Today In Irish History

Dec 23: TODAY in Irish History:

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Noel Purcell 1900-1985

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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1900: Actor Noel Purcell is born in Dublin.

Noel Purcell 1900-1985

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Purcell was a beloved actor who played support roles in over seventy movies including Moby Dick. Dubliners of all ages appreciate his Dublin Saunter which was never a commercial hit for the gentlemanly actor, but is a piece he is well remembered for.

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Noel Purcell in Winter Cruise (1951) based on Somerset Maugham short story

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1920: The Government of Ireland Act is passed by British Parliament, creating the state of Northern Ireland and formalizing the partition of  Ireland between The Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.

The opening lines read:

“AN ACT to provide for the better Government of Ireland..

There shall be established for Northern Ireland a Parliament to be called the Parliament of Northern Ireland consisting of His Majesty, the Senate of Northern Ireland, and the House of Commons of Northern Ireland.

For the purposes of this Act, Northern Ireland shall consist of the parliamentary counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone, and the parliamentary boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry.”

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1920: Eamon De Valera returns from America

De Valera had presented himself as “President of Ireland” during his trip although he was not recognized in this capacity by the US government.  De Valera evoked generous financial, emotional and political good will for Ireland during his eighteen month trip. He spoke at Madison Square Garden and Fenway Park drawing audiences in some cases of more than twenty thousand people. Always a divisive figure, even among Irish Americans, he created many enemies and many friends. In his book De Valera in America, author Dave Hannigan repeats Yeats’ oft quoted comment about the New York born De Valera “I was rather disappointed—A living argument rather than a living man, all propaganda, no human life, but not bitter hysterical or unjust.”

Huge crowds for De Valera Fenway Park June 29 1919

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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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