November 26: TODAY in Irish History:
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Taoiseach Bertie Ahern with Tony Blair
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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1651: Death of Henry Ireton – Cromwell’s Son-in-Law
- Henry Ireton – Cromwell son-in-law
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Henry Ireton was effectively Cromwell’s Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. Shortly after the Siege of Limerick ended (October 27) Ireton took ill, allegedly of the plague. The death of his son-in-law “struck a great sadness into Cromwell.” Ireton had granted mercy to most of the Limerick defenders, but not the Bishop of Emly “who had long encouraged the people to fight for their country and their faith, and had refused a large bribe which the Cromwellian General had offered him if he would leave the city. The ecclesiastics were soon condemned; but, ere the Bishop was dragged to the gibbet, he turned to the dark and cruel man who had sacrificed so many lives, and poured such torrents of blood over the land, summoning him, in stern and prophetic tones, to answer at God’s judgment-seat for the evils he had done. The Bishop and his companion were martyred on the Eve of All Saints, October 31st, 1651. On the 26th of November Ireton was a corpse. He caught the plague eight days after he had been summoned to the tribunal of eternal justice; and he died raving wildly of the men whom he had murdered, and accusing everyone but himself of the crime he had committed.”
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- Ireton condemns Bishop
Source: Illustrated History of Ireland (1868) by Margaret Ann Cusack
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Ireton’s body was embalmed and conveyed to England, where it was buried in Westminster Abbey. Ireton, though did not rest there. After the Restoration, Charles II had Ireton’s and Cromwell’s remains, disinterred, exposed on a scaffold, and burned at Tyburn!
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1995: Ireland Approves Divorce
In a constitutional vote, a tiny majority vote to revoke the ban on divorce in Ireland. The final tally showed 50.3% in favor. 49.7% opposed the change, a majority of 9,114 out of a total 1.6 million votes cast.
Divorce had been banned in Ireland for fifty-eight years. While all the major political parties campaigned (although not very vigorously) for a “Yes” vote, the “No” vote was energized by support from Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.
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1998: Tony Blair Addresses Dail Eireann
Tony Blair is first UK Prime Minister to address Dail Eireann. Blair whose mother was from Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal received an enthusiastic response from a packed house.
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- Tony Blair with Bertie Ahern (not Dail Eireann)
Blair opened by mangling the Irish language for which he apologized and then outlined problems he had when addressing the French National Assembly.
“Having addressed the French National Assembly in French, I got a little above myself and [747] decided to give a press conference in French with Mr. Lionel Jospin, the French Prime Minister. I attempted to say in French that I envied the various positions Mr. Jospin had taken in his political life but ended up saying that I desired Lionel Jospin in many different positions. As you can imagine, it is not easy to recover from that in any language.”
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READ: Tony Blair Address to Dail Eireann
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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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