Today In Irish History

September 16: TODAY in Irish History:

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Count John McCormack

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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1830: Birth of Cardinal Patrick Francis Moran

READ Bio of Patrick Francis Moran, County Carlow born Archbishop of Sydney and first Australian Cardinal

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1903: Frank O’Connor – Author

Irish author Frank O’Connor is born Michael Francis O’Connor O’Donovan in the “Real Capital!” – Cork.

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His memoir An Only Child is an evocative work detailing his upbringing in poverty in his native Cork. He fought in the Irish War of Independence and supported the anti-Treaty side in 1922 for which he was interned for a period of time. O’Connor served as a director of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in the 1930s, collaborating on many of its productions.

O’Connor’s writing on His First Confession is pure comedy as he tells the priest he planned to kill his grandmother because “she’s an awful woman… she takes porter, father, and snuff , father.”

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READ: Full Text My First Confession (It’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face.)

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In The Rising of the Moon, an anthology of Irish stories directed by John Ford, one of O’Connor’s finest works is treated beautifully by the great director. Noel Purcell and Cyril Cusack feature in a short piece based on O’Connor’s The Majesty of the Law.

The Majesty of the Law

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Frank O’Connor’s  works include:

Guests of the Nation

Bones of Contention

Crab Apple Jelly 

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1934: Ronnie Drew

Ronnie Drew, legendary singer with The Dubliners first saw the light of day. The Dubliners version of Seven Drunken Nights reached #7 in UK charts even though it was banned by the moral guardians of the BBC. Ah, those were simple days.

This illustration of Ronnie Drew and his wonderful sidekick Luke Kelly appears in For the Love of Being Irish under the letter “D” for Dublin(ers).

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1945: Death of Irish Tenor Count John McCormack

Death of Count John McCormack, possibly the finest singer Ireland has ever produced from respiratory problems.

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Born in Athlone in 1884. McCormack won a number of Irish singing competitions before moving to Italy to study voice. In 1907 he becamee the youngest leading tenor at the Royal Opera at Covent Garden. He won numerous accolades as a singer. He had a minor film career but was a huge opera star in Europe and America. A devout Catholic, he received the title of Papal Count from Pope Pius XI in 1928 in recognition of his work for Catholic charities.

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READ: Detailed biography of Count John McCormack

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John McCormack sings My Wild Irish Rose

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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.

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)