Dec 12: TODAY in Irish History:
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Snippets of Irish History by Conor Cunneen IrishmanSpeaks 
Conor is a Chicago based Motivational Humorous Business Speaker, Author and History buff.
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1883: Bold Fenian Men Composer Peadar Kearney is born in Dublin
Peadar Kearney with son
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READ: Bio of Peadar Kearney
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The Bold Fenian Men (Rio Grande)
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Note: Despite this wonderful rendition and tribute to General Philip Sheridan, the song itself was not composed until 1916 by Peadar Kearney!
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1920: Cork Bishop Threatens IRA with Excommunication
Referring to violent activity by the IRA activity, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cork, Daniel Cohalan , issued a decree saying that “anyone within the diocese of Cork who organises or takes part in ambushes or murder or attempted murder and shall incur by the very fact the censure of excommunication.”
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Bishop Dan Cohalan
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Cohalan had similar stinging words for the British authorities, but his censure was ill-received by his Catholic flock who saw at least two priests Canon Thomas J. Magner and Father Michael Griffin in Co. Galway killed by rampaging British troops.
Cork went on to become one of the most violent counties during the War of Independence. Proud Corkmen like to reference their county as the “Rebel County.”
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1974: Seán MacBride receives Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.
Seán MacBride 1904-1988
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MacBride opened his very lengthy award speech on The Imperatives of Survival stating “It is nearly with a feeling of despair that I come to your beautiful country and city to receive this hardly deserved honor. Despair partly because we are living in a world where war, violence, brutality and ever increasing armament dominate the thinking of humanity; but, more so, because humanity itself gives the appearance of having become numbed or terrified by its own impotence in the face of disaster.”
Sean MacBride, along with Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato received a half-share of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on human rights. MacBride was born on January 26, 1904 in Paris, the son of John MacBride (executed for 1916 rising) and Maud Gonne and was actively involved in the War of independence. MacBride went on to become a distinguished jurist and was a founding member of Amnesty International.
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1975: Balcombe Street Siege Ends
A six day siege ends in Balcombe Street London after four IRA men surrender to British authorities and release two hostages. The so called Balcombe Street Gang – Martin O’Connell, Edward Butler, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty were charged with ten murders including that of Guinness Book of Records editor Ross McWhirter. Sentenced to life imprisonment, all four would be released in 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday accord..
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During their trial the men advised their lawyers to “draw attention to the fact that four totally innocent people were serving massive sentences” for three bombings in Woolwich and Guildford. Despite admitting responsibility for the bombings, they were never charged with these offences and The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven remained in prison for fifteen more years, until it was determined that their convictions were unsafe.
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Want to learn more about Ireland? See these images and more in the acclaimed For the Love of Being Irish
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This history is written by Irish author, business keynote speaker and award winning humorist IrishmanSpeaks – 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 IrishmanSpeaks to Laugh and Learn.
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Today In Irish History
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