Today In Irish History

April 20: TODAY in Irish History:

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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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1608: Ireland’s First (Official) Distillery

King James I grants Sir Thomas Phillips a royal licence to distil ‘uisce beatha’ (whiskey.) in ‘the territory of the Rowte’ in Co. Antrim. The literal translation of uisce beatha is ‘water of life’. This is the first official recorded evidence of whiskey-making in the area that would become home to Bushmills.

Bushmills holds the oldest license for whiskey distillation in the world. Bushmills is the second biggest selling Irish Whiskey in the world.

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READ: About Bushmills at Whiskey Pages

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1912: Bram Stoker 1847-1912

Death of novelist Bram Stoker (b. 1847), author of Dracula which was first published in 1897. Born in Dublin, Stoker was bed-ridden for much of his childhood, but lived a relatively healthy life during his adulthood. Educated at Trinity College, he moved to London in 1878 and married actress Florence Balcombe. Dracula received some praise on its publication. (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle praised it highly) but it was not until the movie Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi opened in 1931 that vampire mania really took off.

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In 2012, An Post (Irish Post Office) issued stamps commemorating Bram Stoker

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1916:Double Congressional Medal of Honor Winner

Clare-born Henry Hogan, one of only nineteen people to win TWO Congressional Medals of Honor dies age 76.

He was cited for gallantry in 1876 against Sitting Bull’s Lakota warriors at the 1876 Battle of Cedar Creek, and in 1877 for action at Bear Paw Mountain, Montana in a further action in the “Indian Wars.” His second citation reads: 30 September 1877. Citation: Carried Lt. Romeyn, who was severely wounded, off the field of battle under heavy fire.

Another double recipients was also Irish John Cooper for gallantry during the Civil War. Coopers citations read:

“On board the U.S.S. Brooklyn during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the ram Tennessee, in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Despite severe damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked her decks from stem to stern, Cooper fought his gun with skill and courage throughout the furious battle which resulted in the surrender of the prize rebel ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of batteries at Fort Morgan. SECOND AWARD Served as quartermaster on Acting Rear Admiral Thatcher’s staff. During the terrific fire at Mobile, on 26 April 1865, at the risk of being blown to pieces by exploding shells, Cooper advanced through the burning locality, rescued a wounded man from certain death, and bore him on his back to a place of safety. G.O. No.: 62, 29 June 1865.”

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1954: Ireland’s Last Execution

Twenty-five year old Michael Manning from Limerick is the last person to be executed in the Republic of Ireland, for the murder of a 65 year old nurse.  The execution by hanging was carried out in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin by the famous English hangman Albert Pierrepoint who travelled from London for the event. Coincidentally, the first execution Pierrepoint attended was also in Mountjoy in 1932 where he watched his uncle execute a man for murder.

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1991: Death of novelist and short story writer Seán Ó Faoláin.

Irish short story writer Seán Ó Faoláinwas born John Francis Whelan in Cork. In the 1950’s, he served as director of the Arts Council of Ireland. He made a major contribution to the development of Irish literature when he founded the literary periodical The Bell. This publication created quite a bit of controversy as it was outspoken in its attacks on censorship and conservative aspects of Irish nationalism and Catholicism.

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READ: More about at Irish Writers Online

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READ: Article on Seán Ó Faoláin at Cork Independent

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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)

   

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