April 6: TODAY in Irish History:

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Oscar Wilde image in For the Love of Being Irish

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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1895: Arrest of Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde is arrested after losing his libel case against the Marquess of Queensbury.

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Image of Oscar Wilde in For the Love of Being Irish by Conor Cunneen. Illustrations my Mark Anderson.

Purchase Author Signed Copies at My Irish Gift Store

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Married to Constance Lloyd and father of two children Cyril (1885-1915) and Vyvyan (1886-1967), Wilde was also conducting an ongoing affair with Lord Alfred “Bosie”  Douglas, the third son of the Marquess of Queensbury.  When the outraged Marquess called Wilde a homosexual, the Irish playwright took the silly decision to sue for libel. He lost, was arrested for homosexuality (then a crime) and sentenced to two years hard labor for gross indecency.

Following his release, he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol which was dedicated to Charles Thomas Woodridge “Sometime Trooper of the Royal Horse Guards” who was executed for murdering his wife prompting Wilde to famously write

Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard.
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word.
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

Jail broke his spirit “and that each day is like a year, a year whose days are long,”  and a lonely, desolate, poverty stricken  Wilde died in Paris in 1900 at age 46.

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READ: The Ballad of Reading Gaol

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1926: Ian Paisley

Ian Paisley, Moderator and minister of the Free Presbyterian Church,  and dominating voice of reactionary loyalist emotion for most of the latter part of the twentieth century is born in Armagh. Paisley first came to prominence in the 1960s organizing demonstrations and loyalist paramilitary groups that often bordered on the edge of legality.

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Cover image of Clifford Smith book on Ian Paisley

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In 1969, Paisley was jailed along for organizing an illegal counter-demonstration against a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in Armagh. His bullying personality and robust  anti-papist rhetoric made him a hero amongst working class Protestants. Over a period of time, the big man mellowed from one who was a leading architect of the downfall of the Sunningdale power sharing agreement to joining in government with life long foe (and former IRA leader) Martin McGuinness. On 8 May 2007 Paisley was elected as First Minister of Northern Ireland with Martin McGuinness as the deputy First Minister.

Who’d a thunk? Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness

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1990: Peter Doherty

Peter Doherty

On this day in 1990, death of Peter Doherty (b.1913) , one of the finest footballers to play for Northern Ireland. Over a distinguished career he won a League Championship medal with Manchester City in 1938, an FA Cup medal with Derby and in the words of one of his opponents (later Manchester City Manager) Joe Mercer “”Of all the opponents I faced I particularly remember Doherty, who was unplayable on his day. He was built like a greyhound, very fast and elusive but with stamina, too. He had a Rolls-Royce engine in him.”

Doherty went on to manage Northern Ireland and took the tiny nation to the 1958 World Cup Finals in Stockholm.

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READ: Biography Peter Doherty

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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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