Archive for December, 2012

December 10,

Irish Nobel Prize Winners – W. B. Yeats – John Hume – David Trimble on This Day in Irish History

Dec 10: TODAY in Irish History:

** ** **

Snippets of Irish History by Conor Cunneen IrishmanSpeaks 

Conor is a Chicago based Motivational Humorous Business Speaker, Author and History buff.

** ** **

.

1920: Martial Law Introduced

In response to increasing violence and deaths, the British declare martial law in Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary.

.

** ** **

.

1923: Yeats receives Nobel Prize in Literature

The honor was conferred “for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”

At the Nobel Banquet, the Dublin born poet spoke of the development of Irish literature. “Thirty years ago a number of Irish writers met together in societies and began a remorseless criticism of the literature of their country. It was their dream that by freeing it from provincialism they might win for it European recognition. I owe much to those men, still more to those who joined our movement a few years later, and when I return to Ireland these men and women, now growing old like myself, will see in this great honour a fulfilment of that dream.

.

WB Yeats in For the Love of Being Irish

Illustration of W.B. Yeats in For the Love of Being Irish by author Conor Cunneen

.

** ** **

.

1998: Peace Prize for Hume and Trimble

.

David Trimble and John Hume

David Trimble and John Hume

.

John Hume and David Trimble receive the Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.”

In accepting the award Hume spoke about  the “extraordinary courage and fortitude by individual men and women, innocent victims of violence. Amid shattered lives, a quiet heroism has born silent rebuke to the evil that violence represents, to the carnage and waste of violence, to its ultimate futility.” 

In his Nobel Peace Prize lecture, David Trimble spoke with humor “the way politics work in Northern Ireland – if John Hume has a medal, it is important that I have one too” and with a strong historical perspective. Referencing famed Irish born orator and parliamentarian Edmund Burke  who “of course he has special significance for us in Ireland. Burke, the son of a protestant father and a catholic mother, was a man who in word and in deed honoured both religious traditions, recognised and respected his Irish roots and the British Parliamentary system which nursed him to the full flowering of his genius. Today as we seek to decommission not only arms and ammunition, but also hearts and minds, Burke provides us not only with a powerful role model of the pluralist Irishman, but also with a powerful role model for politicians everywhere.

Burke is the best model for what might be called politicians of the possible. Politicians who seek to make a working peace, not in some perfect world, that never was, but in this, the flawed world, which is our only workshop.”

In 2010, John Hume in a phone and text poll conducted by Irish national broadcaster RTE, was voted Ireland’s Greatest.

.

** ** **

.

.

** ** **

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

___________________________________

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.

Tags: Best Irish Gift, Creative Irish Gift, Unique Irish Gifts, Irish Books, Irish Authors, Today in Irish History TODAY IN IRISH HISTORY (published by IrishmanSpeaks)

   

December 9,

Frederick Douglass in Belfast – Tip O’Neill – Sunningdale Agreement at Today in Irish History

Dec 9: TODAY in Irish History:

** ** **

Snippets of Irish History by Conor Cunneen IrishmanSpeaks 

Conor is a Chicago based Motivational Humorous Business Speaker, Author and History buff.

** ** **

.

1845: Frederick Douglass in Belfast

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 ireland

Douglass Mural Belfast

.

** ** **

.

 1912: Tip O’Neill

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 a position he held for ten years. 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.

When O’Neill died in 1994 at the age of 81, he was lauded by friends and political foes. Longtime rival Bob Dole said “He was the Congressman’s Congressman.”

.

Reagan with Tip O'Neill

Reagan with Tip O’Neill

.

** ** **

.

1920: Capture of Ernie O’Malley

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. He was captured and imprisoned by Irish government forces in 1922 and spent almost two years in jail. He had strong literary skills. His most famous work is a well received memoir about the Irish War of Independence titled On Another Man’s Wound which he wrote while traveling in Mexico and Peru.

.

Ernie O'Malley

Ernie O’Malley

.

** ** **

.

1973: Sunningdale Agreement

The 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.

Taoiseach Liam Cosgrove and PM Ted Heath after signing of Agreement

Taoiseach Liam Cosgrove and PM Ted Heath after signing of Agreement

.

** ** **

.

.

** ** **

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

___________________________________

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.

Tags: Best Irish Gift, Creative Irish Gift, Unique Irish Gifts, Irish Books, Irish Authors, Today in Irish History TODAY IN IRISH HISTORY (published by IrishmanSpeaks)