Today In Irish History

April 2: TODAY in Irish History:

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Vincent Hanley 1954-1987

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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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WATCH: A Short History of Ireland

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1862: Sir Bryan Thomas Mahon

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Birth  in  County Galway of Sir Bryan Thomas Mahon (d.  29 September 1930), British Army general and Irish Senator.

Mahon had a distinguished military career which included the Boer War and commanding the 10^th Division at the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign until he was posted to Egypt May 1916. Later that year he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Ireland (1916-1918). This British Pathe clip shows Mahon in Ireland.

He was appointed to Seanad Éireann by the President of the Executive Council, William T. Cosgrave, in 1922. This though did not prevent him suffering during the Irish Civil War as his County Kildare property was burned down by anti-Treaty forces in February 1923. He was elected to the Seanad in 1928, and served until his death in 1930.

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1871: Medal of Honor Winner Thomas Francis Prendergast

Birth in County Waterford of Thomas Francis Prendergast who would win the Congressional Medal of Honor “For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in battle while with the Eighth Army Corps, 25, 27, 29 March, and 5 April 1899” during the Philippine-American War.

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1912: Titanic Sea Trials

Titanic sails under her own power for first sea trials, less than TWO weeks before the commencement of her ill fated voyage. She is officially certified as “good for one year from today.”

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1954: TV and Radio Personality Vincent Hanley

Vincent Hanley 1954-1987

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Vincent Hanley is born in clonmel, Co. Tipperary. Hanley would become one of the most popular and flamboyant DJs on Irish media at a time when most radio and TV hosts suffered personality bypass. Nick-named Fab Vinny, he was an exuberant personality who died of an aids related death aged 33. At a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Ireland and most definitely frowned upon, Hanley never admitted his sexual orientation. (He almost certainly would have been fired by national radio station RTE.) He moved to New York in 1982 and produced the very successful MT USA program.

Hanly never publicly admitted to being gay, but in 1990 the Sunday Tribune newspaper placed Hanley at the top of a list of Irish gay icons.

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READ: Clonmel Honors Vincent Hanley

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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.

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)

Posted on April 2, at 8:31 am in Famous Irish People   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL