Mary McAleese A road trip today across the Mary McAleese bridge which brings road users in county Meath or County Louth which ever way one is traveling, had me thinking about Ireland’s second female President. Serving two terms, Mary McAleese was President of Ireland from 1997-2011, and ably followed in the footsteps of her predecessor, Mary Robinson. Perhaps the most significant day of her two terms came on 17 May 2...
Frank Aiken Tomorrow, February 13th marks the anniversary of the birth of Frank Aiken in 1898. Born in county Armagh Aiken played a prominent role in the years of the Irish revolution and later served as a TD, Minister and Tainaiste. Following his death in 1983 there were widespread tributes and reports on his political and military career. The Evening Echo provided the following outline following his death in May of...
Irish emigrants to South Africa, 1820 Known as the ‘Clanwilliam settlers’, the story of emigrants from Cork and elsewhere who were sent to South Africa in 1820 is worth recalling. This group headed off into the unknown and were amongst the first of large scale Irish emigration in the 19th century. The scheme was orchestrated by a man called William Parker from Cork who it appears ran into difficulty before the emigrants...
Richard Griffith and the General Valuation of Ireland He left an indelible mark on 19th Century Ireland, his work is well known to family and local historians, but the wider public perhaps the story of Richard Griffith is not well known. Was there another person more associated with every townland in Ireland at this time? Here the Clare Champion in 1985 provided an overview of his life’s work: Richard Griffith th...
Charles Kickham Tomorrow, 6 February marks the 107th anniversary of the first showing of the silent film version of Charles Kickham’s, Knocknagow [to watch see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A-R9F6OqXs ]. Set in county Tipperary, Kickham’s work was influential during the revolutionary period and he himself had been a Fenian. In 1933 Mrs Sigerson Piatt, one of the last remaining writers who knew Kickham provid...
‘One of our own’: John L Sullivan A note in the Kerry Weekly Reporter in October 1890 outlining the death of a Kerry emigrant in the USA was probably one many that the newspaper carried throughout its history, but how many were as news worthy as this? The death notice in question related to the father of a world boxing champion, the son of a Kerry emigrant who had left Ireland during the Great Famine. The 1890 note ...
John Sadlier: The Prince of Swindlers As the Great Famine drew to a close in Ireland, a great transfer of land ownership was underway. At the heart of many purchases, especially in the midlands and Tipperary, was John Sadlier, known as the Prince of Swindlers. Sadlier’s was a remarkable tale as he swindled thousands of pounds and duped many people in the process. Here the Nationalist and Leinster Times newspaper recal...
Luke Kelly Forty-one years ago tomorrow, one of Ireland’s greatest singers and balladeers, Luke Kelly died at the age of 44. The sad news was relayed by the Irish Examiner on 30 January who reported: LUKE KELLY of the Dubliners died in Dublin's Richmond Hospital last night after being ill for the past few days. In recent years Mr. Kelly (44) had undergone two major operations but he had continued his career ...
‘Honest’ Tom Steele The Repeal movement of the 1840s featured a number of prominent men, including amongst them man that was known as ‘Honest’ Tom. A landowner and a Protestant, Steele was devoted to both Catholic Emancipation and Repeal and remained a firm supporter of Daniel O’Connell until his death in 1848. The redoubtable ‘SJL’ of the Irish Press newspaper provides this account from 1972 of ‘ho...
Storm Eoywn is on its way. As we head to sleep on the 23rd of January, no one knows what we will be faced with when we wake in the morning. A ‘Red warning’ is in place for the entire country – schools are closed, public transport is not running and people are being asked to stay indoors. In 1987 the Irish Independent reported on the history of major weather phenomenon which had been recorded by scientists and mete...