Up flew Nelson! On 8 March 1966, a powerful explosion destroyed the upper portion of Nelson’s Pillar which was located on Dublin’s O’Connell Street and brought Nelson's statue crashing to the ground amid hundreds of tons of rubble. The incident was remembered in ballad:       Up went Nelson in old Dublin Up went Nelson in old Dublin All along O'Connell Street the stones and rubble flew As up went ...

Historic Black Friday Gift Subscriptions The Historic Black Friday event runs from the 22/11/2024 - 02/12/2024. This mega sale event offers our members a great opportunity to purchase a Gift membership for a friend or loved one at 50% off. There has never been a better time to get that early Christmas present. Once purchased you will receive and email containing a discount code. The lucky receiver will then be able to ...

Henry Blosse Lynch: A famous Irish explorer When we think of famous Irish explorers, the names of Shackleton and Crean come to mind. But what of Henry Blosse Lynch who went before the aforementioned? Here the Evening Herald newspaper of July 1969 picks up on the story, perhaps anticipating some news of exploration of a different before that month was out: HENRY BLOSSE LYNCH, the famous explorer, was born at Partry, Co...

Michael Hogan and Bloody Sunday, 1920 November of course is a month connected to Bloody Sunday in 1920, one of the worst days of violence during the War of Independence. It commenced with the shooting dead of thirteen British intelligence officers, known as the Cairo Gang. It ended with the execution of three IRA volunteers that evening. In between the British military raided Croke Park where fourteen people were shot dead,...

   The Anglo Boer War broke out 125 years ago last month. It raged until 1902 and saw the British army pitted against an unlikely enemy- South African farmers known as Boers. Irish involvement on both sides was high, as one poem at the time recalled: On the mountainside the battle raged, there was no stop or stay; Mackin captured Private Burke and ensign Michael Shea, Fitzgerald got Fitzpatrick, Brannigan found O'Ro...

De Valera- Jail Break     There were iconic moments in the life of Eamon de Valera- soldier, politician and statesman which have been recounted and told through the years. Present in 1916 during the Rising, de Valera dominated much of the next five decades in Irish political life. One amazing story from the War of Independence relates to his escape from Lincoln Jail. In October 1950 the Evening Echo newspaper reported ho...

  To many people the story of Dr James Barry, or Margaret Anne Bulkey is a new one, only uncovered in the recent past by historians. But back in 1974, some fifty years ago the Irish Examiner featured this remarkable story of a young woman from Cork who fooled the British and South African establishments amongst others. As the Examiner reported: FOR over a hundred years the story of Dr. James Barry who served more than 4...

Wolfe Tone November brings memories of Wolfe Tone, who having been captured by the British navy off the coast of Donegal in October 1798 was brought to Dublin to stand trial for treason. Tone had been attempting to land with French soldiers, something he had also attempted two years previously at Bantry. Tone is regarded as the ‘Father of Irish Republicanism’ and for generations supporters have flocked to burial place ...

  Halloween may have passed but 8 November marks the birth in 1847 of the writer, Bram Stoker. Remembered by many simply as the man that created Dracula, Stoker lived an incredible life. Born at the height of Black 47, the worst year of the Famine, he was actually the author of more than a dozen other books and was internationally acclaimed in the process. He is commemorated and remembered today for his writing but who was he...

On this day in 1847 word filtered across Ireland and elsewhere of the murder of Major Denis Mahon of Strokestown House in county Roscommon the previous evening. Occuring in the midst of Black 47, the worst year of the Irish Famine, the murder of Mahon was a sensation and was widely reported on. He became the first landlord to be murdered during the Famine as startving and impoverised teants decided to take the law into their o...