUj8EdYM_6lOtEevsmX8hMlPdB-UzsGOabyt2walHSnXELu5dgZD3Dn4Ckkx9rfe_EXZV_7ptsIg3d1j0uhceWj0HKSBKAA-eME8VHKvpcZV43RF4jS626WOeCFHXTkeWDgaBq5ex" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="775" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG5jB2RNPs3wGOnEcEnboUfvm4ZkP-refXmJNOOIYsZV64yUIN8l3xUj8EdYM_6lOtEevsmX8hMlPdB-UzsGOabyt2walHSnXELu5dgZD3Dn4Ckkx9rfe_EXZV_7ptsIg3d1j0uhceWj0HKSBKAA-eME8VHKvpcZV43RF4jS626WOeCFHXTkeWDgaBq5ex" width="186" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhr3MLsAjW1H5tseDzC_8V2EjSb72slNo24qdgDdCyPvq-MZBFOEA-PE1KbJvB63UjvmElUPi9AoyBQXR9wI2plhb0K1JGWT3n292y26pjB5VhooxOyK62y0fdyQvO7ZJmFJODfOHqhXwqfCIoUN2aOosI2518UzA64Bx1xY5KJhWX_NMrBPMMjKDXMB91P" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhr3MLsAjW1H5tseDzC_8V2EjSb72slNo24qdgDdCyPvq-MZBFOEA-PE1KbJvB63UjvmElUPi9AoyBQXR9wI2plhb0K1JGWT3n292y26pjB5VhooxOyK62y0fdyQvO7ZJmFJODfOHqhXwqfCIoUN2aOosI2518UzA64Bx1xY5KJhWX_NMrBPMMjKDXMB91P" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><p></p><p>17 March 493 AD Saint Patrick/<i>Naomh Pádraig </i>died on this day. Or as the Annals might say ‘according to some.’ For while Patrick is certainly the most famous saint associated with Ireland he remains something of a man of mystery to us – his persona and character definitive in some respects while his origins and obit remain a matter of some speculation to those who have written on him.</p><p>Patrick (<i>Patricius</i>) was born in Britain, as the collapse of Roman rule on that island began. He was from a settlement called Bannaventa, probably a locale near or beside the sea along the western coast. His father Calpurnius was a well to do landowner and a minor figure in the local administration called a ‘Decurion’. The father of Calpurnius was called Potitus, who had held the same administrative position in his own day. Calpurnius and Potitus were also Deacons of the Church.</p><p>Thus Patrick would have been brought up in a household where Christianity was part and parcel of his life, however he was not very religious himself. When he was about sixteen Patrick was captured by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland as a Slave. Where exactly he spent his captivity is not known but the hills of Antrim and the coast of Mayo are the most probable locations. He worked as a Shepard while in captivity. In despair he turned to Jesus Christ to sustain him and heard his Voice speak to him. Eventually after about seven years he escaped and returned home. Patrick also followed his father and grandfather into the Church and became an administrator of ecclesiastical affairs. He may have spent time in France or indeed in Rome as he worked his way up the clerical ladder. He seems to have done well. The years drifted by but Patrick never forgot his time here and longed to return to preach the Word. In a dream he heard the Irish call to him and determined to go back.</p><p>By then the Papacy had taken an interest in the full conversion of the Gaels of Hibernia. Following the demise of Palladius, the first Bishop to the Irish, it was decided to send Patrick (presumably after some gentle lobbying on his part) to Ireland to continue the Mission. Later writers attribute his selection to the influence St Germain of Auxerre under whose patronage he studied for many years. He may indeed have already gained some missionary experience amongst the <i>Morini</i> of Gaul.</p><p>Though the evidence is loose it would seem that Patrick’s arrival ‘shook up’ a rather low-key effort to convert the Irish. While Palladius was dead by then or had perhaps fled there were more than likely a few centres of Christianity along the east coast. The names of such early missionaries as Auxilius, Secundinus and Iserninus are associated with sites that perhaps predate the Patrician Mission.</p><p>So when Patrick arrived a small Christian presence was already established here. He seems to have made a point of trying to win over the powerful kings and chieftains of Ireland to at least tolerate his proselytising. He had quite a success in getting many of the younger sons and daughters of these men to follow him. Legend has it that he lit the Paschal Fire at Easter on the Hill of Slane in defiance of the King Laoghaire of Tara – the most sacred site in Ireland. The King and his Druids were astounded by his temerity. St Patrick then proceeded to Tara where he challenged the Druids in magical displays and overthrew them. Now whatever the veracity or otherwise of these stories it would seem probable that Patrick did indeed follow a traditional Christian approach to missionary work in trying to win over or at least neutralise the Royal families of any area they entered. This was to allow a Mission to proceed without hindrance and such an approach served the Church well over many centuries.</p><p>Nevertheless Patrick did face many trails and tribulations in his years on the roads of Ireland. Twelve times he tells us that he was held in captivity and once in actual chains. He seems to have made a point of moving from place to place, baptising as many converts as he could and founding churches. He was greatly in favour of monasticism and a believer in celibacy.</p><p>He did three great things in his Mission: he ensured that Christianity went from a minor to the major religion of the Irish; he converted and ordained thousands of people and priests and spread the Word across the island to the furthest kingdoms of the western seaboard; and he ensured that Ireland, in its own particular way, through the medium of the Latin language, came within the fold of the wider Christian World.</p><p>Many places around Ireland are associated with his name incl St Patrick’s (Cathedral) in Dublin, Croagh Patrick in Mayo (on which he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights) and Saul and Downpatrick in Co Down where he died and was buried. [above] He never seemed to have founded a great monastery but in later centuries Armagh became closely associated with his name and its claim to fame is probably though by no means definitely based on good grounds. In recognition of its claim it is still holds the Primacy of the Irish Church.</p><p>Yet for all his great work the written contemporary record is meagre and all in his own hand. His <i>'Confessio' </i>and the<i> 'Epistola ad Coroticum</i>' are the only extant documents we have by him. The first is a detailed confession and denial of unspecific charges against Patrick that he felt compelled to refute. It is written in plain but unsophisticated Latin and throws some light on how Patrick viewed himself spiritually and psychologically. The ‘Letter to Coroticus’ is a condemnation addressed to a British king excommunicating a group of his armed retainers for their part in kidnapping & killing recently converted Christians. All else we have was written after the Saint passed from this World and while much of it is probably well founded there is no way to confirm or cross check the veracity of the material. Scholars are cautious to attribute ‘facts’ to Patrick’s Life that cannot be verified and with good reason – but while a critical approach is wise there is a line between Criticism and Cynicism that it can be useful to avoid as well.</p><p>Traditionally the Saint ended his days at Saul (<i>Sabhall</i>), Co Down. St. Tassach is said to have administered the last sacraments to him. His remains were said to have been wrapped in a shroud woven by St. Brigid's own hands. The bishops and clergy and faithful people from all parts crowded around his remains to pay due honour to him. Some of the ancient Lives record that for several days the light of heaven shone around his bier. His remains were interred at the chieftain’s Dun or Fort two miles from Saul, where in after times arose the Cathedral of Down 'Downpatrick' where his reputed burial site can still be seen. </p><div><br /></div>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-69061974998849303962024-03-16T09:06:00.000-07:002024-03-16T09:06:37.140-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSfSW0ald0B_AJt9TdxT8JtisggUHFYDeii2PP3Fz6-e0t4kqYdp5s3-dMKeo1eajjMEjPNkqusb5nSuVzlL0dL8hRqAIEsrzDf4o8v_S2xHAY-9V-ntFnQ3Ou2NwUuXudwar6M6QfQa8TFmnSFjWu1Y1H6COt7mhrhnRorgoLdg-0JXZ1aA4OGtsd4_Fq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="202" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSfSW0ald0B_AJt9TdxT8JtisggUHFYDeii2PP3Fz6-e0t4kqYdp5s3-dMKeo1eajjMEjPNkqusb5nSuVzlL0dL8hRqAIEsrzDf4o8v_S2xHAY-9V-ntFnQ3Ou2NwUuXudwar6M6QfQa8TFmnSFjWu1Y1H6COt7mhrhnRorgoLdg-0JXZ1aA4OGtsd4_Fq" width="195" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJY6DADIxnpSDOFl7QwTLQXGFsk2Z8WIy5-aa6YKb5KHkcwXSiERCzWj5mGcfUH-T1F3n6nxRiDuc5NPOvJK-IfzhvWzg5TJ5IvCT9v-tvZNdLAhqDeyzC65DIEDcjPw7xuT90PrfDiyfPh-K0hHMtlpuqKHOIqWZ9Owc7LF-LTEtsmZMPcUDXSiyL6VOe" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="320" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJY6DADIxnpSDOFl7QwTLQXGFsk2Z8WIy5-aa6YKb5KHkcwXSiERCzWj5mGcfUH-T1F3n6nxRiDuc5NPOvJK-IfzhvWzg5TJ5IvCT9v-tvZNdLAhqDeyzC65DIEDcjPw7xuT90PrfDiyfPh-K0hHMtlpuqKHOIqWZ9Owc7LF-LTEtsmZMPcUDXSiyL6VOe" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>16 March 1988: The Milltown Cemetery attack in Belfast on this day. Dramatic and bloody scenes were witnessed by mourners in Milltown Cemetery as the thousands of attenders at the laying to rest of IRA volunteers came under attack by a lone gunman - Michael Stone.</p><p>On the 6th of that month the SAS had ambushed an IRA Active Service Unit on the British Colony of Gibraltar and shot them dead. They were unarmed and given no chance to surrender. They were Mairead Farrell, Sean Savage and Daniel McCann. When their bodies were released they were flown back to Dublin where thousands of people turned out in the pouring rain to pay their respects. A large funeral cortege accompanied the hearses as they began their journey north back to Belfast.</p><p>The attacks in Gibraltar drew worldwide publicity to what was happening in the North of Ireland and by the time the funerals were held journalists and cameramen were there in force to cover the proceedings. Usually what happened at Republican funerals was that the Crown Forces would swamp the event and harass and intimidate the mourners. However given that this would be a huge event with many thousands in attendance the British decided to draw back and observe from a distance. Word must have leaked though as the night before Stone was able to take his pick from a UDA arms dump in order to carry through on his plan to try and take out the senior Republicans likely to be present at the graveside - namely Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.</p><p>On the day of the funerals Stone made his way incognito into Milltown Cemetery and mingled with the crowd. He claims to have acted alone but some witnesses recall him in the company of other strangers before hand. Eventually he struck by lobbing a number of fragmentation grenades into the mourners before bolting.</p><p>But his attempt to flee was quickly spotted and he was chased by numerous men and youths determined to catch him. He turned and fired and brought down a number of them - some fatally. He eventually made it onto a nearby motorway but had run out of ammunition by that stage. He claims a car was to meet him there but there was none. He was caught, beaten and knocked unconscious. He was almost certainly a dead man but an RUC mobile patrol rescued him and he was carried away. </p><p>Convicted and sentenced he was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement 1998 but again in 2006 tried to attack his targets at Stormont and was returned to jail. He has [2021] recently been released back into the community.</p><p>Three people were killed while pursuing Stone: two Catholic civilians Thomas McErlean (20) and John Murray (26), and an IRA volunteer, Caoimhín Mac Brádaigh (30). During the attack about 60 people were wounded by bullets, grenade shrapnel and fragments of marble and stone from gravestones. Among those wounded was a pregnant mother of four, a 72-year-old grandmother and a ten-year-old boy.</p><p>While the North was used to atrocities this one was filmed live by the World’s media and became Front page news. Anyone who witnessed it either there or on television is ever likely to forget it.</p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-51909648101669079722024-03-16T09:01:00.000-07:002024-03-16T09:01:15.638-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqA2ALPJylI_lDmJMaDkBGSaeXfpp0kreLZGM9ljXdWfoBpM2i7dDXkJ1expIBA_Y2Gf4z5RKafLZ8TsUkMY-sAAsa303WW7w-42sCRf2SokvdaWh3c0vH2sN_dpXHOhDf-a-dVuFlt_ByQbJ4n3xLrwP8QaE5s9oec4bAHlovOzirli2xb6pL5ldu_k0O" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="272" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqA2ALPJylI_lDmJMaDkBGSaeXfpp0kreLZGM9ljXdWfoBpM2i7dDXkJ1expIBA_Y2Gf4z5RKafLZ8TsUkMY-sAAsa303WW7w-42sCRf2SokvdaWh3c0vH2sN_dpXHOhDf-a-dVuFlt_ByQbJ4n3xLrwP8QaE5s9oec4bAHlovOzirli2xb6pL5ldu_k0O" width="204" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVCHH1wuhbtc_ulQ3zZlB9iD3LZRtsD158Eg1g-J4O0yheQbLCrlI54kJaw1MY9qg8iH8QO1bdwudMPgXw9qpxDJVXWrqgSam1VAP-KT6WIzwLCvV6sH1zTpy9O5coWVpC2l7SehctOErguyt4R9prtiLjb-4OtaiLrAAtGGokUX2NBu6FoO4C-qzvU6Hh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="223" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVCHH1wuhbtc_ulQ3zZlB9iD3LZRtsD158Eg1g-J4O0yheQbLCrlI54kJaw1MY9qg8iH8QO1bdwudMPgXw9qpxDJVXWrqgSam1VAP-KT6WIzwLCvV6sH1zTpy9O5coWVpC2l7SehctOErguyt4R9prtiLjb-4OtaiLrAAtGGokUX2NBu6FoO4C-qzvU6Hh" width="173" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>15 March 1852: Lady Gregory was born on this day. Isabella Augusta Persse was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrote numerous short works for both companies. Lady Gregory produced a number of books of retellings of stories taken from Irish Mythology.</p><p>On 4 March 1880 she married Sir William Henry Gregory at St Matthias church in Dublin . As the wife of a knight, she became entitled to be called "Lady Gregory". Their home at Coole Park, County Galway served as an important meeting place for leading Revival figures, and her early work as a member of the board of the Abbey was at least as important for the theatre's development as her creative writings. Sir William, who was 35 years her elder, had just retired from his position as Governor of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), having previously served several terms as Member of Parliament for County Galway.</p><p>He was a well-educated man with many literary and artistic interests, and the house at Coole Park housed a large library and extensive art collection, both of which Lady Gregory was eager to explore. He also had a house in London, where the couple spent a considerable amount of time, holding weekly salons frequented by many leading literary and artistic figures of the day. However Sir William died in 1892 and she never remarried. Their only child, Robert Gregory was born in 1881. He was killed in 1918 in Italy during World War One. His death was memorialised in a series of poems by W. B. Yeats.</p><p>During her time on the board of the Abbey Theatre before and after the War, Coole Park remained her home and she spent her time in Dublin staying in a number of hotels. At the time of the 1911 national census for example, she was staying in a hotel at 16 South Frederick Street. In these, she ate frugally, often on food she brought with her from home. She frequently used her hotel rooms to interview would-be Abbey dramatists and to entertain the company after opening nights of new plays. However in that same year she led a very successful Tour of the Abbey to the USA. She spent many of her days working on her translations in the National Library of Ireland. She gained a reputation as being a somewhat conservative figure and was universally known as ‘the Old Lady’.</p><p>She is best remembered today for her work in reviving the idea of Celtic Literature as expressed in the old tales and sagas and for her collaboration with William Butler Yeats in making the Abbey Theatre in Dublin the focal point of the ‘Celtic Revival’. They were close companions for years and Yeats came to rely on her a lot to get things done.</p><p>She died at home in Coole Park aged 80 from breast cancer and is buried in the New Cemetery in Bohermore, Co Galway. The entire contents of Coole Park were auctioned three months after her death and the house demolished in 1941.</p><p>Her plays fell out of favour after her death and are now rarely performed. Many of the diaries and journals she kept for most of her adult life have been published, providing a rich source of information on Irish literary history during the first three decades of the 20th century. Though her books <i>Gods and Fighting Men; The Story of the Tuatha De Danaan</i> and <i>The Fianna of Ireland </i>are still in print.</p><p>Lady Gregory's motto was taken from Aristotle: </p><p><i>"To think like a wise man, but to express oneself like the common people.''</i></p><div><br /></div>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-55260196454953948002024-03-14T09:58:00.000-07:002024-03-14T09:58:49.303-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmQ6ZPQJoDufXJXRyN4PsSaJyKVRAXEjoBdeuNv76R7__tseH9K85cY491aptGhKLc-joCVqJx16Wzt_pl_REIYD94ZgK64DOMzuuBEIOdk2E2H9Ng4q8I96X-N_BIeVxX5fOcqM0DF6vYaeWxQOMVdd78vLRRYVlvyoRt_DUB7uvPB14eeFUemppTlszU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmQ6ZPQJoDufXJXRyN4PsSaJyKVRAXEjoBdeuNv76R7__tseH9K85cY491aptGhKLc-joCVqJx16Wzt_pl_REIYD94ZgK64DOMzuuBEIOdk2E2H9Ng4q8I96X-N_BIeVxX5fOcqM0DF6vYaeWxQOMVdd78vLRRYVlvyoRt_DUB7uvPB14eeFUemppTlszU" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_fr1HwOkyVB5oC1we2_n_c26H0i3e78IZ-2boE7Rxyl_71JRC3I0AE37Wev1oZr2bSuVnuVYmEuKHCt2xfhkAzzbCRH-RnXlwDKoMT50KLdCnnF6CsR6RVVMMuGVBiTJ3ydlfOEK6j7_VyszAjLNHkdjPJjzXPgpgp57Cw1rW6A2X7SD4tWYn8LIMbwqp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_fr1HwOkyVB5oC1we2_n_c26H0i3e78IZ-2boE7Rxyl_71JRC3I0AE37Wev1oZr2bSuVnuVYmEuKHCt2xfhkAzzbCRH-RnXlwDKoMT50KLdCnnF6CsR6RVVMMuGVBiTJ3ydlfOEK6j7_VyszAjLNHkdjPJjzXPgpgp57Cw1rW6A2X7SD4tWYn8LIMbwqp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>14 March 1921: Six members of the IRA were executed in Dublin on this day. The men were hanged in Mountjoy Jail. </p><p>Paddy Moran and Thomas Whelan were hanged for actions they were said to have been involved in on Bloody Sunday in November 1920.Paddy Moran had previously fought in Jacobs Garrison in Easter Week 1916, under Thomas Mac Donagh. He had also been imprisoned in England. He was rounded up after Bloody Sunday in November 1920 and charged with involvement in shooting a British Officer dead. He strongly denied this but was sentenced to death by a British Court Martial.</p><p>Thomas Whelan was arrested in November 1920 and brought to Kilmainham Jail. He was then transferred to Mountjoy to await sentence. He was charged with the shooting of another British Officer on Bloody Sunday. He too strongly denied the charge. His mother went to Dublin during the trial which lasted several days, and was present outside Mountjoy on the morning of the execution. He sang ‘The Shawl of Galway Grey’ for her the night before he went to the gallows.</p><p>The four other men were hung for taking part in an ambush in the Dublin suburb of Drumcondra. Their names were Patrick Doyle, Bernard Ryan, Frank Flood and Thomas Bryan. As no British soldiers were killed in the ambush it was decided to charge the men with ‘with high treason and levying war against the King’ which obviously was no act of treason in their eyes. </p><p>Patrick Doyle was a carpenter, married with four children and an active member of the Dublin Brigade. His brother Seán was fatally wounded at the Custom House 6 weeks later. One of Doyle’s infant twins died 2 days before his own execution.</p><p>Bernard Ryan was an apprentice tailor, and the only son of an elderly widow, with whom he lived with in Phibsborough. He was born and bred in Dublin, went to St. Gabriel’s N.S. in Cowper Street. He became a clerk in a city firm, and was the breadwinner for his family. Described as quiet and practical, he was renowned for his love of the Irish language.</p><p>Frank Flood was a very close friend of Kevin Barry’s, and was a student in UCD, which he attended under a scholarship. Prior to that he had been a student in O’Connell’s School, Dublin. He asked to be buried as close as possible to Kevin. He was a lieutenant in H Coy, First Battalion. He was the leader of the ambush. His brother Alfred J. Flood became a Deputy Commissioner in An Garda Síochána.</p><p>Thomas Bryan was an electrician and married just four months before his arrest. In 1917, he took part in the hunger strike in Mountjoy in which Thomas Ashe died. After that he spent time in Dundalk Prison. He was active in the War for Independence before he was captured.</p><p>A fifth prisoner charged, Dermot O’Sullivan, had his sentence commuted to Life Imprisonment, as he was just 17 years old. </p><p><i>March 14 was a day of public mourning in Dublin; all business was suspended until 11 am. Before dawn crowds began to assemble outside Mountjoy Jail; sacred pictures and candles were set up in the streets and around these about twenty thousand people stood, praying and singing hymns. When the bells tolled at six o’clock for two executions, again at seven o’clock and again at eight, the people fell on their knees to pray for the dying; their emotions of grief and anger were overpowering. An impression remained which nothing could efface. </i></p><p><b>The Irish Republic</b></p><p>By Dorothy Macardle</p><div><br /></div>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-26708854376612341442024-03-13T11:18:00.000-07:002024-03-13T11:18:09.633-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPsCgfVC-SR9RKeZ_8i6sh1dTKFRleXCc94u4jU9tLXEcNitCODwpRqkY7z5t1SPX7PxbERKswsj76QZtjDaE0s1LRUN7FEHLuIX14r8i5M6JD8CzLDVfBUTCx7kHiJkpckeAZsvCjU3AJBy2AIEfmefRdz7NidLJv-19AvuNF7sKD4p_Wv_9FerNo15CP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="208" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPsCgfVC-SR9RKeZ_8i6sh1dTKFRleXCc94u4jU9tLXEcNitCODwpRqkY7z5t1SPX7PxbERKswsj76QZtjDaE0s1LRUN7FEHLuIX14r8i5M6JD8CzLDVfBUTCx7kHiJkpckeAZsvCjU3AJBy2AIEfmefRdz7NidLJv-19AvuNF7sKD4p_Wv_9FerNo15CP" width="205" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDHR-L2M-b_HhZf068pxJexyRXCv8dy7pJ_xgXyWPzxEh3eSyrhyEDgMktxAVi_KFIpqEQ6KMvYPsSeZxePgDhXzEpsz1p2GbkIwIh6gZ7TlD3bVcZ74fPDJIjy2no_dZXktVINoIS13nC2lN5c0NWNoaU5X8vnqZIBLhq0UoffaKhhF1kxj6-1YnZ38xr" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="267" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDHR-L2M-b_HhZf068pxJexyRXCv8dy7pJ_xgXyWPzxEh3eSyrhyEDgMktxAVi_KFIpqEQ6KMvYPsSeZxePgDhXzEpsz1p2GbkIwIh6gZ7TlD3bVcZ74fPDJIjy2no_dZXktVINoIS13nC2lN5c0NWNoaU5X8vnqZIBLhq0UoffaKhhF1kxj6-1YnZ38xr" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>13 March 1846: The Ballinglass Evictions took place on this day. The local landlords, Mr. and Mrs. Gerrard, had the population of this village in Co Galway evicted in order to turn over the land to grazing. Hundreds of men, many with their rent money still in their hands, along with their women and children were left on the side of the road.</p><p><i>‘The village of Ballinglass consisted of 61, solidly built and well-kept houses, with thick plastered walls. None of the inhabitants were in arrears with their rent, and had by industry reclaimed about four hundred acres from a neighbouring bog. On the morning of the eviction a large detachment of the 49th infantry commanded by Captain Brown and numerous police appeared with the sheriff and his men…. the people were officially called on to give up possession, and the houses were then demolished - roofs torn off, walls thrown down. The scene was frightful; women running, wailing with pieces of their property, clinging to door-posts from which they had been forcibly removed; men cursing, children screaming with fright…</i></p><p><i>That night the people slept in the ruins; next day they were driven out, the foundations of the houses were torn up and razed, and no neighbour was allowed to take them in.’</i></p><p><b>The Great Hunger</b> By Cecil Woodham Smith</p><p>This outrageous action was widely reported and condemned. However not all were of the opinion that the landlords had overstepped the mark. Lord Brougham, speaking in the House of Lords on 23 March was of the opinion that: </p><p><i>The tenants must be taught by the strong arm of the law that they had no power to oppose or resist…it was the landlord’s undoubted, indefeasible and most sacred right to deal with his property as he wished.</i></p><p>However his fellow Lord, and one of the great landowners of Ireland, The Marquess of Londonderry, speaking in the House of Lords on 30 March that year stated that:</p><p><i>I am deeply grieved, but there is no doubt concerning the truth of the evictions at Baltinglass. Seventy six families, comprising 300 individuals had not only been turned out of their houses, but had even – the unfortunate wretches – been mercilessly driven from the ditches to which they had betaken themselves for shelter.</i></p><p>Nevertheless despite widespread condemnation the evictions were never rescinded.</p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-38632532892980917452024-03-12T10:13:00.000-07:002024-03-12T10:13:19.478-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQBhDyuXifVBd7rTAx5UiagzuGtyc6TywooSgE9qVxt4vqiLD3ekXM0yT0flTPrxMkUs2og0hH4Ky-a7JEk7YsqcXkoOPLCXlBvJKpUlP8z2jCoGlzJNQarGaHkjmVi5YRovZeaNgJdkkZiKI3jQgZFWEnApCETKrRpRlNLNAwOOsFfh9SABRKUXMciT2V" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQBhDyuXifVBd7rTAx5UiagzuGtyc6TywooSgE9qVxt4vqiLD3ekXM0yT0flTPrxMkUs2og0hH4Ky-a7JEk7YsqcXkoOPLCXlBvJKpUlP8z2jCoGlzJNQarGaHkjmVi5YRovZeaNgJdkkZiKI3jQgZFWEnApCETKrRpRlNLNAwOOsFfh9SABRKUXMciT2V" width="191" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKMYY3fpAeoP4RI9mNQj4dYr_tHofpzOxVOGPGhb6cl-Lp32zAN-EBuE0KPNClk5lWe80KYQv31ONIKiMEBRHeO1Ya0x1JBqM22RmOGoH3gLNtOxkYiy5jR9H-arTM7CXEwbKwFXKoHEsoYlZ2tNOfd7hEmKR3TUxl_B_yGD-q8cJPog4uh8FgUbg3UVEm" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKMYY3fpAeoP4RI9mNQj4dYr_tHofpzOxVOGPGhb6cl-Lp32zAN-EBuE0KPNClk5lWe80KYQv31ONIKiMEBRHeO1Ya0x1JBqM22RmOGoH3gLNtOxkYiy5jR9H-arTM7CXEwbKwFXKoHEsoYlZ2tNOfd7hEmKR3TUxl_B_yGD-q8cJPog4uh8FgUbg3UVEm" width="302" /></a></div><p></p><p>12 March 1689: King James II landed at Kinsale, Co Cork on this day. He brought with him some 6,000 French soldiers, attended by a French fleet of over forty warships and transports. On board were 13,000 seaman manning over 2,200 naval guns. King Louis XIV provided him with a purse of 500,000 crowns. His presence here was somewhat forced upon him as he was reluctant to start a Civil War but he was prevailed upon by his mentor, the King of France, to lead an Expedition to Ireland to attempt to regain the Crowns of England, Ireland and Scotland.</p><p>King James was an experienced Admiral & soldier (he had fought with Turenne) and his valour was not in doubt. But the King had not fought in a land campaign since the Battle of the Dunes in 1658 – ironically enough against an Anglo-French Army. He had campaigned with distinction against the Dutch at sea but his last taste of a naval battle had been in 1672 after which King Charles (his older brother) forbade him to engage in action again.</p><p>During the years of the Restoration James Duke of York became increasingly drawn to the Catholic Religion and secretly converted. However such a momentous decision could not remain unknown forever and eventually his conversion became known at Court and within Parliament. The Test Act of 1673 meant he had to relinquish the position of Lord High Admiral and leave England for a while. He bided his time however and when his elder sibling suddenly died in 1685 he was crowned King James II in his place. The new King was accepted but not loved by the English Protestants. His rigid interpretation of Royal prerogatives and his promotion of Catholic favourites to positions of power and influence welled up into open discontent within the Protestant Oligarchy.</p><p>However the tipping point came in the Summer of 1688 when a male heir (the future ‘Old Pretender’ James III) was born. With a Catholic succession now guaranteed the Protestant nobles appealed to William of Orange for help. He landed with a Dutch Army at Torbay in November and some weeks later James was forced to flee to France to seek the protection his most Christian Majesty Louis XIV. Within weeks a force was assembled to be dispatched to Ireland in order to deflect William IIIs attention away from the Low Countries and to give the exiled King James at least a fighting chance of success.</p><p>And so it happened that the king landed at Kinsale on the twelfth of March, 1688, old style, that is 1689, new style; with whom came count D'Avaux, ambassador from Louis XIV., the most Christian king, general de Rosen, lieutenant-general Pusignan, lieutenant-general Momont, monsieur Boisselau; James Fitzjames, the duke of Berwick; William Herbert, the duke of Powis; Thomas Cartwright, the Protestant bishop of Chester, in England; the earl of Melfort, Henry FitzJames, lord grand prior, and several others, French, English, Irish, and Scots, lords, knights, gentlemen, officers, and chaplains. The king arrived that night at the city of Cork; from thence he took his journey straight to Dublin, the capital of the kingdom.</p><p>A light to the blind</p><p>When he landed at Kinsale that day King James’ chances of success looked reasonable. He had a well-trained and well-armed force with him and the promise of substantial aid from the Catholics of Ireland in his endeavour. If he could drive the Protestant armies out of Ireland then he could look forward to at least regaining one of the Kingdoms of his Realm that he considered his own by right of Succession. Alas for this Stuart Monarch the fates were against him and his cause. The following year after his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne he fled Ireland never to return and died an exile in France on 16 September 1701.</p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-14449615107123107562024-03-11T15:51:00.000-07:002024-03-11T15:51:05.052-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgM72DGnKFvMN8wu3kLBuJPAnmeWGBFhuGKPt9mKbjK1-ARX7P81GZvhV-zXMAk9xHa8lDkwauBUFVQ4iCtxxoxoWOC6XiaovDlhM7hxT7h96wBlEvGLUxjE6w0uRCQO675vr9NBDeUlDxGxZbcbWS07XTXHvmugn-eYaI42P7AUeF6k1F_ZilYyasXc8xN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgM72DGnKFvMN8wu3kLBuJPAnmeWGBFhuGKPt9mKbjK1-ARX7P81GZvhV-zXMAk9xHa8lDkwauBUFVQ4iCtxxoxoWOC6XiaovDlhM7hxT7h96wBlEvGLUxjE6w0uRCQO675vr9NBDeUlDxGxZbcbWS07XTXHvmugn-eYaI42P7AUeF6k1F_ZilYyasXc8xN" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlLI7MimZHy1y6fB85m_DjD-MuLhdg6_ihv31YYSF3FMSQqt5dD-CAhhgYpY3czpcSPCkuIqErtalRQ0BnIl4nTDGO5KsJYGth5A2JnBZOHU9nqNWuElYJKMSWiwPXDILbN8LiboEb3eFNzEvwDIpJUpSYu6i8B4gfyWJ05hX0E5iWWK6Wg3oRArUhKL9D" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlLI7MimZHy1y6fB85m_DjD-MuLhdg6_ihv31YYSF3FMSQqt5dD-CAhhgYpY3czpcSPCkuIqErtalRQ0BnIl4nTDGO5KsJYGth5A2JnBZOHU9nqNWuElYJKMSWiwPXDILbN8LiboEb3eFNzEvwDIpJUpSYu6i8B4gfyWJ05hX0E5iWWK6Wg3oRArUhKL9D" width="283" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>11 March 1597:A Huge explosion rocked the quays of Dublin on this day. On a dry and breezy Friday afternoon over 400 years ago the city of Dublin was rocked by the greatest and most deadly explosion ever recorded in its history. At least 126 people were killed and many hundreds more injured by this devastating eruption on the Quays.</p><p>The source of the explosion was the many barrels of gunpowder that had been unloaded at the Wood Quay on the south side of the River Liffey. Stored in the open they were awaiting transportation to Dublin Castle where they were to be distributed to the English Army in Ireland. A dangerous situation had arisen due to a labour dispute with the carters and porters whose job it was to move them off the docks. Basically they instituted as 'go slow' that week and with such an accumulation of barrels of powder the potential for a devastating outcome was greatly increased.</p><p>The barrels had to be landed by a lighter making its way up the Liffey as the shallow draught of the river back then made it difficult for merchant ships to sail up it. The lighter moored itself adjacent to the City Crane mounted on the Crane House. This was situated more or less where Winetavern St meets the Liffey Quays at Wood Quay.</p><p>On that fateful day the craneman was one Stephan Sedgarve. Just as the clock over the Bridge Gate struck the hour of one in the afternoon and as Sedgarve was manoeuvring the very last four barrels on to the Quay the whole thing went up and blew asunder the hapless craneman, the Crane House and some 20 other dwellings in the vicinity of the eruption. At least 126 people were killed and many hundreds more injured - a casualty list that would have been higher except for the hour of day when many of the Port's officials had departed for lunch and by the fact that most of the carters and porters were some distance off as they were reluctant to move the cargo until their dispute was resolved.</p><p>An Official Enquiry under the Lord Mayor Michael Chamberlain was set up to establish what exactly had caused the explosion but no satisfactory explanation was ever reached. There were reports of children rolling a barrel of gunpowder either in play or in theft or that a horse's hoof had let a spark amongst the deadly cargo. But within the immediate area a gaping crater in the ground and all that stood near dead or missing nothing could be said for sure:</p><p><i>Richard Toben, mr porter of Dublin, of the age of 55 yeares or thereabouts likewise sworne and duly examined deposeth, that he this depont being at the Crane, the daie and yeare aforesaid helping to put out the powder, and leaving eche barrell at the Crane dore readie to be carried awaie by suche as the Q. officers had apointed, the children of the streete and other persons there standing idle and not hired, fell a rowling of the powder; but who the children or persons were that so rowld them this depont. did not well note or knowe them.</i></p><p><i>He further deposeth that Thadie Carroll servant to John Allen, clarke of the Storehouse, was there put taking the note of the barrells, and Patrick Carroll the said Thadies brother was loading the same upon carrs, the owner of one of the carrs his name is Derbie Ferrall, and the owner of the other he knowetil not.</i></p><p><b>OFFICIAL ENQUIRY</b></p><p><i>One hundred and forty-four barrels of powder were sent by the Queen to Dublin, to her people, in the month of March. When the powder was landed, it was drawn to Wine-street, and placed on both sides of the street, and a spark of fire got into the powder; but from whence that spark proceeded, whether from the heavens or from the earth beneath, is not known; howbeit, the barrels burst into one blazing flame and rapid conflagration which raised into the air, from their solid foundations and supporting posts, the stone mansions and wooden houses of the street, so that the long beam, the enormous stone, and the man in his corporal shape, were sent whirling into the air over the town by the explosion of this powerful powder; and it is impossible to enumerate, reckon, or describe the number of honourable persons, of tradesmen of every class, of women and maidens, and of the sons of gentlemen, who had come from all parts of Ireland to be educated in the city, that were destroyed. The quantity of gold, silver, or worldly property, that was destroyed, was no cause of lamentation, compared to the number of people who were injured and killed by that explosion. It was not Wine-street alone that was destroyed on this occasion, but the next quarter of the town to it.</i></p><p><b>Annals of the Four Masters</b></p><p>CELT: The online resource for Irish history, literature and politics</p><p><b>Dublin's Great Explosion 1597</b></p><p>Colm Lennon</p><p><i>History Ireland</i></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-69162369708412941412024-03-10T13:20:00.000-07:002024-03-10T13:20:10.196-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3D5KTrg667xQxUkvVRKL2WemFAmih2ASztpM_WKs2c_z_ND1CSLtFZ4nZtd-pUlM7Mbs3pv-utNkO3o5LBLz4oimRIm_Wd-qnDoohWQQti5WYrUQoYHtOvPR-Q43u2NPMfhieDzJcMS4ZT_7m6PUb7LGcHHIdRl8wLhe_l1xHDAi-BEW2cPWR7-7X4IhC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="192" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3D5KTrg667xQxUkvVRKL2WemFAmih2ASztpM_WKs2c_z_ND1CSLtFZ4nZtd-pUlM7Mbs3pv-utNkO3o5LBLz4oimRIm_Wd-qnDoohWQQti5WYrUQoYHtOvPR-Q43u2NPMfhieDzJcMS4ZT_7m6PUb7LGcHHIdRl8wLhe_l1xHDAi-BEW2cPWR7-7X4IhC" width="176" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxk4SYbW0zDm2i4rxfEajeQc39G5sW55tAlncHa9VDRLJqvpj2Xx_5uHYPzedRFRjQmsN6_LMu-16DF2d84_ydnGYEhxHsLJHy4eWsixhElgTJFrZsac3xtQZyE8Prh6rIEBoZiyeHQOh_2VEKPcNyekGEr6fOQ2n4gctGvIWC721MDG_Bk70yCAp7V9Th" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxk4SYbW0zDm2i4rxfEajeQc39G5sW55tAlncHa9VDRLJqvpj2Xx_5uHYPzedRFRjQmsN6_LMu-16DF2d84_ydnGYEhxHsLJHy4eWsixhElgTJFrZsac3xtQZyE8Prh6rIEBoZiyeHQOh_2VEKPcNyekGEr6fOQ2n4gctGvIWC721MDG_Bk70yCAp7V9Th" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>10 March 1653: Sir Phelim O'Neill was hanged, drawn and quartered at Dublin on this day. Sir Phelim was a wanted man from the day back in October 1641 when he led the Irish of Ulster out in revolt against the English Parliament. He was a most unlikely ‘Rebel’ for his family had sided with the English during the Nine Years War (1594-1603) and again during O’Doherty’s Rebellion in 1608 in which his own father was killed in the service of King James I. </p><p>O’Neill in turn had openly adapted to the new dispensation, studied Law in London and on return had settled down to the life of a powerful if spendthrift landlord in Tyrone. But by the early 1640’s the situation both in Britain and Ireland was rapidly spinning out of control as King Charles personal rule fell apart and the Puritans rose in power. O’Neill amongst others recognised that these people sought to further colonise Ireland and suppress the Catholic Religion.</p><p>On the night of 22 October 1641 he opened the Revolt by seizing Charlemont Fort in Tyrone. Two days later, O'Neill issued a proclamation declaring that he and his associates had taken up arms only for the defence and liberty of themselves and the native Irish; the insurgency was not intended to harm either King Charles or any of his subjects in Ireland. In a brilliant move he had forged a commission early in November 1641, purporting to bear the King’s Seal and which authorised the Irish to rise in defence of their liberties against the Westminster Parliament.</p><p>Sir Phelim had mixed success in the years that followed, never quite getting the better of his enemies, and never quite securing command of the Irish of Ulster. His initial success was marred by an outbreak of vicious massacres and ‘ethnic cleansings’ of Protestant settlers that was greatly exaggerated but widely believed in Scotland and England. While O’Neill stood aloof he was blamed nonetheless by the Puritans and they were determined to execute him if he was ever taken alive. </p><p>He commanded a Regiment at the great Irish Victory of Benburb in 1646 but had to flee the field at Scariffhollis in 1650. He tried to defend Charlemont Fort against the English Parliamentary army in August 1650 but was forced to flee and go into hiding as the Cromwellians tightened their grip on Ireland. They put a price of £300 on his head and in February 1653 his hiding place on an island in Lough Roughan in County Tyrone was betrayed and he was captured. Brought to Dublin he was imprisoned to await Trial but he must have known he was doomed to the gallows.</p><p>He was tried by the Cromwellian ‘High Court’ sitting in Dublin which was specifically charged with executing as many of the ringleaders of the 1641 Rising as they could. The trial was held at the Court of Chancery in Dublin. Here the Judges sat, and were directed what questions they should allow by a Committee, who placed themselves in an adjoining room, called the Chancery Chamber. A communication was kept up between this Committee and the Judges by means of a messenger, who went constantly between them, relating to the Committee all proceedings that passed in the Court, and bringing their instructions to the Judges on every occasion, speaking to them through a square hole in the wall. His examiners were most anxious to know whether his Great Seal from the King was genuine or a forgery. O’Neill would not pleasure them with an answer even though they insinuated that his life could be spared if he answered in the affirmative. After a trial of just five days Sir Phelim O'Neill was found guilty and sentenced to be hung drawn and quartered. The execution was duly carried out and his head was fixed on the bridge at Dublin, and his quarters were scattered throughout different parts of Ireland. </p><p>While not a commanding figure, fate had placed Sir Phelim in a pivotal position in the Autumn of 1641 where his actions triggered a series of events that were to have profound effects across ‘the Three Kingdoms’ of these islands that still resonate down to the present day.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-21563409263909618392024-03-09T06:43:00.000-08:002024-03-09T06:43:22.305-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsKHdLuqCQdJqcySXEvRJcTF4P8PhYcA5yqdyZ6r1vAtvJ3YVBCXjeXImcyUa7VDG0hvLEUwDqb-XUXxJowzXnLNI9yWgUfYiODeUxkTV5wGujvVIvN_3yoQktl-Tzwyq6sOIgKR9gu9kkj89kNZvwfXqCLhH3ZZl0iuaaAtgu8yH3UqO-h6cL89a6Bz1J" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="320" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsKHdLuqCQdJqcySXEvRJcTF4P8PhYcA5yqdyZ6r1vAtvJ3YVBCXjeXImcyUa7VDG0hvLEUwDqb-XUXxJowzXnLNI9yWgUfYiODeUxkTV5wGujvVIvN_3yoQktl-Tzwyq6sOIgKR9gu9kkj89kNZvwfXqCLhH3ZZl0iuaaAtgu8yH3UqO-h6cL89a6Bz1J" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSRfp6b8LWBpQr_EIMln2VGD8KfmMK60eT9w8jQpy15TPO2lmERcPkXFi_BdLzE6p6lZhSfrY_kzfM8KW97ZKHANczEtcP2q9GGfKZ-4g65qEuHtjQ-DyQVud6loEoxkk-lbSDHdMhqAZ99EPR2eIShJPoBluAwROwcrjEzN59PshQQgDV1iV-vZuh0Lzw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="143" data-original-width="320" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSRfp6b8LWBpQr_EIMln2VGD8KfmMK60eT9w8jQpy15TPO2lmERcPkXFi_BdLzE6p6lZhSfrY_kzfM8KW97ZKHANczEtcP2q9GGfKZ-4g65qEuHtjQ-DyQVud6loEoxkk-lbSDHdMhqAZ99EPR2eIShJPoBluAwROwcrjEzN59PshQQgDV1iV-vZuh0Lzw" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>9 March 1932: Eamon de Valera was elected President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State in Leinster House on this day. It is believed that that he and his fellow deputies in Fianna Fáil entered the House with revolvers in their pockets, such was their distrust of their ex Civil War opponents in Cosgrave’s defeated Government. They had deep suspicions that a coup d’etat would be attempted by disaffected elements in the Free State Army who would not allow a changeover to take place. But in the event everything went smoothly and parliamentary forms were observed to the letter by all sides.</p><p>Of the TDs assembled that day 81 deputies voted in favour of his election and 68 against the motion. De Valera was five seats short of an overall majority but William Norton, leader of the Labour Party committed his seven parliamentary colleagues in ensuring that Dev was elected the President.</p><p>After thanking the House de Valera proposed his Cabinet as follows: </p><p>The President himself, in charge of the Department of External Affairs</p><p>Deputy Seán T. O'Kelly, Vice-President, in charge of the Department of Local Government and Public Health</p><p>Deputy Patrick J. Ruttledge, in charge of the Department of Lands and Fisheries</p><p>Deputy Seán F. Lemass, in charge of the Department of Industry and Commerce</p><p>Deputy Seán MacEntee, in charge of the Department of Finance</p><p>Deputy James Ryan, in charge of the Department of Agriculture</p><p>Deputy Frank Aiken, in charge of the Department of Defence</p><p>Deputy Thomas Derrig, in charge of the Department of Education</p><p>Deputy James Geoghegan, in charge of the Department of Justice</p><p>Senator Joseph Connolly, in charge of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs</p><p>To avoid political embarrassment the Governor General James McNeill came in person to Leinster House to officially announce the result. This was to avoid Dev himself having to make the trip out to the Vice Regal Lodge in the Phoenix Park – which was still seen as a symbol of the old Imperial Regime by his supporters.</p><p>Eamon de Valera was to remain in power for the next 16 years until he was defeated in the 1948 General Election. It was and is the longest run of executive political Power by any one individual in the history of the State. </p><p><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-80485180825352282472024-03-08T10:25:00.000-08:002024-03-08T10:25:43.549-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1KnY5_mAHGbJc9AgRWfcIk6owTwjABfHPQrks5Z0GbgIovUMAD_lvGZuH6C8SxFSatQTenJ7d3g1U1pxonH2DGY5UQaa2BFwk7uc7wDCxRBTUZ3nkMkOl3ZbUGC3mkvYdUCAJkejs74wrc_-CyxM0UoWflsSUv6-Fw3OyfrecVR_34q7o3umNbbuywKrP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="188" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1KnY5_mAHGbJc9AgRWfcIk6owTwjABfHPQrks5Z0GbgIovUMAD_lvGZuH6C8SxFSatQTenJ7d3g1U1pxonH2DGY5UQaa2BFwk7uc7wDCxRBTUZ3nkMkOl3ZbUGC3mkvYdUCAJkejs74wrc_-CyxM0UoWflsSUv6-Fw3OyfrecVR_34q7o3umNbbuywKrP" width="169" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLxDbIWiN7eO4yuSrqe74v9vWt0HWvc7v7YhaYo97-KyVkTEW3Sv1s-7uQnyFHxEZyXilcLqOTLe8OTDmhOtCK2C67zeuuQMP9Uwi0MsV-pX2dbILsVdfuiIlYIqT-M1K5nJV2Uz84UjQ9Ti41fA3q3r2KdUvKqwMcLdq2KG81hSUQ56daP2DtbEvC2Qit" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLxDbIWiN7eO4yuSrqe74v9vWt0HWvc7v7YhaYo97-KyVkTEW3Sv1s-7uQnyFHxEZyXilcLqOTLe8OTDmhOtCK2C67zeuuQMP9Uwi0MsV-pX2dbILsVdfuiIlYIqT-M1K5nJV2Uz84UjQ9Ti41fA3q3r2KdUvKqwMcLdq2KG81hSUQ56daP2DtbEvC2Qit" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>8 March 1966: Dissident Irish Republicans blew up Nelson’s Pillar in Dublin on this day. The 121 foot high column to England’s greatest Naval Hero, Admiral Lord Nelson, was erected in 1808 to commemorate his victories at sea and his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The subscription was raised from amongst the Loyal citizens of Dublin to fund the design and construction of the column and also the 13 foot high statue of Nelson that was placed on top of this imposing edifice. </p><p>A number of attempts over the years, some legal and others not so legal, were initiated to have it removed. Some were based on aesthetic and others on commercial grounds - that it was a block on traffic etc. But after 1922 a more political angle emerged as it was seen as an embarrassment that such an open symbol of British Imperial history dominated the main thoroughfare of Ireland’s Capital city. Notwithstanding this the open platform perched high above O’Connell Street remained a popular visit for both tourists and natives alike. It was also a well-known meeting place and landmark and the phrase <i>‘I’ll meet you at the Pillar’</i> was one that fell from many a Dubliners lips for generations. Quite a few of the city's Trams and later the Buses had the simple words <i>‘The Pillar’</i> on their frontage as the name of their destination with no further explanation necessary to the passengers.</p><p>However with the approach of the Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1966 a small group of non-aligned republicans decided to remove the object by way of explosion. A plan, ‘Operation Humpty Dumpty’ was initiated to place within the pillar a device of such force that the structure would collapse. It was decided to plant a timebomb on the stairs set to go off in the early hours of a weekday so as to avoid civilian casualties. No warning was to be issued and the perpetrators took a huge risk in this endeavour but Dublin was a far less busy city back then than it is now and this played in their favour.</p><p>At around 2 AM on the morning of 8th March a huge explosion rocked the City and awakened the more alert of the citizens situated near the city centre. The bomb destroyed the upper half of the pillar, throwing the statue of Nelson onto the street and causing large chunks of masonry to litter the surrounding area. By sheer good Fortune no one was killed or injured. </p><p>So long had the Admiral cast his eye over the City that at first many people did not believe the news on being told. But disbelief soon turned into undisguised amusement that this political eyesore was gone at last and in such bizarre circumstances. More mirth was had some days later when the Irish Army was ordered to remove the remains of the column by detonation. While this was accomplished the resultant official bombing destroyed many of the shop front windows in O’Connell St – none of which were subject to damage in the initial explosion!</p><p>Within days the event was commemorated in a ballad called <i>‘Up went Nelson in O’Connell Street</i>’ by a group from Belfast called ‘The Go Lucky Four’ that reached Number 1 in the Irish Charts and stayed there for eight weeks. While Lord Nelson’s head from the statue survived damaged but intact it suffered further indignities as it was stolen from storage in a 'Student Prank' and used to raise funds. It appeared in a TV add and on stage with the ballad group The Dubliners. After many years on view in the Civic Museum it is now on display in the Dublin City Library (Gilbert Library) [above] in Pearse Street.</p><p>In September 2000 Liam Sutcliffe, a resident of Dublin [deceased 2017] claimed during a radio interview that he was one of the people responsible for the attack on the monument. On being questioned by the Gardaí he refused to substantiate his claim and the matter was let drop. No one was ever charged or convicted for this attack in what was probably the most popular bombing ever to occur in Ireland.</p><p><br style="background-color: #333333; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-41607760198870334302024-03-06T07:06:00.000-08:002024-03-06T07:06:11.006-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLNlJy935yuXsMl0O5kEgT5ruqOGTf7sIb_yCQMvIBFoei5k2p90VJ6hQbVmbBTczg5INEnrdfRzzSMfosg22cF_SJHq9PLq3aoocbxqPbS28x3wv61vNQi1OOHQuN9XBU2YM94HgtyMZaC_ghSBSkNdRU8H7frDfTtsbil54qTxL_GUawaPfe9zDqu1Pw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="196" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLNlJy935yuXsMl0O5kEgT5ruqOGTf7sIb_yCQMvIBFoei5k2p90VJ6hQbVmbBTczg5INEnrdfRzzSMfosg22cF_SJHq9PLq3aoocbxqPbS28x3wv61vNQi1OOHQuN9XBU2YM94HgtyMZaC_ghSBSkNdRU8H7frDfTtsbil54qTxL_GUawaPfe9zDqu1Pw" width="314" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1VxVch9zdlN1WUyirgXy2SaGLLSqZ0LfiY75W5ETWmV4Ge9q2zNb9ON8oXNjiuvpFlql5usff3kkNOiIp-_S3x2g8jPWHmaDIF1iOtDnhvIfbKPnDJ-HwqlLa0zNGc0bzC7ppu9Ch1PtHC4u7dMsCa-RgRA5W7bzXcJM9fGql2YwYJT5iCD7ssLphJljp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="251" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1VxVch9zdlN1WUyirgXy2SaGLLSqZ0LfiY75W5ETWmV4Ge9q2zNb9ON8oXNjiuvpFlql5usff3kkNOiIp-_S3x2g8jPWHmaDIF1iOtDnhvIfbKPnDJ-HwqlLa0zNGc0bzC7ppu9Ch1PtHC4u7dMsCa-RgRA5W7bzXcJM9fGql2YwYJT5iCD7ssLphJljp" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p>6 March 1152: The Synod of Kells/<i>Ceannas Mór</i> was concluded on this day. This great gathering of the churchmen of Ireland was presided over by the Papal Legate Cardinal Paparoni, sent by Pope Eugene III to conduct the proceedings. On his first attempt to get to Ireland, in 1150, Paparoni was refused a safe conduct through England by King Stephen unless he pledged himself to do nothing in Ireland that would injure England’s interests there. The cardinal refused and returned indignantly to Rome. It would seem that this was an attempt by Stephen to prevent Paparoni from bringing papal confirmation for an arrangement in Ireland that would see Canterbury’s [the seat of the Church in England] claims in Ireland finally extinguished. The Irish though sent a fresh delegation to Rome and Paparoni was induced to return but this time via Scotland under the protection of King David.</p><p>He was accompanied by Gilla Crist Ua Connairche, first abbot of Mellifont, now bishop of Lismore and permanent papal legate in Ireland (he had been a fellow monk with the current pope, Eugenius III, at Clairvaux), who may have been one of the delegation who had been sent to Rome. The cardinal arrived in Ireland at some time in October of 1151. Apart from a week he spent in Armagh, very little is known about his activities before the convening of the synod in the following March; approximately four months of his time is, therefore, unaccounted for. It is probable that he visited church leaders and lay magnates in preparation for the synod; perhaps he needed to check that the general agreement claimed for the new diocesan arrangement existed.</p><p>The purpose of the Synod was to continue the Reform of the Irish Church begun at the Synod of Rathbrassill that was held in 1111 AD. These changes followed closely the reforms that were underway on the Continent. In Ireland the most visible aspect was the reorganisation of the Church along clearly set out strict Diocesan lines with a Bishop or Archbishop having a defined territory of jurisdiction. This synod approved the consecration of four archbishops, where before there had been two. Ireland was divided into thirty-six sees, and four metropolitan sees: Armagh, Cashel, Tuam, and Dublin. Armagh was granted Primacy. The diocese of Dublin, ruled by the Ostmen (Danes), seceded from Canterbury and was united with Glendalough.</p><p>Turlough O'Connor<i>/Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair</i>, the High King of Ireland, approved the decrees, and the <i>pallia</i> (cloaks of office) were conferred by the Papal Legate Cardinal Giovanni Paparoni. This territorial structure of ecclesiastical governance has continued down to the present day and in its basic form is the template still used by both the Catholic and Anglican Churches in Ireland.</p><p>There has been some confusion as to the actual location of this synod. The <i>Annals of the Four Masters</i> say Drogheda, but the 17th Century Historian Geoffrey Keating, quoting an old book that is no longer extant, gave Kells as the location. It is probable that there were two separate sessions of this synod. The first was held at Kells and concluded by March 6; it then reconvened at Mellifont, near Drogheda, around Sunday, March 9, and concluded on Palm Sunday (March 23). It is not known how the business of the synod was divided between the two sessions, but it is likely that episcopal consecrations took place later at Mellifont and that the four pallia were then distributed to the archbishops at the last sitting on Palm Sunday.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-8231963063330620152024-03-06T06:58:00.000-08:002024-03-06T06:58:29.657-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWNRaH27G4Sf50PbkO6l0ctPNxU-Mg5TKJKfkeo9H49mHOwXthsjcmib0wkd0XH-FBwLpjytoJ4eWRJupDAnqWvu0q0hPyZ5dl34ZAXb4ANVPBELRPbiSSqxsj4_HUcLR850CoDxHz87m7SVP6m4O7Rjnfx4IukL-QfPHHe2r8oypsdGYz_fLe7GT5sSW-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="137" data-original-width="320" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWNRaH27G4Sf50PbkO6l0ctPNxU-Mg5TKJKfkeo9H49mHOwXthsjcmib0wkd0XH-FBwLpjytoJ4eWRJupDAnqWvu0q0hPyZ5dl34ZAXb4ANVPBELRPbiSSqxsj4_HUcLR850CoDxHz87m7SVP6m4O7Rjnfx4IukL-QfPHHe2r8oypsdGYz_fLe7GT5sSW-" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvhBzUvVytHNFYIJ9UKKosZ9cpuOdAjrpzutkB3UVmDr49aYVjlQ2s1w1oguBq1CBYUrSy-142Mfx3xnoTfYvB8PRovjbxjf4hpkN68MWUsK-WbXZSyW4FkYzbHU3wTOQ3wB5k9UZGu8GxfoDTESv0y7tjk9YpF4PwNYAXgG6AUbJVpZMKQ4KY5IJaFWdh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvhBzUvVytHNFYIJ9UKKosZ9cpuOdAjrpzutkB3UVmDr49aYVjlQ2s1w1oguBq1CBYUrSy-142Mfx3xnoTfYvB8PRovjbxjf4hpkN68MWUsK-WbXZSyW4FkYzbHU3wTOQ3wB5k9UZGu8GxfoDTESv0y7tjk9YpF4PwNYAXgG6AUbJVpZMKQ4KY5IJaFWdh" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>6 March 1988: Three IRA Volunteers were shot dead by members of Britain’s SAS regiment in Gibraltar on this day. They were Mairéad Farrell, Sean Savage and Daniel McCann. Their deaths had all the hallmarks of politically sanctioned killings by the British State.</p><p>Somehow or other MI5 got wind of plans by the IRA to bomb the changing of the guard in Gibraltar that was carried out with some ceremony by members of the British Military. A plan was put in place - Operation Flavius - to intercept this attempt and kill or capture the members of the IRA involved. In the event no attempt was made to capture and all identified members of the team were cut down without warning.</p><p>When Savage, McCann and Farrell—known IRA members—travelled to Spain in preparation for the attack, they were tracked at the request of the British government. On the day of the shootings, Savage was seen parking a white Renault in the car park used as the assembly area for the parade; McCann and Farrell were seen crossing the border shortly afterwards.</p><p>After a military bomb-disposal officer reported that Savage's car should be treated as a suspected bomb, the police handed over control of the operation to the SAS. As soldiers were moving into position to intercept the trio, Savage split from McCann and Farrell and began running south. Two soldiers pursued Savage while two approached McCann and Farrell; as they did so, the pair were said to have made threatening movements, as a result of which the soldiers opened fire, shooting them multiple times. As soldiers caught up with Savage, he was alleged to have turned around to face them while reaching into his jacket; he was also shot multiple times.</p><p>All three were subsequently found to be unarmed, and Savage's car was found to contain no explosives; enquiries resulting from keys found on Farrell led authorities to a second car, containing a large quantity of explosives, in a car park in Spain. In all probability their presence in Gibraltar that day was a ‘test run’ and there was no immediate threat to anyone on the Rock that day.</p><p>Their deaths created huge controversy as it was hard to mask the fact that they had been killed in cold blood - a charge the British Government denied but without much success. When the bodies of the deceased were returned to Dublin they were met by thousands of well wishers in the pouring rain at Dublin Airport. The Corteges were escorted to the North by large numbers of vehicles and many more turned out to pay homage as the funeral cars made their way to the Border and back to Belfast.</p><p>Once the Border was crossed their was a different atmosphere as the Crown Forces clamped down on any open expressions of sympathy. Further deaths then followed in the aftermath of their assassinations that shocked the Nation and indeed abroad in one of the most dramatic and bloody weeks in recent Irish History.</p><p><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-39597725913562425552024-03-05T13:03:00.000-08:002024-03-05T13:03:20.807-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9q09-kGRikLFnzT8yDiRuGqvW5mcfz1iRGUyDapLOHa-ZHXqWsEWFhW8GWlr6xaimexy5Z45x2kqYeaLWca4pgveoZDFhsjNheaRl268wxUQGYhxTWswE4YyyAY75XGPMNSQyjSK8eKjtDERxexQdv09QNenvQXBdnR5-NP4wxKyL96RAmNy0lX5dSO0q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="169" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9q09-kGRikLFnzT8yDiRuGqvW5mcfz1iRGUyDapLOHa-ZHXqWsEWFhW8GWlr6xaimexy5Z45x2kqYeaLWca4pgveoZDFhsjNheaRl268wxUQGYhxTWswE4YyyAY75XGPMNSQyjSK8eKjtDERxexQdv09QNenvQXBdnR5-NP4wxKyL96RAmNy0lX5dSO0q" width="127" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlPOeVn0GDTsGa2Ig0jywn_4sxkJilVR42MRJwO_4d-vD1BhE0vTTuCHXNEY1TXbMbp8H0JdTwsnd6AxkjsbfwURgQxA3wHp-hCE_EpA5uaPnFjMQbrrVMcbNBwwJfujqAf6D3edszGQH2S-5ZJM14cXZfr6jxdvA89YSdAL6EeWiVbf8VgsCZRGKd5Qxz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="179" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlPOeVn0GDTsGa2Ig0jywn_4sxkJilVR42MRJwO_4d-vD1BhE0vTTuCHXNEY1TXbMbp8H0JdTwsnd6AxkjsbfwURgQxA3wHp-hCE_EpA5uaPnFjMQbrrVMcbNBwwJfujqAf6D3edszGQH2S-5ZJM14cXZfr6jxdvA89YSdAL6EeWiVbf8VgsCZRGKd5Qxz" width="134" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>5 March 1975: General W. R.E. Murphy died OTD. He was orphaned at an early age and brought up in Belfast by an elder cousin. He graduated in education in Dublin and returned to Belfast to teach on the Falls Road. </p><p>When WW1 broke out he joined the British Army & was posted to the 1st battalion South Staffordshire regiment. He saw action at the Battle of Loos in October 1915 & on the 1st day of the Somme [1 July 1916]. In the assault Murphy was given the task of leading the bombing company to clear the fortified houses in the village of Mametz. Of the battalion’s 21 officers who had gone over the top that morning, by the end of the day six were dead and a further five were wounded, though Murphy survived unscathed.</p><p>Murphy was to see many more battles on the Western Front in 1916, such as High Wood and Delville Wood (a particularly hideous affair) in late August, then later in the year on the Douve River and at Beaumont Hamel. In 1917 he was promoted to captain and was awarded the Military Cross for service in the Somme battles. During 1917 he was again in action at Bullcourt in April and then at the third battle of Ypres, another bloody fiasco in which the battalion took heavy casualties. The year 1918 saw Murphy serving in Italy with his battalion, and in June he was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel to become the commanding officer of the 1st battalion South Staffordshire regiment. This was a singular honour for a young Catholic Irishman to be given: the command of a battalion of mostly English soldiers. He led the 1SSR in their final offensive of the War across the Piave River and captured 4,500 of the enemy before the Armistice was signed.</p><p>On returning from the War he took up the role of a Schools Inspector but when the Irish Civil War began Michael Collins ‘headhunted’ him to take up a role in the new Free State Army. He was given command of troops under the overall direction of Eoin O’Duffy and organised the attacks on Republican positions in and around Bruree and Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, during September 1922. After the withdrawal of the Republican forces from there and following the landings in Kerry, he was dispatched to Tralee as the commanding officer of the Free State Army in County Kerry, a position he held from late September until early January 1923. A difficult post, he did the best he could to restore order without being too harsh. He spared the lives of four IRA men sentenced to death just before he left Kerry for the last time. He was then transferred to Dublin to the operations section, but when his orders were not carried out he expressed a wish to resign. To avoid controversy he was instead put in charge of writing training manuals, which was obviously a dead-end position.</p><p>However, with the ending of the civil war another opportunity came his way, as Kevin O’Higgins wanted someone reliable to take over the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Murphy was appointed chief commissioner in May 1923 and led the force until it was amalgamated with the Garda Síochána in 1925. The DMP were totally demoralised and he built up their confidence again under very difficult circumstances. He was also involved, with others, in the transformation of the various semi-secret police agencies then in existence into what was eventually to become the Special Branch of the Garda Síochána. This followed his suggestion to O’Higgins in 1924 for the establishment of a ‘Special Branch to deal with Bolshevik, Anarchist and Communist crime masquerading under political disguise’. His proudest moment, however, was in the closing months of his commissionership of the DMP, when he helped Frank Duff of the Legion of Mary to close down the last brothels in the notorious ‘Monto’ red light district of Dublin. Duff appealed directly to Murphy to ensure that the police ended this civic embarrassment once and for all. </p><p>In 1925 Murphy was appointed a deputy commissioner of the Garda Síochána under his old military comrade Eoin O’Duffy. Over the years that followed Murphy was to hold many of the key positions within the police, but owing to the bitter legacy of the civil war he was never awarded the position of commissioner. However, during the Second World War de Valera asked him to organise an auxiliary force to back up the army and Garda. This force soon numbered over 65,000 men but in late 1940 it was split in two, with one section becoming the Local Defence Force (LDF), under army control, and the other the Local Security Force (LSF), remaining under Murphy’s command. However, the LSF was always the poor relation of the state’s security services and was disbanded at the war’s end without ceremony.</p><p>After the war Murphy was put in charge of ‘C’ (Crime) Branch and he published his Manual of criminal investigation, which remained in use for many years. He ended his police career back in charge of the Dublin Metropolitan Area. Throughout his career Murphy was known to all ranks as ‘the general’, though when he retired in 1955 he still held the same rank as the day he joined the force 30 years before!</p><p>Murphy was an active organiser of amateur boxing at both national and international level. He helped many aspiring boxers in the ranks of the Garda to pursue their interest in the sport, such as ‘Lugs’ Branigan, and he was, along with his wife and others, instrumental in having the National Stadium built.</p><p>When he died in 1975 he was given a state funeral. He is buried in St Peter’s cemetery, Little Bray, Co. Dublin.</p><div><br /></div>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-45220453412816849792024-03-04T11:02:00.000-08:002024-03-04T11:02:00.774-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgK39KaopTTq5XIyAG3oCMOFV9udCmp0GHivkuyg5RhFTFNUuhTg5BndvgxgUhg5BAgpVS7yHO2VnaHI7hDb83xBhVf4kJCS4SQu1dR3jPPW7cDwgg6OH0iF0Wx78_uZ9NOiINGL6od78ORUvsmWVyocK6WofrOdF0XZoitC7o_8KuNFK_b-wqFY5ruPVq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="190" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgK39KaopTTq5XIyAG3oCMOFV9udCmp0GHivkuyg5RhFTFNUuhTg5BndvgxgUhg5BAgpVS7yHO2VnaHI7hDb83xBhVf4kJCS4SQu1dR3jPPW7cDwgg6OH0iF0Wx78_uZ9NOiINGL6od78ORUvsmWVyocK6WofrOdF0XZoitC7o_8KuNFK_b-wqFY5ruPVq" width="172" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3so_6N5oEoe39qJsJyojSDrqp1LP9St7WJliZMAs3MERdJzdkFAnQab_iz_lF-40bCQCsuWAyGbQUHqYhjy2iXPsqG1RqlKnJmK1hJcWHat-44DPTzQwCOnydQRkmjMvRzBMUUEljgKiadHFQgnBNxpAJBR1WQBNRa8QBbW5T3iI8vI5MF3ngjx4iw6Lq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="174" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3so_6N5oEoe39qJsJyojSDrqp1LP9St7WJliZMAs3MERdJzdkFAnQab_iz_lF-40bCQCsuWAyGbQUHqYhjy2iXPsqG1RqlKnJmK1hJcWHat-44DPTzQwCOnydQRkmjMvRzBMUUEljgKiadHFQgnBNxpAJBR1WQBNRa8QBbW5T3iI8vI5MF3ngjx4iw6Lq" width="144" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>4 March 1778: Robert Emmet was born in Dublin on this day. He was the youngest son of Dr Robert Emmet and Elizabeth (Mason). His father was a well to do Physician in the City with a house on St Stephens Green and another one down the Country. His elder brother Thomas Addis Emmet was a personal friend of Wolfe Tone who visited the family home on many occasions. He entered Trinity College in 1793 and joined the College Historical Society, a debating society. He became secretary to the United Irish Society in the college, but had abandon his studies in April 1798 when he and a number of students were expelled for their Republican sympathies. In 1799 he travelled to France to escape arrest and to secure support for another Rising in Ireland.</p><p>He returned home in late 1802 after the Peace of Amiens and began to lay plans to seize Dublin from the British. Unfortunately his plans were laid open by a premature explosion of his arsenal in July of the following year. He then banked all his hopes on an immediate eruption on 23 July 1803 but his venture quickly fell apart and he want into hiding. A few weeks later he was captured, tried for ‘Treason’ and gave the speech of his Life before the Court that quickly became a sensation and secured his reputation as a Patriot.</p><p><i>My country was my idol. To it I sacrificed every selfish, every endearing sentiment, and for it I now offer up myself … I acted as an Irishman, determined on delivering my country from the yoke of a foreign and unrelenting tyranny and the more galling yoke of a domestic faction, which is its joint partner and perpetrator in the patricide…</i></p><p>He was sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. This was duly carried out on 20 September before a large crowd in Thomas Street Dublin. The whereabouts of his body today remains a mystery.</p><p><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-27269021656388838012024-03-02T12:08:00.000-08:002024-03-02T12:08:07.764-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMlzDjIshWtUf0cpCt2GztLi1EvQkR6qWpgZrkcy9dZPpYsHgr3WrmmtOQqQCIji4HE4bcdwmJ4iKNeWYAjSPP2hhiwOXrV0BV4u0HCjcIoTEqionUi_gTKNxEI0nNxNpWrk2la1fA75ha1tsDHOpuFDVLrHqNvVqNdWZPRU_YgESROuDYpprrUqtTCqf5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="191" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMlzDjIshWtUf0cpCt2GztLi1EvQkR6qWpgZrkcy9dZPpYsHgr3WrmmtOQqQCIji4HE4bcdwmJ4iKNeWYAjSPP2hhiwOXrV0BV4u0HCjcIoTEqionUi_gTKNxEI0nNxNpWrk2la1fA75ha1tsDHOpuFDVLrHqNvVqNdWZPRU_YgESROuDYpprrUqtTCqf5" width="143" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPcy_M703gYaswqhoPixqhQxPySGgVzoTMv5VBbNOPQ5--S39jJek9sds9pLU4fGAsU6mIAfRFL3Yj30KrNE5S2BiePBwI9nYTCYpAUvwfVT0vU5RGmnLeKanuvAokzxGb6gaAawqzdqhP1d_EUgr2VYZpeSX60VpvmEyoW0n0h7DpBG6cCmHNnF3Z6S1v" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPcy_M703gYaswqhoPixqhQxPySGgVzoTMv5VBbNOPQ5--S39jJek9sds9pLU4fGAsU6mIAfRFL3Yj30KrNE5S2BiePBwI9nYTCYpAUvwfVT0vU5RGmnLeKanuvAokzxGb6gaAawqzdqhP1d_EUgr2VYZpeSX60VpvmEyoW0n0h7DpBG6cCmHNnF3Z6S1v" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>2 March 1869: The death of General Sir Hugh Gough OTD. He fought in the wars against Napoleon as a junior officer but is most famous for his Generalship in the 1st China War and the 1st & 2nd Sikh Wars.</p><p>He was born 3 November 1779 at Woodstown, Co. Limerick and started his military career in 1793. He campaigned in the West Indies and was present at the attack on Porto Rico and the capture of Trinidad (1797). He was at the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in September 1795 and also in the expedition to Dutch Guiana in 1799.</p><p>He went to Spain in January 1809 and commanded the 2nd Battalion of his regiment [the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers] at the Battle of Talavera, during which he was wounded in July 1809. He also fought at the Battle of Barrosa, where his regiment captured a French Imperial Eagle in March 1811. This battle had the most influence on his tactical thinking as he believed that immediate attack was the best method of breaking an enemy force. When Marshal Laval attacked Tarifa at the southern tip of Spain (October 1811), Gough and his men prevented the French exploiting a breach in the town's defences. </p><p>He saw action at the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813 and the Battle of Nivelle, during which he was again badly wounded in November 1813. His wounds there precluded any further active service in the theatre of War. Knighted in June 1815, he was later given the freedom of the city of Dublin and presented with a commemorative sword.</p><p>In the 1820s he was back in Co. Tipperary where he led military forces in suppressing the ‘Whiteboy’ agrarian disturbances and was also a local magistrate. After many years at home in 1837 he decided to take up an offer to run the Mysore division of the Madras Army in India. It was a big move to make as he was already 58 years old and married with a family but he knew that his only chance of further advancement lay in active service. This he experienced in plenty in the years to come.</p><p>At the outset of the First Opium War in March 1839 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in China. He led the assault at the Battle of Canton in May 1841, he also led the assault at the Battle of Amoy in August 1841. He commanded the British forces at the Battle of Chapu in May 1842 and at the Battle of Chinkiang in July 1842. After the Treaty of Nanking, the British forces were withdrawn and he returned to India. The 1st China or Opium War was probably one of the most controversial campaigns ever undertaken by a British Force but the politics of it were beyond Gough’s remit and it really was a classic case of a General ‘only obeying orders’ and in fact the Chinese resistance was tepid with the local peasants showing more spirit than most of the troops sent to fight the British.</p><p>In August 1843 Gough became Commander-in-Chief, India, and in December 1843 he led the British forces in action against the Mahrattas defeating them decisively at the conclusion of the Gwalior Campaign at the battle of Maharajpore.</p><p>In the 1st Sikh War he commanded the troops at the Battle of Mudki in December 1845, at the Battle of Ferozeshah also in December 1845 and at the Battle of Sobraon in February 1846 during the First Anglo-Sikh War. In all these battles he defeated the Sikhs after a series of bloody encounters. Gough was loyally supported by Lord Hardinge, the governor-general, who served under him during these actions.</p><p>The Second Anglo-Sikh War started in 1848, and again Gough took to the field commanding in person at the Battle of Ramnagar in November 1848 and at the Battle of Chillianwala in January 1849 which at best could be called a bloody stalemate. He was criticised for relying on frontal assault by infantry rather than using artillery and was replaced as commander-in-chief by Sir Charles Napier but, before news of his replacement had arrived, Gough achieved a decisive victory over the Sikhs in the Battle of Gujarat in February 1849. </p><p>However the losses he suffered in fighting the Sikhs were very high and he was criticsized both within the Army and in the Indian Press for it. When news had filtered back to London it was decided to replace him but his Victory at Gujarat had concluded the campaign and he returned to Britain a Hero. And there was no doubt that he was one as he had shown amazing bravery leading from the front in battle and was a shining example to the men under his command. He never asked of his men on the field of battle what he would not do himself.</p><p>Gough returned to England in May 1849 and was created viscount in June and awarded a pension of £2,000 a year. Numerous other honours were showered on him, including an East India Company pension and the freedom of the city of London.</p><p>Gough also served as colonel of the 99th Regiment of Foot, as colonel of the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot and later as colonel of the Royal Horse Guards. In Dublin, he was a member of the Kildare Street Club. He was promoted to field marshal on 9 November 1862. He died at St. Helen's, his home in Booterstown, [now a Hotel] on 2 March 1869 and was buried in Stillorgan cemetery where his grave can still be seen.</p><p>An equestrian statue of Gough by John Foley was ultimately erected outside the city, in Dublin's Phoenix Park in 1880 but, after being repeatedly vandalised in the 1940s and 1950s, it was moved to Chillingham Castle in Northumberland in 1990. </p><p>The inscription reads:</p><p><b>In honour of Field Marshal Hugh Viscount Gough, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., an illustrious Irishman, whose achievements in the Peninsular War, in China, and in India, have added lustre to the military glory of his country, which he faithfully served for seventy five years. This statue [cast from cannon taken by troops under his command and granted by Parliament for the purpose] is erected by friends and comrades.</b></p><p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Gough,_1st_Viscount_Gough</p><p>https://www.dib.ie/biography/gough-sir-hugh-a3548</p><div><br /></div>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-22153302276855231292024-03-01T12:19:00.000-08:002024-03-01T12:19:46.187-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhM9ze_3C-x7fki77088Dtz3PKKktc1eB2j1Xrlq0HAY0tRQlKAiSHQqV_aBR1OZ_LZkaw7W8SfY4pqGG6cNAa8-iJqO3lX_uN9i6QvFJcaaE3O0W29AieEmn2vHse6WZ4HOkD7n2ThRukSDL7q02XnABGkdb_YdxweGIZTdpEaulVTPIC3sdSrIUthbcTC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="231" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhM9ze_3C-x7fki77088Dtz3PKKktc1eB2j1Xrlq0HAY0tRQlKAiSHQqV_aBR1OZ_LZkaw7W8SfY4pqGG6cNAa8-iJqO3lX_uN9i6QvFJcaaE3O0W29AieEmn2vHse6WZ4HOkD7n2ThRukSDL7q02XnABGkdb_YdxweGIZTdpEaulVTPIC3sdSrIUthbcTC" width="173" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzeZWEw5aUN3xeqHOIunqb6RnFxNtDIlKgRHgogDOR0aofpfg8TdOLOaVeM9tyVIMgUFGsmhl-hwJfU9XKqyTNW_z-LssbVrBq5z1w4dDGKSaST8NjdDHl-EkbokHuP7lY94118kfsXfwWBDfQXTyAGs_38VhPrMqD9wOG_fBLBBeKC4IZeRl_kKVN1hs5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="320" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzeZWEw5aUN3xeqHOIunqb6RnFxNtDIlKgRHgogDOR0aofpfg8TdOLOaVeM9tyVIMgUFGsmhl-hwJfU9XKqyTNW_z-LssbVrBq5z1w4dDGKSaST8NjdDHl-EkbokHuP7lY94118kfsXfwWBDfQXTyAGs_38VhPrMqD9wOG_fBLBBeKC4IZeRl_kKVN1hs5" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>1 March 1965: Roger Casement's body was re-interred in Glasnevin Cemetery on this day. The Taoiseach Sean Lemass only announced this surprise move some days previously when he stated in Leinster House that:</p><p><i>I am very glad to announce to the Dáil that I have been informed by the British Prime Minister that his Government have recently decided to meet our request for the repatriation of the remains of Roger Casement.</i></p><p><i>As Deputies are aware, it was Casement's express wish that he should have his final resting place in Ireland, and it has long been the desire of the people of Ireland, shared by successive Irish Governments, that this wish be fulfilled.</i></p><p>A State funeral was immediately organised. Thus on a cold and sleety day Casement’s remains were brought out to Glasnevin for burial. President Eamon De Valera, against Doctors orders, took the stand to deliver a televised address to the Nation. He said that:</p><p><i>It required courage to do what Casement did, and his name would be honoured, not merely here, but by oppressed peoples everywhere, even if he had done nothing for the freedom of our own country.</i></p><p>He spoke that those assembled were privileged to be there and we were glad that Casement was back amongst us and that in future his grave would be a place of pilgrimage.</p><p>While this was something of a coup to get the British to release Casement’s body his dying wish was actually that he should be laid to rest in his beloved County Antrim and not in Dublin City. But the British Government had only released his remains on condition that they were re interred in Dublin and not in the North of Ireland. One day perhaps his favourite county in Ireland will indeed become his final resting place...</p><p>Picture:</p><p>RTÉ Archives | Politics | De Valera Speech at Casement's Grave (rte.ie)</p><div><br /></div>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-11950523876501505292024-02-28T09:50:00.000-08:002024-02-28T09:50:09.598-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEaQeDexQFvhR9LX-MFyWDw9gT351LMzhUvreJ4hORoBxxzx_vv_jKZ0H4c38YgVIupTCoGNurtBbAIiTaIlTngScl0sn9h4H_MXnfaKBJypco7w17aUfor0z7Kw98kt0Mgcbk4bl6FJSnci0Cvx6OlO26xd2UIUzp-g_lHoHimqwtOKr9Timkd392OjgC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="320" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEaQeDexQFvhR9LX-MFyWDw9gT351LMzhUvreJ4hORoBxxzx_vv_jKZ0H4c38YgVIupTCoGNurtBbAIiTaIlTngScl0sn9h4H_MXnfaKBJypco7w17aUfor0z7Kw98kt0Mgcbk4bl6FJSnci0Cvx6OlO26xd2UIUzp-g_lHoHimqwtOKr9Timkd392OjgC" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkDgnVPrtzWH9giCRg30VlEVQqhy9iSUEgcACeMjs86bxmm6F6czMglwpOoIsUqceUUW-fDNm1-CMX1QshPAMyA2YFAdh0PAh-txz2p4K5_X_Z5iBY2hXmbdVDyVnGLUyJ6VD55na9pJXfqHej5RiARlqJJXN_ncbEQDAlL1YJXIDNSNxaNtf3TLbo7PHw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="239" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkDgnVPrtzWH9giCRg30VlEVQqhy9iSUEgcACeMjs86bxmm6F6czMglwpOoIsUqceUUW-fDNm1-CMX1QshPAMyA2YFAdh0PAh-txz2p4K5_X_Z5iBY2hXmbdVDyVnGLUyJ6VD55na9pJXfqHej5RiARlqJJXN_ncbEQDAlL1YJXIDNSNxaNtf3TLbo7PHw" width="179" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>28 February 1985: The IRA attacked Newry RUC barracks and killed 9 of its members and injured many more. It was the worst single incident suffered by RUC in the course of the Troubles. The base was situated at Corry Square in the town and while heavily guarded the canteen inside was just a portacabin that was full at the time of the attack. Shortly after 6.30 pm on 28 February, nine shells were launched from a lorry, which had been parked on Monaghan Street, about 250 yards (230 m) from the base. At least one 50 lb shell landed on a portacabin containing a canteen, where many officers were having their evening tea break. </p><p>“Myself and two other guys were sitting in an office and we were having our dinner. And at 6.35pm that evening, which was a Thursday evening, Crossroads had just started on the television. Then there were a series of bangs and the windows came in. “I made my way out into the main corridor in the station, and was confronted by a uniformed police officer,” he said. “He asked what was happening, and my words to him were: ‘I think we’re all about to die’. “The next recollection is an officer, a more senior officers, coming in through the back door from the yard where the canteen was. “And if you looked at him he looked like a typical cartoon character who has just been in an explosion. “His shirt was in tatters and he said something to the effect: It’s gone. “There were no more explosions, and myself and others ran out the back to where the canteen was. And it wasn’t there any more. It was just wreckage.</p><p>Retired RUC Officer</p><p>https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime/newry-ruc-station-attack-anniversary-ex-officer-says-pure-carnage-wreaked-by-ira-never-leaves-him-2002087</p><p>The Police Station is now long since demolished & has been replaced by the grassy McClelland Park and a town Car Park.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Those who died were:</p><p style="text-align: center;">Chief Inspector Alexander Donaldson, 41</p><p style="text-align: center;">Res Constable Geoffrey Campbell, 24</p><p style="text-align: center;">Detective Sgt John Dowd, 31</p><p style="text-align: center;">Detective Constable Ivy Kelly, 29</p><p style="text-align: center;">Res Constable Rosemary McGookin, 27</p><p style="text-align: center;">Res Constable Paul McFerran, 33</p><p style="text-align: center;">Res Constable Sean McHenry, 19</p><p style="text-align: center;">Res Constable Denis Price, 22</p><p style="text-align: center;">Constable David Topping, 22.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-47746759134093427432024-02-27T09:38:00.000-08:002024-02-27T09:38:19.954-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAAZQeIqCbjA1698kWfdQbtCUIH83S-oZG_aq50Jq2LjUfd__oWHvZdQ-utXctVgb4vXlyXHxoME7ETKl7TKTo4KoLc4JgiY20kYI1dQ581bBBeS-a1UrO8UvxgDIFCadSz9lWclMgWl0fIjnoTs2aKhPnNTkXGVCMz_2663ggZBYR-0WIBYqvSvP31S9F" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAAZQeIqCbjA1698kWfdQbtCUIH83S-oZG_aq50Jq2LjUfd__oWHvZdQ-utXctVgb4vXlyXHxoME7ETKl7TKTo4KoLc4JgiY20kYI1dQ581bBBeS-a1UrO8UvxgDIFCadSz9lWclMgWl0fIjnoTs2aKhPnNTkXGVCMz_2663ggZBYR-0WIBYqvSvP31S9F" width="161" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7FB6GKvBNN0wgZP-M4oLhfSuvN3iMR4cJTVfJORE1l3wv8_90KGHbGyEafMmodJhfLd785HtdrnF7NAfAUcMbeAaQx9pf8lb1fG6r2BzBZiYbdYKVvw9SdxoKtMhHZ9omu4x8XTst5icnASjNgRGcWawOfHecQS27k6uNKwHUl6BYU7cz-TOYp9QBltLh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="194" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7FB6GKvBNN0wgZP-M4oLhfSuvN3iMR4cJTVfJORE1l3wv8_90KGHbGyEafMmodJhfLd785HtdrnF7NAfAUcMbeAaQx9pf8lb1fG6r2BzBZiYbdYKVvw9SdxoKtMhHZ9omu4x8XTst5icnASjNgRGcWawOfHecQS27k6uNKwHUl6BYU7cz-TOYp9QBltLh" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>27 February 1900: Seán Ó Faoláin was born in Cork OTD. He was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Irish culture. A short-story writer of international repute, he was also a leading commentator and critic. O’Faoláin also wrote four novels, three travel books, six biographies, a play, a memoir, a history book, and a so-called "character study." He produced critical studies of the novel and the short-story form, introduced texts of historical and literary merit, and contributed scores of articles, reviews, and uncollected stories to periodicals in Ireland, Britain, and America.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most famously, he cofounded and edited the influential journal <i>The Bell</i> from 1940 to 1946. Under O’Faoláin’s editorship, the Bell participated in many key debates of the day. He wrote a number of historical biographies incl. <i>Constance Markievicz</i>; <i>The Autobiography of Theobald Wolfe Tone</i>; <i>A Life of Daniel O'Connell </i>and <i>The Great O'Neill.</i></div><p></p><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se%C3%A1n_%C3%93_Faol%C3%A1in">Seán Ó Faoláin - Wikipedia</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div>From the 1950s O'Faolain enjoyed a better style of living, travelling frequently to Italy and America, and his earnings improved. He was becoming better known abroad, particularly in America.</div><div><br /></div><div>His stories enjoyed great success in his later years. Honours and distinctions came his way. He was was elected to the honorary position of<i> saoi </i>in <i>Aosdána</i>. In 1988 he received the freedom of the city of Cork.</div><div>https://www.dib.ie/biography/ofaolain-sean-a6736</div></div><div> He died on 20 April 1991 in Dublin.</div>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-59593976345998555762024-02-26T11:37:00.000-08:002024-02-26T11:37:45.114-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizZzt_VR8h2MnMblbsew9oaOMbvTYh_o7_rMW7hljC2Um0WKMHrRhhHaroxEXJV90vRivvo5ubn27z9yjujBSTC27u4fAoToWSjdwGfsw85thIx_TyU65k-Sw9RkodXEd62cgxvD-edzGbQmjftAuj1pKltwedhIJqXQqiMwK4ZV1i_GjS8pb0VxMRvrv-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="226" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizZzt_VR8h2MnMblbsew9oaOMbvTYh_o7_rMW7hljC2Um0WKMHrRhhHaroxEXJV90vRivvo5ubn27z9yjujBSTC27u4fAoToWSjdwGfsw85thIx_TyU65k-Sw9RkodXEd62cgxvD-edzGbQmjftAuj1pKltwedhIJqXQqiMwK4ZV1i_GjS8pb0VxMRvrv-" width="170" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEik4DuR7DRdQuZDbIHl1o9EMCmILIIHQ3lm18Sl6PCpRZbmLd7_K560hYEVVc4lbOPdcqseuWtXwB43zChwMZcZD6U7QUQ3TMttSbPQMrk29TJC1i294GPDCRSsSPlN_b2kEaoZ-x_5zcK4HPUucjQE0ZwmfVXjT98EF1IMg66ZNbHKNJL7EpgGd4oef5Jk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="320" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEik4DuR7DRdQuZDbIHl1o9EMCmILIIHQ3lm18Sl6PCpRZbmLd7_K560hYEVVc4lbOPdcqseuWtXwB43zChwMZcZD6U7QUQ3TMttSbPQMrk29TJC1i294GPDCRSsSPlN_b2kEaoZ-x_5zcK4HPUucjQE0ZwmfVXjT98EF1IMg66ZNbHKNJL7EpgGd4oef5Jk" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>26 February 943: The Vikings of Dublin got a lucky break, when they ambushed the heir apparent to the High King, ‘Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks/ Muirchertach na Cochall Craicinn’ and slew him on this day.</p><p><i>Muirchertach son of Niall, i.e. Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks, king of Ailech and the Hector of the western world, was killed by the heathens, i.e. by Blacair son of Gothfrith, king of the foreigner, at Glas Liatháin beside Cluain Chaín, in Fir Rois, on the first feria, fourth of the Kalends of March [26 Feb]</i></p><p><i>Ard Macha was plundered by the same foreigners on the following day, the third of the Kalends of March…</i></p><p><b>ANNALS OF ULSTER</b></p><p>Muirchertach was the son of Niall Glundubh who had himself been killed fighting the Vikings at Dublin in 919 AD. He had fought and won many battles and in one report is mentioned as leading a naval expedition against the Norsemen of the Hebrides. However he suffered an embarrassing episode in 939 when in a surprise raid his enemies’ ships raided his fortress of Aileach (outside Derry) and carried him off. He was forced to ransom his own release to regain his freedom.</p><p>Muirchertach, under the ancient rule of the kingship of Tara alternating between the northern and southern O’Neills, was due to replace King Donnachadh on the latter’s demise. Sometimes though ambition got the better of him and he clashed with his senior colleague and at other times co-operated with him. Muirchertach married Donnchad's daughter Flann, but relations between the two were not good. Conflict between them is recorded in 927, 929, and 938. </p><p>His most remarkable feat came in 941 when he carried out a Circuit of Ireland with a picked force of 1,000 men and secured pledges from all the principal kingdoms and carried away with him hostages as security. The Dalcassians (Brian Boru’s people) alone refused to submit. But Muirchertach eventually handed over all his hostages to Donnachadh as a mark of respect.</p><p>But his luck ran out in 943 when he was taken by surprise by the Vikings of Dublin somewhere near Ardee, Co Louth. It looks like Muirchertach was attempting to fend off a raid by them that was heading north towards Armagh when he was taken off guard: </p><p><i>Muirchertach son of Niall, heir designate of Ireland, was killed in Áth Firdia by the foreigners of Ath Cliath, and Ard Macha was plundered by the heathens.</i></p><p><b>Chronicon Scotorum</b></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-52195593053179678312024-02-25T11:44:00.000-08:002024-02-25T11:44:31.505-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3xgkD3gR60gNWtbHy--m__Twq3fOdLygrgHIeewPGmDe8JoaQZpkTys-DhN8asX8v4BOpEsM4sO0tHgOsccmGS7gVaN--ZX1b85EPC_XtAgB0U4G_bOYT1NgSD_SKnzY6_ZeUn3UZ1r4-pwMVH1Ul4uXcsRlFOEi1J5S1uZ07gGTlCI3YgMlTuR8KWVyk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="248" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3xgkD3gR60gNWtbHy--m__Twq3fOdLygrgHIeewPGmDe8JoaQZpkTys-DhN8asX8v4BOpEsM4sO0tHgOsccmGS7gVaN--ZX1b85EPC_XtAgB0U4G_bOYT1NgSD_SKnzY6_ZeUn3UZ1r4-pwMVH1Ul4uXcsRlFOEi1J5S1uZ07gGTlCI3YgMlTuR8KWVyk" width="186" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVmALrhPaYhNkMgRcC0QYDPCpwAuNSR8_3Y1hQe-ika_dlTJHpcpydGyA6zKONYRdylnQhYltY6iRhGMkVhnZCqhzklcw-6bB3huBmQ7u4ASi_90cOQgvv2UypW5iA5hxa5F00Hy2WQeCJ0JhIIX9btiqtmdHCWkfFiNxqHSaPw-dUw870UkGFRgZZgcHO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="188" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVmALrhPaYhNkMgRcC0QYDPCpwAuNSR8_3Y1hQe-ika_dlTJHpcpydGyA6zKONYRdylnQhYltY6iRhGMkVhnZCqhzklcw-6bB3huBmQ7u4ASi_90cOQgvv2UypW5iA5hxa5F00Hy2WQeCJ0JhIIX9btiqtmdHCWkfFiNxqHSaPw-dUw870UkGFRgZZgcHO" width="168" /></a></div><p></p><p>25 February 1852: Thomas Moore, Bard of Erin died on this day. He is best known today as the lyricist for ‘Irish Melodies’ in which he set lyrics to ancient Irish pieces whose origins stretched back many years beforehand. His Life however was much more than that.</p><p>He was born above his parents shop in Aungier St Dublin on 28 May 1779 & later attended Samuel Whyte's English grammar school whose other great alumni was the playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan, of whom Moore was one day to write a biography. It was while he was at Whyte’s that he first developed his taste for the stage. On completing his scholarly studies he went on in 1795 to Trinity College to study for Law. At that time Ireland was in a state of ferment with Revolutionary sentiment sweeping the land. Moore too was swept along in the enthusiasm of the times but stopped short of fully committing himself to violent Revolution. In April 1798, Moore was acquitted at Trinity on the charge of being a party, through the Society of United Irishmen, to sedition.</p><p>The following year he departed for London where he continued his law studies at the Middle Temple. He was gradually drawn into the artistic world of this great metropolis and the necessity in those days of acquiring patrons to advance in Society. Moore's translations of Anacreon, celebrating wine, women and song, was published in 1800 with a dedication to the Prince of Wales. In 1801, Moore published a collection of his own verse: Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Little Esq. However nothing really came of any of this and in 1803 he sailed across the Atlantic to become the registrar of the Admiralty Prize Court in Bermuda. He hated it and soon found a replacement so that he could travel to the USA and tour the Great Republic. He hated there too & the people he met even more, especially those with an attachment to the institution of Slavery.</p><p>On his return to London he built on his experience and acquainted himself with some of the most illustrious members of the City's’ artistic community. However the making of his name undoubtedly rests on his writing the lyrics to the work known as ‘Irish Melodies’ [1808] based on a collection of old Irish compositions. The principal source for the tunes was Edward Bunting's A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music [1797]. The scores were arranged by Dublin born Sir John Andrew Stevenson with Moore putting the lyrics to them. They were an immediate & huge success and many of them are still extant in the singing world to this day e.g. the "The Last Rose of Summer", "The Minstrel Boy", "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" and "Oft in the Stilly Night" becoming immensely popular.</p><p>Thomas Moore was much involved in Politics as a ‘squib’ writer for the Whig party in England that was by the standards of the time was more progressive in outlook to Reform of the political order. He came under the patronage of various members of the Whig Establishment though how much he financially made directly or if anything at all is problematical - he always denied that he did. Though in that Age patronage was pretty well essential to open doors into Society.</p><p>Moore was also an actor and a singer of some note and he returned to Ireland on many occasions to perform on the stage. Through this medium he met his one & only wife Elizabeth "Bessy" Dyke, they had five children together but alas they all pre-deceased their parents.</p><p>Possibly next to being the author of the lyrics for Irish Melodies the most famous or infamous incident in his life was his part in destroying the unpublished memoirs of his great companion Lord Byron who had entrusted the manuscript to him for safekeeping. However after the poets’ death [1824] Lady Byron wanted it destroyed as its contents were judged too shocking by those closest to him in this life. In what some were to call the greatest literary crime of the century, in Moore's presence the family solicitors tore up all extant copies of the manuscript and burned them in the fireplace!</p><p>Thomas Moore spent most of his professional life in London but never forgot his Homeland and lauded the efforts of the men of 1798 and 1803 to free her from Oppression. He much admired Lord Edward Fitzgerald one of the great heroes of the Rising of 1798. He had a particular contempt for Lord Castlereagh who had facilitated the passing of the Act of Union [1800] that abolished Ireland’s Parliament.</p><p>On point of Religion Moore took a middling course between Catholicism and the Anglican Church, he was theologically a doubter but could not completely break away from the religious culture of his upbringing - today he would probably be called a ‘Cultural Catholic’.</p><p>History & Biography was another subject to which he turned his pen and he published a Life and Death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Memoirs of the Life of Richard Brinsley Sheridan the latter being a great success. His ‘History of Ireland’ published in four volumes between 1835 and 1846, was an enormous work but did not catch the public’s imagination. But by the late 1840s his powers were fading and with his wife and all his children dead he drifted into senility. The end came on 25 February 1852 in his seventy-third year and he was buried at Bromham, near Devizes in Wiltshire. His epitaph in St. Nicholas churchyard grave is inscribed:</p><p> <i><b> Dear Harp of my Country! in darkness I found thee,</b></i></p><p><i><b> The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long;</b></i></p><p><i><b> When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee.</b></i></p><p><i><b> And gave all thy chords to light, freedom and song!</b></i></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-43376485507867841002024-02-24T02:29:00.000-08:002024-02-24T02:29:37.165-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxaTvG-tG20RVIXR5y7o8MAlgXRVGlLCptsyqATN2uVNAhp9epX3Vy-YBJ6UD6vNZfnVlqHx1Oi1tp7Vxk3oVptU-ZZZQIQq8kKvmuP1ShjOXnQ8KDY2SQUiWK5fePKf1dQb9NIiCZbqW89wIge1OdVf4yJAkabyOl1bQZ_wcvMP6XfV789WeAMtWQzU_l" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxaTvG-tG20RVIXR5y7o8MAlgXRVGlLCptsyqATN2uVNAhp9epX3Vy-YBJ6UD6vNZfnVlqHx1Oi1tp7Vxk3oVptU-ZZZQIQq8kKvmuP1ShjOXnQ8KDY2SQUiWK5fePKf1dQb9NIiCZbqW89wIge1OdVf4yJAkabyOl1bQZ_wcvMP6XfV789WeAMtWQzU_l" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhj48J7FulfBgAYHxsjwewSwB4dUUgj2ET6c2dz9jPY8dSR8CLICArUzpOYOXGBHe8AptfxevwYbHfFSSj278ypTOzEMmpZWpS8v-iK3eQrJ-l5rJb331Ru7zdteSZNjyGXlV6vynkWVqbBvDjc8vtKbw7Vsb8r0bRRpTopsht9iYV_FkqAjhKVbqfhA5s7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="320" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhj48J7FulfBgAYHxsjwewSwB4dUUgj2ET6c2dz9jPY8dSR8CLICArUzpOYOXGBHe8AptfxevwYbHfFSSj278ypTOzEMmpZWpS8v-iK3eQrJ-l5rJb331Ru7zdteSZNjyGXlV6vynkWVqbBvDjc8vtKbw7Vsb8r0bRRpTopsht9iYV_FkqAjhKVbqfhA5s7" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p></p><p>24 February 1943: Thirty five girls and their 80 year old cook were killed when fire swept through their dormitory at St. Joseph's Orphanage & Industrial School in Cavan Town on this day.</p><p>In the early hours the morning a fire broke out in the basement laundry of the Orphanage. The Institution was run by the enclosed order of Poor Clare nuns who were charged with the protection of the girls. The fire & smoke spread very rapidly and quickly took hold. Local people did their best to try and rescue those within. When entry was finally gained it was too late to reach many of the terrified screaming children trapped in the top floor dormitories. </p><p>The children who died were on the top floors of the building and on the night in question the three dormitories there contained 67 souls incl. 3 adults. On the next floor down there was one dormitory in which were 22 individuals incl.1 adult who all escaped the conflagration. In total 89 persons were present on the night in the actual Orphanage.</p><p>The local fire service was totally overwhelmed and by the time they had brought their inadequate equipment to bear the flames had taken hold, the roof had caved in and the building was soon firmly ablaze. Thirty five children and an elderly lay woman were burned to death when the roof of the building collapsed. The following day what remained of the thirty six bodies were recovered from the blackened ruins. They were put in just eight coffins and buried subsequently in a mass grave.</p><p>An Official State enquiry was held that reached the conclusion that in all probability the origin of the fire was a faulty flue in the chimney that set a clothes hanger on fire in the Laundry room and that those who died could have been brought to safety in time if they had been brought down to safety immediately instead of their supervisor going to get help & being unable to return to her charges before the smoke took hold.</p><p>REPORT OF THE Tribunal Of Inquiry Into The Fire</p><p>AT ST. JOSEPH'S ORPHANAGE, MAIN STREET, CAVAN found:</p><p>That the loss of life was caused by combination of circumstances, namely,</p><p>(a) fright or panic resulting in faulty directions being given;</p><p>(b ) want of training in fire-fighting, including rapid evacuation of personnel and movement in smoke laden atmosphere</p><p>c ) lack of proper leadership and control of operations;</p><p>(d) want of knowledge of the lay-out 'of the premises on the part of persons from outside;</p><p>(e) inadequate rescue and firefighting service at the proper time;</p><p>(I) the absence of light at a critical period</p><p>362.7320941698-Report St. Joseph's Orphanage PDF.pdf (nuigalway.ie)</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>The children who died were:</p><p>Mary Harrison -15 years of age from Dublin</p><p>Mary Hughes - 15 years of age from Killeshandra</p><p>Ellen McHugh -15 years of age from Blacklion</p><p>Kathleen & Frances Kiely - 12 & 9 years of age from Virginia</p><p>Mary & Margaret Lynch - 15 & 10 years of age from Cavan</p><p>Josephine & Mona Cassidy - 15 & 11 years of age from Belfast</p><p>Kathleen Reilly – 14 years of age from Butlersbridge</p><p>Mary & Josephine Carroll – 12 yrs & 10 years of age from Castlerahan</p><p>Mary & Susan McKiernan - 16 & 14 years of age from Dromard</p><p>Rose Wright – 11 years of age from Ballyjamesduff</p><p>Mary & Nora Barrett - 12 years of age -Twins – from Dublin</p><p>Mary Kelly - 10 years of age from Ballinagh</p><p>Mary Brady – 7 years of age from Ballinagh</p><p>Dorothy Daly – 7 years of age from Cootehill</p><p>Mary Ivers – 12 years of age from Kilcoole Wicklow</p><p>Philomena Regan – 9 years of age from Dublin</p><p>Harriet & Ellen Payne - 11 & 8 years of age from Dublin</p><p>Teresa White – 6 years of age from Dublin</p><p>Mary Roche - 6 years of age from Dublin</p><p>Ellen Morgan – 10 years of age from Virginia</p><p>Elizabeth Heaphy - 4 years of age from Swords</p><p>Mary O'Hara – 7 years of age from Kilnaleck</p><p>Bernadette Serridge - 5 years of age from Dublin</p><p>Katherine & Margaret Chambers - 9 & 7 years of age from Enniskillen</p><p>Mary Lowry – 17 years of age from Drumcrow, Cavan</p><p>Bridget & Mary Galligan - 17 & 18 years of age Drumcassidy, Cavan</p><p>&</p><p>Mary Smith 80 years of age employed as Cook</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-16544345704006460132024-02-23T11:59:00.000-08:002024-02-23T11:59:52.989-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7jDepzFnIEpgoXqBv5hjMCkuSwhHBJpKH23WsN5b9uUexqUykK-hiwN2eSW9uGYcak2TIoIy9_h52NuN5CB6Lrk0vXCATiJkxgbKQA9l4YzZ-TfR8pF41wvPUhxzKsP-xY3Wz8UsLOEHhe9luHLV_hQx_X7WHvYLPm2oIzy7iF7rFRYkaFzqEliiYDnMV" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="229" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7jDepzFnIEpgoXqBv5hjMCkuSwhHBJpKH23WsN5b9uUexqUykK-hiwN2eSW9uGYcak2TIoIy9_h52NuN5CB6Lrk0vXCATiJkxgbKQA9l4YzZ-TfR8pF41wvPUhxzKsP-xY3Wz8UsLOEHhe9luHLV_hQx_X7WHvYLPm2oIzy7iF7rFRYkaFzqEliiYDnMV" width="172" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKEDDJPL2VwJF66W_nDftfhKQwzXmcmqDl2zeeHZAIAaU3VgfObSxRbRgNrVn5cfIAyiz3vXJe827dOBNCy9JIgUOGu8ZXIFKq1xAdHceAWQDaiHlEQtgxIfc7XlejhT0QaH8Lxwob6seGtkE1f0TrjMB4OPXiNOhkFWVAjVXHxUuD1pYjiFZbyv2UVwEQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="179" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKEDDJPL2VwJF66W_nDftfhKQwzXmcmqDl2zeeHZAIAaU3VgfObSxRbRgNrVn5cfIAyiz3vXJe827dOBNCy9JIgUOGu8ZXIFKq1xAdHceAWQDaiHlEQtgxIfc7XlejhT0QaH8Lxwob6seGtkE1f0TrjMB4OPXiNOhkFWVAjVXHxUuD1pYjiFZbyv2UVwEQ" width="153" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>23 February 1886: Lord Randolph Churchill of the Conservative Party spoke at a meeting in Belfast in which he is said to have uttered the phrase:</p><p><b> ‘Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right’</b></p><p>The Liberals had won the General Election the previous year but had not secured an overall majority. Lord Churchill was anxious to undermine the rapport that had developed between the Liberal Party under William Gladstone and the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell. They thus relied on Parnell to secure their hold on the House of Commons. The price for such support was Gladstone committing himself to bring forward a Bill for Home Rule for Ireland in the current session of Parliament. </p><p>Churchill was fundamentally opposed to Home Rule and planned to use his name in Ulster to give heart to those within the ranks of the Orange Order that were prepared to resist by any means the bringing in of such a measure. He had written to a friend some days previously what his plan was:</p><p><i>I decided some time ago that if the G.O.M.* went for Home Rule, the Orange card would be the one to play. Please God it may turn out to be the ace of trumps and not the two.</i></p><p>* Grand Old Man – Mr Gladstone</p><p>The revitalised Orange Order had sponsored meetings for all who were against Home Rule. It arranged the meeting in the Ulster Hall at which the main speaker was to be Lord Randolph Churchill himself. He gave, to a wildly enthusiastic audience, this slogan that was to become their rallying cry in the years ahead.</p><p>Thus began the close association between the Conservative Party and the Unionists in Ireland that was to such a feature of Anglo-Irish relations for decades to come. It should be noted though that he may not have actually uttered these words - but he never actually denied saying them either! </p><p>His more famous son Sir Winston Churchill was twice Prime Minister of Gt .Britain & led her to Victory in the Second World War. Ironically he was a supporter of Home Rule when a member of the Liberal Party prior to the Great War.</p><p><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-68812155761873483442024-02-22T09:45:00.000-08:002024-02-22T09:45:06.203-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1Qv1hbeiKuI_147XKX_8KuxUn8AbfMVLg2R_jePK7loBfFPlHUYshQ7Xwy2JrxWwoLIYTLmsAQ-8zm7NMVdvvfKehvVl6K1OuQ5LpAay5ar72TbmzUjImU3Dewnl-zXOf57iuKnvrG_5q4h8_fzXAfcEN6cu5PQaJkIRFH9wLkorsoB1Qup77cF8_vF8j" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="209" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1Qv1hbeiKuI_147XKX_8KuxUn8AbfMVLg2R_jePK7loBfFPlHUYshQ7Xwy2JrxWwoLIYTLmsAQ-8zm7NMVdvvfKehvVl6K1OuQ5LpAay5ar72TbmzUjImU3Dewnl-zXOf57iuKnvrG_5q4h8_fzXAfcEN6cu5PQaJkIRFH9wLkorsoB1Qup77cF8_vF8j" width="157" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGxQ-S1ZBbpGdpgoxcUtSeoS6Vi4i471iCzEjdPeppu9h57zVi9kDna0ijeR4aIlPqqUwhdOqdFbwpgZB2gqVH7PvovY-fyJiGv5RrQH0onCkxGJq1HACaDoLY2ig-BbrflR3XrHKQyAs7F8iusHSUyMmQjZDAWwEWykNuyzslY0bXtjsqHRVnWC5Z31KK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGxQ-S1ZBbpGdpgoxcUtSeoS6Vi4i471iCzEjdPeppu9h57zVi9kDna0ijeR4aIlPqqUwhdOqdFbwpgZB2gqVH7PvovY-fyJiGv5RrQH0onCkxGJq1HACaDoLY2ig-BbrflR3XrHKQyAs7F8iusHSUyMmQjZDAWwEWykNuyzslY0bXtjsqHRVnWC5Z31KK" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>22 February 1973: Elizabeth Bowen author, socialite and spy[?] died on this day. Of Anglo Irish stock she was born at 15 Herbert Place in the city of Dublin on 7 June 1899. Her parents were Henry Charles Cole Bowen and Florence (née Colley) Bowen. In 1907 her father declined into mental illness and she moved with her mother to England where they took up residence at the seaside town of Hythe in Kent. Tragedy was to strike her again though when her mother died in 1912. After that she was brought up by a committee of Aunts and shunted back and forth between them.</p><p>It was only as she grew older that she realised the chasm between the closed world of the Anglo-Irish set she belonged to and the bulk of the Catholic population of Ireland:</p><p><i>‘It was not until after the end of those seven winters that I understood that we Protestants were a minority, and that the unquestioned rules of our being came, in fact, from the closeness of a minority world’...</i></p><p><i>I took the existence of Roman Catholics for granted but met few and was not interested in them. They were simply “the others,” whose world lay alongside ours but never touched.'</i></p><p>Elizabeth Bowen, <b>Bowen’s Court & Seven Winters: Memories of a Dublin Childhood</b>, (London: Virago, 1984;1942)</p><p>After some time at art school in London she decided that her talent lay in writing. She mixed with the Bloomsbury Group, which contained some the most talented and outrageous (for the time) people involved in the London Arts scene. Her first book, a collection of short stories entitled Encounters was published in 1923. It was in that year she married one Alan Cameron. He had served in the Great War in which he was badly gassed. The marriage has been described as "a sexless but contented union." The marriage was reportedly never consummated! She reputedly had numerous extra martial affairs with other men though they stayed married until his death in 1952.</p><p>The great love of her life was Charles Ritchie, a Canadian diplomat of great charm and intelligence from a privileged Nova Scotia background. They first met in 1941 and continued an On-Off relationship for over 30 years until her death. She really could not live without knowing that he loved her - but to him she was a fascinating creature though not the absolute centre of his life. He later married another woman and that must have hurt Elizabeth - but there was nothing she could really do about it.</p><p>But while an author of some note its clear her personal life was an unsettled one. The loss of her parents while still a child must have had a had a huge impact on her psyche that left her reserved and unsure in human relations though with a great deal of silent perception on the frailties of the human condition. Though somewhat cryptic in style her reading of human nature was what made her novels such gems in the way she described her characters and the rarefied world that they moved through.</p><p>Strangely in Ireland she is remembered as much for her writing reports from here during the Second World War to the British Ministry of Information in London about the attitudes and feelings of the Great and the Ordinary towards Britain and the War - for which some have labelled her a ‘Spy’. A matter of opinion really.</p><p>She tried to spend as much time as possible at her beloved Bowen’s Court in Cork, the family seat she inherited in 1930. But while it was a idyll away from the drudgery of London its upkeep was a huge burden on her finances. Eventually it led her to a nervous breakdown, a string of unpaid debts and the sale and eventual demolition of Bowens Court in 1960. She returned to London and witnessed the ‘Swinging Sixties’ there. A smoker she developed Lung Cancer in 1972. That year she saw out her last Christmas in Ireland staying with friends in Kinsale Co Cork. She died in London on 22 February 1973, aged 73. She is buried with her husband in Farahy Co Cork churchyard, close to the gates of Bowen's Court, where there is a memorial plaque to her.</p><p>Her best-known novels are <i>The Death of the Heart </i>and <i>The Heat of the Day</i>, but her own favourite was <i>The Last September</i>, published when she was still in her 20s; it was, she said, the work of hers “nearest to my heart”.</p><p><i>Her prose is so subtle and allusive that it would be a disservice to quote from her, but read almost any descriptive passage in The Last September and you will understand her greatness.</i></p><p>John Banville<i> Irish Times</i> 7 March 2015</p><p><br /></p>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2236863322890010648.post-85075028232877973932024-02-21T11:28:00.000-08:002024-02-21T11:29:19.220-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYEq-DTbgieq97oPwV44LEf7VJGYQ3fiahbSd2rJwL99HwfAuamBk37RHDrDOnnbpMMlkU1tbGnf0G6EiDq52zE6icsYgcN5y1Fw_RG9Ka4hQr8DdZzsfrRmNeNsIFsMrCMfJed988G-9Si65av-23lmL9UfDhKcUE8ru-qDSa69WG302Nz3F05KRrHUeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYEq-DTbgieq97oPwV44LEf7VJGYQ3fiahbSd2rJwL99HwfAuamBk37RHDrDOnnbpMMlkU1tbGnf0G6EiDq52zE6icsYgcN5y1Fw_RG9Ka4hQr8DdZzsfrRmNeNsIFsMrCMfJed988G-9Si65av-23lmL9UfDhKcUE8ru-qDSa69WG302Nz3F05KRrHUeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9BzuOmiessKxEZMY2649gosfUchHjV7kLh30sfNpxz8H7WqcFMjlPlVAJdF1pGa09PLLurAiLEZnDF7aaRy3gch7b0w3191cf8NF7mlnM5RWD1ZM2-j4zNGLe4dL8lI5IjaNd8NUMm4QuXphz22JXWR-AKHLG62mvxd66dNfKIjJKM82GVNperj38Wu2O" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="198" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9BzuOmiessKxEZMY2649gosfUchHjV7kLh30sfNpxz8H7WqcFMjlPlVAJdF1pGa09PLLurAiLEZnDF7aaRy3gch7b0w3191cf8NF7mlnM5RWD1ZM2-j4zNGLe4dL8lI5IjaNd8NUMm4QuXphz22JXWR-AKHLG62mvxd66dNfKIjJKM82GVNperj38Wu2O" width="186" /></a></div><p></p><p>21 February 1922: A new Police Force, the ‘Civic Guard’ began its first Recruitment campaign on this day. It was intended to replace the Royal Irish Constabulary as the instrument charged with Law enforcement within the prospective Irish Free State that was due to come into full operation by the end of the year.</p><p>In January 1922, the Provisional Government had decided that the Royal Irish Constabulary was to be disbanded "as soon as possible". They decided to replace the Republican Police with a regular police force under a trained police officer. Michael Collins had reported to the Provisional Government on 28 January that a police organising committee was being formed, that would include members of the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police.</p><p>The committee held their first meeting in the Gresham Hotel on Thursday, 9 February, with General Richard Mulcahy, Michael Collins, and Michael J. Staines among those in attendance. Work was started immediately under Michael Staines T.D. as the acting chairman. A veteran of the Easter Rising he had been active in the administration of the National Arbitration Courts and the Republican Police during the War of Independence.</p><p>Volunteer Brigade Officers around the Country were requested to dispatch suitable recruits for training to a temporary headquarters at the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge, Dublin. Any candidates who attended for examination were to be at least 5' 9", unmarried and between the ages of 19 and 27. They were compelled to sit examinations in reading spelling and arithmetic to gain entry as cadets. The first man to join the Civic Guard was an ex RIC man P. J. Kerrigan.</p><p>However the name ‘Civic Guard’ was not formally decided upon until 27 February and on the following 10 March, Michael Joseph Staines was formally appointed as its first Commissioner. In August of the following year the Police Force of the State was renamed An Garda Síochána (Guardians of the Peace) and has remained the name of the Force ever since. Michael Staines was then retrospectively recognised as the first Commissioner of the Garda Síochána. </p><div><br /></div>Columba Ionahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16796865059555132621noreply@blogger.com0