June 17: TODAY in Irish History:
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Shorthand inventor John Gregg
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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1845: Poet Emily Lawless
Emily Lawless 1845-1913
Irish novelist and poet Emily Lawless is born in County Kildare. She wrote a number of books but is probably best remembered for her book of poetry With the Wild Geese, an often forlorn, sorrowful book of poetry on the estimated 200,000 Irish who left Ireland from 1690-1750 to fight for continental armies of France and Spain primarily.
The poem After Aughrim (a pivotal battle in 1691 as Ireland fought a losing battle against English conquest) is representative of her work.
She said, ” They gave me of their best,
They lived, they gave their lives for me ;
I tossed them to the howling waste.
And flung them to the foaming sea.”
She said, ” I never gave them aught,
Not mine the power, if mine the will ;
I let them starve, I let them bleed, —
They bled and starved, and loved me still.”
She said, ” Ten times they fought tor me,
Ten times they strove with might and main.
Ten times I saw them beaten down,
Ten times they rose, and fought again.
She said, ” I stayed alone at home,
A dreary woman, grey and cold ;
I never asked them how they fared.
Yet still they loved me as of old.”
She said, ” I never called them sons,
I almost ceased to breathe their name.
Then caught it echoing down the wind.
Blown backwards from the lips of Fame.’
She said, Not mine, not mine that fame ;
Far over sea, far over land.
Cast forth like rubbish from my shores^
They won it yonder, sword in hand.”
She said, “God knows they owe me nought,
I tossed them to the foaming sea,
I tossed them to the howling waste,
Yet still their love comes home to me.
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READ: More poems by Emily Lawless
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1859: Painter Walter Osborne
Walter Osborne 1859-1903
Self-portrait in National Gallery of Ireland
Impressionist painter Walter Osborne is born in Rathmines, Co. Dublin.
- On Suffolk Sands by Walter Osborne
Walter Strickland’s 1913 Dictionery of Irish Artists states:
Walter Strickland’s 1913 Dictionery of Irish Artists states:
“Osborne was equally successful in portraiture, landscape, subjects and animals, and worked with equal facility in oil, water-colour, pastel and pencil.
Of engaging personality, he was held in affectionate regard by all his friends as a delightful companion and a true artist.
He died at his residence in Castlewood Avenue on the 24th April, 1903, of pneumonia, and was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery
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1867: John Gregg, inventor of Gregg Shorthand is born in County Monaghan. He would die eighty years later in New York
- Shorthand Inventor John Gregg 1867-1948
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1957: Phil Chevron (Phil Ryan), singer songwriter and Pogues guitarist is born in Dublin.
- The Pogues: Phil Chevron front 2nd left with guitar
His most evocative Pogues work is Thousands are Sailing which he wrote shortly after landing in America for the first Pogues tour. Chevron says this time with the Pogues “were the best ten years of my life and the worst ten years!”
Phil Chevron died from oesophageal cancer, October 8 2013.
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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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