Today In Irish History

March 2: TODAY in Irish History (by IrishmanSpeaks)

1836: Texas declares its independence from Mexico at a meeting in Washington on the Brazos, Texas. At the time, at least ten Irish born soldiers were fighting at the Alamo (Feb 23-March 6) with Davy Crockett (Irish extraction). All would die four days later.

1933: Dail  votes 71-33 to remove the Oath of Allegiance requirement by TDs to the British crown.

March 2nd is important for two Irish and Cork greats. Blues guitar genius Rory Gallagher and hurling great Christy Ring.

1948: Irish blues guitarist legend Rory Gallagher is born in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal.

Blues great Rory Gallagher

When a wee lad, Rory’s family moved to Cork where he discovered blues music on American Forces Radio. Legend has it that when Jimmi Hendrix was asked what it felt like to be the best guitar player in the world, he responded “I don’t know. Ask Rory Gallagher.” Although almost certainly apocryphal, the story does highlight the legend that the shy unassuming Gallagher became.

Off stage, Gallagher was described as painfully shy, something his adoring audiences found hard to believe. On stage, he was one of the most electrifying artists that ever played a Fender Stratocaster playing marathon concerts of more than three hours, night after night. Gallagher first broke through with Taste (drummer John Wilson, bassist Richard McCracken). The band played a blistering set at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival (where Hendrix also performed), returning for seven encores!

“Artistic differences” saw the demise of this power blues trio, but Gallagher went on to have a lengthy career selling more than thirty millions records in one of the most hard-gigging careers of any music legend.

Artists as diverse as U2’s Edge, Slash and Brian May state that Gallagher was a huge influence on their career.

Although, he toured the US more than twenty times, Gallagher never made it big in the world’s largest market. Some experts attribute this to the fact that he was not interested in developing commercial, radio friendly, three minute material. The gentle giant of Irish blues died in London June 14, 1995 from complications following a liver transplant required as a result of long time alcohol abuse.

1979. Cork’s hurling great and possibly the greatest hurler of all time, Christy Ring went to the great hurling stadium in the sky. Born in Cloyne, Co. Cork, the hurling legend won eight All-Ireland hurling championships in a twenty-five year career with the rebel county.

Want to learn more about Ireland? See these images and more in the acclaimed For the Love of Being Irish

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For the Love of Being Irish written by Chicago based Corkman Conor Cunneen and illustrated by Mark Anderson which is an A-Z of all things Irish. A work that should reside in any list of Best Irish Gift Books, this lavishly illustrated book contains History, Horror, Humor, Passion, Pathos and Lyrical Limericks that will have you giving thanks (or wishing you were) For the Love of Being Irish

Watch For the Love of Being Irish author Conor Cunneen – IrishmanSpeaks on his Youtube channel IrishmanSpeaks. Laugh and Learn.

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This history is written by Irish author, business keynote speaker, humorous motivational 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 IrishmanSpeaksto Laugh and Learn. Tags: Best Irish Gift, Creative Irish Gift, Unique Irish Gifts, Irish Books, Irish Authors, Today in Irish History