Today In Irish History

May 11: 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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1902: Death of Medal of Honor winner Charles H.T. Collis

Collis was born in Ireland in 1838.

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The fifteen year old Collis arrived in Philadelphia with his father in 1853. He studied law and was admitted to the bar on February 4, 1859. At the start of the Civil War Collis joined the 18th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment as sergeant major. Collis formed the Zouaves D’ Afrique, modeled after the elite Algerian troops of the French Army. The regiment became the 114th Pennsylvania Infantry, known as Collis’ Zouaves. Collis won the Medal of Honor for his bravery at Fredericksburg. Due to life threatening wounds received at Chancellorsville, he did not fight at Gettysburg. In 1865 he was breveted Major General at Grant’s prompting.

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Following the war Collis built a house in Gettysburg which still stands on Seminary Ridge. He died on May 11, 1902 and is buried in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, where he is honored by a monument.

Collis later wrote an interesting little book titled The Religion of Abraham Lincoln

Free Download: The Religion of Abraham Lincoln

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Collis’ wife who was from South Carolina and had family fighting for the Confederacy also was an author, writing a short powerful book about the war.

“What better illustration of the abnormal condition of society in those days can be given than a statement of the fact that my daughter was born on September 25, 1862, and that her father, although within twelve hours’ reach of us, did not see her until June, 1863; – and he would not have seen her then, but that he was brought home, it was believed, to die. Careful nursing and desperate fighting by myself and one or two faithful allies restored him soon to health, and he returned to the front, – to find himself at twenty-five years of age in command of a brigade. This promotion was of course gratifying to my pride, but how much more did I value it when I learned that brigade commanders could have their wives with them in camp during the winter, while the unfortunate officers below that rank could not. Yet with all my joy at God’s mercy to me, some days came to me laden with great sorrow. My brother, David Cardoza Levy, a handsome, gallant lieutenant in the Southern army commanded by General Bragg, was about this time killed at the battle of Murfreesborough; seen by his companions to fall, his remains were never afterwards found, though General Rosecrans, to oblige my husband, made every effort to discover them. He lies to-day, God only knows where.
“Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.”

This was the horrible episode of the civil war to me, and although I had many relatives and hosts of friends serving under the Confederate flag all the time, I never fully realized the fratricidal character of the conflict until I lost my idolized brother Dave of the Southern army.”

READ: A Woman’s War Record by Mrs. Charles Collis

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READ: Biography of Charles Collis

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1920: The Auxiliaries and Black and Tans

In response to ongoing violence and rebellion in Ireland and a brutal campaign of attrition against members of the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary), Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War  suggests the formation of a “Special Emergency Gendarmerie, which would become a branch of the Royal Irish Constabulary.” Thus were the “Auxiliaries” born, a group of undisciplined mercenaries and ex-World War I vets who wreaked havoc in Ireland 1920-21. While the Black and Tans are reviled in Irish history as murderous thugs, their role was primarily as a back-up  unit to what often amounted to search and destroy operations conducted by the Auxiliaries.

The Auxiliaries most infamous action occurred on Bloody  Sunday 1920. Following the assassination of twelve English intelligence operatives (the Cairo Gang) on the orders of Michael Collins, Auxiliary troops forced their way into Croke Park Dublin where up to 10,000 people were watching a football game between Tipperary and  Dublin. The troops fired indiscriminately into the crowd killing fourteen people.  On December 11^th, Auxiliaries rampaged through Cork City, burning parts of the city to the ground in retaliation for an ambush they suffered earlier in the day.

Cork City Following Auxiliary Rampage December 1920

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1969: Erik (Chink) Dorman – From British Army Chief of Staff to IRA Supporter

Eric (Chink) Dorman Smith (b. 1895) dies in Cavan Hospital. The Cavan born Smith went from being a senior officer in the British Army to an IRA supporter during the Border Campaign of the 1950s.

During World War I, Smith fought and was wounded on numerous occasions, winning the Military Cross for his actions.

In 1940 he became commandant of the Middle East Staff College and subsequently became Chief of Staff to General Claude Auchinleck of the 8^th Army. Auchinleck’s leadership of the 8^th Army did not inspire confidence in London and on 6th August 1942, Dorman-Smith was sacked along with Auchinleck and never held any important military positions again.

On his return to his family estate in Cavan, Smith’s Irish heritage drew him to sympathize with the IRA to such an extent that he allowed his lands to be used as training ground for IRA activists during the 1950s.

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1971: Death of former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Sean Lemass.

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A veteran of the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War, Lemass was first elected as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency in a by-election on 18 November 1924 and was re-elected at each election until his retirement in 1969. He was a founder-member of Fianna Fáil in 1926, serving in numerous cabinet positions under Eamonn De Valera until he became Taoiseach in 1959. Along with Dr. Patrick T. Whitaker, Lemass created a modern Irish economy free of the protectionist Puritanism of De Valera. He was also the first Taoiseach to meet with the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

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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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