June 6: 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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1820: Death of Henry Grattan
Death of politician and opponent of the 1800 Act of Union, Henry Grattan (b. 1746). Born to Anglo Irish Protestant wealth, Grattan entered the Irish Parliament in 1775. A brilliant orator, he was one of the key players in winning legislative independence for Ireland in 1782.
This unfortunately was to last only until the Act of Union, to which he was bitterly opposed. Despite his opposition to the Act, he did later take his seat in the House of Commons in London.
- Henry Grattan
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1940: Rugby International Willie John McBride
Willie John McBride, inspirational Irish and Lions rugby player is born in Ballymena, Co. Antrim. In a career spanning 1962-75, the big man played 63 times for Ireland and 17 times for the Lions. He captained the British and Irish Lions to the first ever test series victory against South Africa in a brutal and memorable set of games in 1974. The tour itself was marred by much controversy and opposition to playing in apartheid ridden South Africa.
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See also The Invincibles. Lions Tour of South Africa 1974
McBride leads Lions team out at start of this video and is seen being carried shoulder high by his delighted team mates.
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1966: Bobby Kennedy Assassination
Twenty six hours after being shot by disaffected Palestinian supporter Sirhan Sirhan, Robert Kennedy dies of his wounds. The younger and devoted brother of Jack Kennedy, he had been the trusted aide, counselor and Attorney General to the President’s assassination the previous November.
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Following JFK’s assassination, he stayed in government under Lyndon Johnson, a man he despised as uncouth and unsuitable to follow his brother. The emotions were mutual. Kennedy resigned the AG office to run for Senator for New York in late 1964 – an election he won with ironically, strong support from Johnson.
Although originally elevated to the Attorney General role, that he was hardly qualified for by his presidential brother, Bobby proved an effective and tough AG and a maturing politician before his death.
His finest moment may have been when he announced the assassination of Martin Luther King to an audience in Indiana, news that he had only heard minutes previously. It is a beautiful, poignant speech.
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READ: Interesting speech by Robert Kennedy to Friendly Sons of St. Patrick
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1984: Ronald Reagan, Peggy Noonan and The Boys of Pointe du Hoc
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In Normandy, Ronald Reagan delivers his famed The Boys of Pointe du Hoc speech at Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day. Reagan’s speech was crafted by a young Irish American Peggy Noonan whose grandmother was “a big, broad Irish peasant, a poor girl who came from a family where they sheared the lambs in the house. She was a plain and modest woman who loved her church and her faith.” Noonan states at her website that the grandmother “had this funny little habit of, um, reading tea leaves. And when the priests would come to call, she and her friends would run around hiding the teacups from which she was divining the future. But she was from mystical, spirit-filled Ireland, where as a child she actually saw fairies frolic in the glen. If you saw fairies, you’d read tea leaves too. “
In speech making, Noonan is no one hit wonder. She crafted Reagan’s memorable and poignant speech on the Challenger disaster, January 28 1986, a speech that was crafted by necessity in one afternoon.
Today, she is a Wall Street Journalist and continues to be an unabashed supporter of her Irish American brother Ronald Reagan. An author of a number of best sellers, her book on communication Simply Speaking is a concise masterpiece on getting your message across.
For Full Text of The Boys of Pointe du Hoc
- Ronald Reagan and Peggy Noonan
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WATCH: A Short History of Ireland
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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