Today In Irish History

October 31: 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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1864: Irish Medal of Honor winner Patrick Colbert

Patrick Colbert is awarded Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 1840, Ireland. For his actions on this day in 1864, Patrick Colbert was awarded the Medal of honor, 31 December 1864.

Citation: The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Coxswain Patrick Colbert, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving on board the U.S.S. Commodore Hull at the capture of Plymouth, North Carolina, 31 October 1864. Painfully wounded by a shell which killed the man at his side, Coxswain Colbert, as Captain of the forward pivot gun, remained at his post until the end of the action, braving the heavy enemy fire and appearing as cool as if at mere target practice.

Colbert died in 1877 and is buried in Detroit.

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1890: Irish Medal of Honor winner Patrick Ginley

Irish born (1822) Patrick Ginley is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor twenty-six years after the incident where he showed his courage. Ginley won the award while serving as a Private in Company G, 1st New York Light Artillery.

Citation: The command having been driven from the works, he, having been left alone between the opposing lines, crept back into the works, put 3 charges of canister in one of the guns, and fired the piece directly into a body of the enemy about to seize the works; he then rejoined his command, took the colors, and ran toward the enemy, followed by the command, which recaptured the works and guns.

Several days after the battle, Ginley received the following accolade from Ulysses S. Grant.

“Private Ginley, it is not to-day nor to-morrow that you and every man undergoing the hardships of this war will be remembered by the country for his services.  But every hero sooner or later receives his just reward.  In this day of history making, when the deeds of individual valor are taking their places in the record of the War of the Rebellion, when the records are in the hands of those at Washington who helped to make them, each individual act of heroism of which there is a record will be recognized.” Source: The Story of American Heroism by Lew Wallace (The Ben Hur author).

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FREE Download The Story of American Heroism

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READ: This Might Scourge

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1961: U2 Drummer Larry Mullen 

U2 drummer Larry Mullen born. Here you can see interview with U2 founder(!) Mullen being interviewed and telling  how he gave Bono his first job!

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1973: IRA Helicopter Escape

Three Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, aboard a hijacked Alouette II helicopter. Irish prison guards are not armed. It was a brilliantly audacious escapade by the IRA and generated intense embarrassment for the government but wonderful PR for the IRA.

READ: Republican Editorial on Helicopter Escape (actually quite funny)

The ever opportunistic Wolfe Tones who had a unique ability to capture republican emotions in catchy songs wrote a very humorous song about the escape.

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2009: U2 play Madison Square Garden for 25th anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert.

The two night event featured other rock giants like Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Jeff Beck and THE Boss, Bruce Springsteen who is of course of Irish extraction. Bono referred to the Garden as “rock ’n’ roll’s great cathedral” for “the saints and the heretics, the poets and the punks, that now make up the Hall of Fame.”

The Black Eyed Peas joined U2 for Mysterious Ways and were then joined by Mick Jagger for Gimme Shelter and Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.

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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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