Archive for May, 2012

May 23,

1798 Rebellion Commences. The Good Friday Agreement – Today in Irish History

May 23: TODAY in Irish History:

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Today in Irish History: Curated by Conor Cunneen IrishmanSpeaks

Chicago Motivational Humorous Business Speaker, Author and History buff.

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ON THIS DAY

1796: Death of Waterford architect John Roberts (b. 1712). Much of Waterford bears testimony to Roberts skills. He has the rare distinction of designing both the Catholic and Protestant Cathedrals in a city (especially given the times he lived in.) Roberts first major assignment was to complete the Bishop’s Palace on The Mall of Dr. Richard Chevenix, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Waterford & Lismore. His other designs include the forecourt of Curraghmore House for the Marquis of Waterford, Newtown House (now Newtown School) for John Wyse and Faithlegg House for the Bolton family. In 1785 he built the residence of William Morris, now the Harbour Commissioners’ headquarters and the Chamber of Commerce. In 1787 he was commissioned to build a new Leper Hospital on John’s Hill. Roberts also built the Assembly Rooms on the Mall in 1788, which is now the Theatre Royal and City Hall.

Waterford Cathedral by John Roberts

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1798: The short lived 1798 Rebellion instigated by the United Irishmen commences when on the night of the 23rd the mail coaches leaving Dublin were seized – as a signal to those United Irishmen outside the capital that the time of the uprising had arrived.

Founded in 1791, The United Irishmen had been inspired by the French Revolution. Led by Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, Henry Joy McCracken and William Drennan, their idealistic goal was to unite Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter into one political movement to rid Ireland of English rule. The seizure of the mail coaches did not evoke a rising in Dublin as planned and over coming days mis-matched Irish throughout the country, but especially Wexford were put to the sword by a brutal English response.

United Irishmen Leader Henry Joy McCracken

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1998: Results of the referendums held in Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland on Good Friday Agreement show a massive majority in support on both sides of the border.

Good Friday Architects Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair

The questions asked of each electorate were different.

In the North, 71% said “Yes” to “Do you support the Agreement reached at the multi-party talks on Northern Ireland and set out in Command Paper 3883?”

In the Republic, 94% of those who went to the polls voted “Yes” to the question “Do you approve of the proposal to amend the Constitution contained in the (19th Amendment to the Constitution) undermentioned Bill? The amendment relinquished the Republic of Ireland’s claim to Northern Ireland which had been enshrined in the 1937 Constitution, just 15 years after Ireland was partitioned.

The deleted articles read:

Article 2: The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas.

Article 3: Pending the re-integration of the national territory, and without prejudice to the right of the Parliament and Government established by this Constitution to exercise jurisdiction over the whole of that territory, the laws enacted by that Parliament shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws of Saorstát Éireann and the like extra-territorial effect.

The deleted articles were replaced with:

2. It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish nation. That is also the entitlement of all persons otherwise qualified in accordance with law to be citizens of Ireland. Furthermore, the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage.

3.1. It is the firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions, recognising that a united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people, democratically expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island. Until then, the laws enacted by the Parliament established by this Constitution shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws enacted by the Parliament that existed immediately before the coming into operation of this Constitution.

3.2. Institutions with executive powers and functions that are shared between those jurisdictions may be established by their respective responsible authorities for stated purposes and may exercise powers and functions in respect of all or any part of the island.

FOR MORE DETAIL ON THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT

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Want to learn more about Ireland? See these images and more in the acclaimed For the Love of Being Irish

Irish gift ideas. Best selling Irish booksRonnie Drew and Luke Kelly - Musical Irish Gifts to the worldJoyce Image in For the Love of Being IrishMichael Collins: Image from For the Love of Being Irish

BUY Quality Quality Guinness and Ireland Rugby Shirts
Guinness Rugby Shirts - Brilliant!Rugby Shirt - Ireland


For the Love of Being Irish written by Chicago based Corkman Conor Cunneen and illustrated by Mark Anderson which is an A-Z of all things Irish. This is a book that contains History, Horror, Humor, Passion, Pathos and Lyrical Limericks that will have you giving thanks (or wishing you were) For the Love of Being Irish

Watch For the Love of Being Irish author Conor Cunneen – IrishmanSpeaks on his Youtube channel IrishmanSpeaks. Laugh and Learn.

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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.

Visit Conor’s YouTube channel IrishmanSpeaksto Laugh and Learn. Tags: Best Irish Gift, Creative Irish Gift, Unique Irish Gifts, Irish Books, Irish Authors, Today in Irish HistoryTODAY IN IRISH HISTORY (published by IrishmanSpeaks)


Want to learn more about Ireland? See these images and more in the acclaimed For the Love of Being Irish
Irish gift ideas. Best selling Irish booksRonnie Drew and Luke Kelly - Musical Irish Gifts to the worldJoyce Image in For the Love of Being IrishMichael Collins: Image from For the Love of Being Irish

BUY Quality Quality Guinness and Ireland Rugby Shirts
Guinness Rugby Shirts - Brilliant!Rugby Shirt - Ireland


For the Love of Being Irish written by Chicago based Corkman Conor Cunneen and illustrated by Mark Anderson which is an A-Z of all things Irish. This is a book that contains History, Horror, Humor, Passion, Pathos and Lyrical Limericks that will have you giving thanks (or wishing you were) For the Love of Being Irish

Watch For the Love of Being Irish author Conor Cunneen – IrishmanSpeaks on his Youtube channel IrishmanSpeaks. Laugh and Learn.

___________________________________

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.

Visit Conor’s YouTube channel IrishmanSpeaksto Laugh and Learn. Tags: Best Irish Gift, Creative Irish Gift, Unique Irish Gifts, Irish Books, Irish Authors, Today in Irish History

May 22,

George Best: Football Genius on this day in Irish History

May 22: TODAY in Irish History:

_______________________________________________________________________

Today in Irish History: Curated by Conor Cunneen IrishmanSpeaks

Chicago Motivational Humorous Business Speaker, Author and History buff.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ON THIS DAY

1946: Football genius George Best is born in Belfast. “Georgie Boy” is undoubtedly the finest soccer Irish player ever and probably one of the five finest footballers ever. Best was discovered by famed Belfast scout Bob Bishop who told Manchester United manager Matt Busby “I have found a genius.” He was not exaggerating. From the time he made his debut as a 17 year old for United on 14 September 1963, he lit up the football landscape for most of the following ten years.

George Best 1946-2005

Best was the first soccer superstar who after he demolished Benfica almost single-handedly in a European Cup was nicknamed by the Portuguese press as “El Beatle” due to his long(ish) hair. Best won league championship medals with United in 1965 and 1967. In 1968 he won the European Cup with United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year and Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year.

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PORTRAIT OF A GENIUS

Then it started to go downhill. The young man who was shy by nature started drinking heavily, missing training sessions and games. The pressure to perform in what was becoming a very poor United team added to his problems. He walked out on United in 1972, returned and then finally quit the club in 1974. The ghost of a wonderful footballer played itinerantly for 11 clubs in South Africa, Ireland (Cork Celtic), Scotland and USA for a period, but he could never beat his drink demons which saw him in 1984 serve a three-month prison sentence for drunk driving, assaulting a police officer and failing to answer bail.

One of Best’s goals for the San Jose Earthquakes in 1981 shows just what Best was capable of  even at 36.

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GEORGE: BEST Goal EVER!!

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Best lived the pop star life to the full. In one of his most famous anecdotes, he tells of a waiter delivering champagne to Best’s hotel room where thousands of pounds of casino winnings and the current Miss World lay on the bed. The waiter asked: “Mr. Best, where did it all go wrong?”

Best told self-deprecating stories about himself to the day he died November 25, 2005. “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”

He was a beautiful man who didn’t know how to handle fame. Jeff Powell of The Mail on Sunday summed the Belfast Boy up best.

“History will rank him among the three best footballers. But the real debate is not the one about whether he, Pele or Maradona is the greatest. George was simply the most beautiful footballer of all, in every sense. The most impossibly handsome, the most poetic in motion, the most romantic lover of the ball.”

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Want to learn more about Ireland? See these images and more in the acclaimed For the Love of Being Irish

Irish gift ideas. Best selling Irish booksRonnie Drew and Luke Kelly - Musical Irish Gifts to the worldJoyce Image in For the Love of Being IrishMichael Collins: Image from For the Love of Being Irish

BUY Quality Quality Guinness and Ireland Rugby Shirts
Guinness Rugby Shirts - Brilliant!Rugby Shirt - Ireland


For the Love of Being Irish written by Chicago based Corkman Conor Cunneen and illustrated by Mark Anderson which is an A-Z of all things Irish. This is a book that contains History, Horror, Humor, Passion, Pathos and Lyrical Limericks that will have you giving thanks (or wishing you were) For the Love of Being Irish

Watch For the Love of Being Irish author Conor Cunneen – IrishmanSpeaks on his Youtube channel IrishmanSpeaks. Laugh and Learn.

___________________________________

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.

Visit Conor’s YouTube channel IrishmanSpeaksto Laugh and Learn. Tags: Best Irish Gift, Creative Irish Gift, Unique Irish Gifts, Irish Books, Irish Authors, Today in Irish HistoryTODAY IN IRISH HISTORY (published by IrishmanSpeaks)


Want to learn more about Ireland? See these images and more in the acclaimed For the Love of Being Irish
Irish gift ideas. Best selling Irish booksRonnie Drew and Luke Kelly - Musical Irish Gifts to the worldJoyce Image in For the Love of Being IrishMichael Collins: Image from For the Love of Being Irish

BUY Quality Quality Guinness and Ireland Rugby Shirts
Guinness Rugby Shirts - Brilliant!Rugby Shirt - Ireland


For the Love of Being Irish written by Chicago based Corkman Conor Cunneen and illustrated by Mark Anderson which is an A-Z of all things Irish. This is a book that contains History, Horror, Humor, Passion, Pathos and Lyrical Limericks that will have you giving thanks (or wishing you were) For the Love of Being Irish

Watch For the Love of Being Irish author Conor Cunneen – IrishmanSpeaks on his Youtube channel IrishmanSpeaks. Laugh and Learn.

___________________________________

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.

Visit Conor’s YouTube channel IrishmanSpeaksto Laugh and Learn. Tags: Best Irish Gift, Creative Irish Gift, Unique Irish Gifts, Irish Books, Irish Authors, Today in Irish History