December 9th: TODAY IN IRISH HISTORY (published by IrishmanSpeaks)
1845: Belfast media publish article on speech given by abolitionist Frederick Douglass to a large audience in the city on December 5th.
“Mr. DOUGLASS then came forward, and was received with loud applause. He said he felt great pleasure in seeing so many kind and respectable people there assembled, in order to hear an account of the system of slavery from one who had experienced what it was to be a slave. He felt considerable embarrassment in thus standing before intelligent people, for the purpose of instructing them. Slavery was a poor school for acquiring moral, religious, or intellectual improvement.”
Frederick Douglass Mural Belfast
1912: Famed Irish American politician Tip O’Neill is born. O’Neill’s grandfather who was from Mallow, Co. Cork emigrated to the US in 1851. Tip O’Neill went on to become Speaker of the House in 1977. Although on opposite sides of the political aisle, O’Neill was very friendly with Ronald Reagan often swapping profane Irish and ethnic stories. O’Neill was a strong supporter of the Northern Ireland peace process
1920: IRA officer Ernie O’Malley is captured by British forces in Co. Kerry with a notebook containing names of his IRA colleagues. Seven were arrested as a result. O’Malley fought on the anti-treaty side during the civil war and wrote a well received memoir about the Irish War of Independence titled On Another Man’s Wound.
1973: Sunningdale Agreement is signed in Belfast by British, Irish and Northern Ireland representatives. The agreement called for the setting up of a Council of Ireland made up of a cabinet of ministers and a consultative assembly. The power sharing agreement would eventually fall in the face of Unionist intransigence and an Ulster Workers Council general strike in May 1974. London would then institute direct rule over Northern Ireland.
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This history is written by Irish author, business keynote speaker and award winning humoristIrishmanSpeaks – Conor Cunneen. If you spot any inaccuracies or wish to make a comment, please don’t hesitate to contact us via the comment button.
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