Today In Irish History

January 17: 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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1764: William Sampson – United Irishman

United Irishman, William Sampson is born the son of a Presbyterian clergyman in Derry. A distinguished lawyer and author, he would die in New York in 1836.

Sampson was one of many non-Catholics who were disturbed by the level of discrimination and violence against members of the Catholic faith. As a lawyer, he defended United Irishmen for anti-British actions before being arrested himself. Expelled from Ireland, he settled in American in 1806. His most lasting impact on American judicial law was when he won a judgment accepting the confidentiality of the confessional. He published his Memoirs in 1807, and a work on the Catholic Question in America in 1813.

The opening lines of Salmon’s Memoirs read:

“At length, I take up my pen….. to give you the history of my extraordinary persecution. From it you may form a judgment of that system of government which drove the unhappy people of Ireland to revolt. But, to judge rightly, you should also be aware, that of many thousand such cases, mine is one of- the most mild.”

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READ FREE eBOOK: Memoirs of William Salmon

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1922: Douglas Hyde, First President of Ireland

Douglas Hyde is born at Longford House in Castlerea in County Roscommon. He was an ardent supporter of the Irish language and was one of the founders of the Gaelic League in 1893, an organization dedicated to the preservation of Irish culture and language, something which had been decimated during the previous two hundred years of British rule.

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In 1938, Hyde was elected unopposed as first President of Ireland. The presidency is primarily an honorary role carrying little executive authority

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SEE: TheJournal.ie for a wonderful set of images of Hyde’s Inauguration.

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1992: Teebane Massacre: IRA Kills 8 Protestants.

An IRA bomb kills eight Protestant builders on their way to work at an Army base near Teebane, County Tyrone. The IRA justification was the workers were “collaborating” with “the forces of occupation. The horrible tragedy also elicited a major PR gaffe by Northern Ireland Secretary of State  Peter Brooke. That evening, following the atrocity, Brooke appeared on The Late Late Show, Dublin and Ireland’s most popular talk show. After condemning the dreadful attack, he then at the invitation of host Gay Byrne sang his favorite song My Darling Clementine, an effort for which he received much criticism and enraged Unionist politicians. Despite this political gaffe, Brooke had made strenuous efforts to move the peace process along. Brooke later revealed that he had offered his resignation over the matter which at the time was not accepted. He was removed as Secretary of State later in the year.

As with much of what happened in Northern Ireland, a terrible vengeance was wreaked. On February 5th, Loyalist gunmen opened fire in a bookie (betting) shop in Belfast killing five Catholics.

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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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