Archive for March, 2013

March 25,

Irishman Who Died with Custer – The Black and Tans at Today in Irish History

March 25: TODAY in Irish History:

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Little Big Horn Casualty Myles Keogh

Little Big Horn Casualty Myles Keogh

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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WATCH: A Short History of Ireland

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1738: O’Carolan, the Harpist

Turlough O'Carolan

Turlough O’Carolan

Death of Irish harpist and composer Turlough O’Carolan. His wake lasted four days! At age 18, he was blinded by smallpox and took to playing the harp. O’Carolan travelled Ireland most of his life as a wandering minstrel and composer  achieving a level of fame that was unusual for the time. At age fifty he married and fathered seven children. O’Carolan’s most famous work is his Concerto.

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READ: Bio of O’Carolan

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1840: Captain Myles Keogh

Myles Keogh, decorated Irish soldier, veteran of the 1860 Papal War, Civil War and casualty with Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn is born in County Carlow.

Irish born Myles Keogh was killed at battle of Little Big Horn

Photo shows Myles Keogh on left.

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1846: Michael Davitt – Irish Land League

Birth of Michael Davitt in County Mayo. Davitt founded the Irish Land League in 1879, a non-violent action group designed to help Irish tenant farmers who effectively had no rights in 19th century Ireland.

Michael Davitt (1846-1906) Irish Land League Founder

The objectives of the Land League were “to bring out a reduction of rack-rents; second, to facilitate the obtaining of the ownership of the soil by the occupiers. That the object of the League can be best attained by promoting organisation among the tenant-farmers; by defending those who may be threatened with eviction for refusing to pay unjust rents; by facilitating the working of the Bright clauses of the Irish Land Act during the winter; and by obtaining such reforms in the laws relating to land as will enable every tenant to become owner of his holding by paying a fair rent for a limited number of years.”

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1920: The first “Black and Tans” arrive in Ireland.

Although they would be operational for less than two years, the “Black and Tans”  would become one of the most reviled names in Irish history. The “Tans” were auxiliary troops recruited specifically for was becoming an increasingly difficult and brutal war in Ireland. The almost exclusively Irish members of the Royal Irish Constabulary were suffering significant casualties from the hands of their fellow countrymen, directed by Michael Collins. The troops were introduced to quell the Irish insurrection. Their method was terror as they rampaged in an undisciplined manner through Ireland.

No self respecting Irishman will drink a “Black and Tan.” 1) Because no one should do anything to Guinness other than consume it. No additives are needed. 2) The emotional revulsion to the “Tans” is too strong.

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READ: Excellent article on the Black and Tans

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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

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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.

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)

   

March 24,

John Millington Synge – Clogheen Ambush – Cardinal James Gibbons at Today in Irish History

March 24: TODAY in Irish History:

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J.M. Synge

Snippets of Irish History by Conor Cunneen IrishmanSpeaks

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

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WATCH: A Short History of Ireland

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1909: Death of Irish playwright, poet and author John Millington Synge

John Millington Synge dies at the tragically young age of thirty-seven from cancer.

John Millington Synge

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Synge was one of the leading lights of what was known as the Irish Literary Revival and along with Yeats and Lady Gregory was a founding member of the Abbey Theatre. His most famous work is The Playboy of the Western World, a satirical comedy which exposed some of the issues at the time of a not very accepting Irish society. On opening night, January 26 1907, an angry crowd rioted during the play at what the Freeman’s Journal referred to (quite hyperbolickly)  as “an unmitigated, protracted libel upon Irish peasant men, and worse still upon Irish girlhood.”

When commenting on riots that occurred after the opening of Sean O’Casey’s  The Plough and the Stars, in 1926 Yeats referenced this event. “You have disgraced yourselves again. Is this to be an ever-recurring celebration of the arrival of Irish genius? Synge first and then O’Casey?

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1921: Clogheen Ambush

Six IRA men from the 1st Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade are killed when they are surrounded in a barn in Clogheen by the British Army. Their whereabouts may have been provided to army intelligence by a fellow IRA member who broke under questioning. In April 1922, the IRA shot a Patrick O’Connor in New York whom they believed was the informer.

times

Sourced at http://theauxiliaries.com/INCIDENTS/coolavohig-ambush/o%27connor/croxy.html

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1921: Cardinal James Gibbons

Death of Cardinal James Gibbons, American Cardinal, Bishop of Richmond and Archbishop of Baltimore was born in Baltimore MD to parents Thomas and Bridget (née Walsh) Gibbons who had emigrated from Tourmakeady, County Mayo. Not long after his birth, the family returned to Ireland. After his father’s death in 1847 at the height of the Famine, Gibbons’ mother moved the family back to the United States.

He was elevated to Cardinal in 1886, only the second American to gain the honor.

James Gibbons Cardinal
Cardinal James Gibbons

Gibbons was an active supporter of the working class and unions at a time when labor was exploited by numerous employers, stating “”It is the right of laboring classes to protect themselves, and the duty of the whole people to find a remedy against avarice, oppression, and corruption.”

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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

___________________________________

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)