The 1913 Lockout On this day, 112 years ago the great Dublin ‘Lockout’ or strike began and led by James Larkin. This major industrial dispute lasted from August 1913 to January 1914. It was a major conflict between Dublin employers, led by William Martin Murphy, and approximately 20,000 workers of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU), led by James Larkin. The Dublin employers refused to recognise t...
Eoghan O’Growney On this day in 1863 the Irish-language revivalist and priest, Fr Eoghan O’Growney was born in county Meat. He made the headlines during his lifetime for his activities in promoting the Gaelic League and the Irish language, but he also made headlines in death. Did anyone ever have as many funerals as O’Growney? O’Growney died in 1899 in Los Angelas where he had moved for health reasons and was buried...
Michael Collins On this day, 22 August, 103 years ago, during the Irish Civil War, Michael Collins was shot dead at Beal na mBlath in county Cork. Collins was enigmatic figure and leader of during the revolutionary period, and had briefly served as the Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State, as well as commander-in-chief of the National Army. Over the years numerous news stories appeared in Irish ne...
Richard Carmichael In several blog posts over the last few years, we have mentioned various history columns that newspapers such as the Irish Press published through the years with various contributors. Amongst the most popular of these was ‘Window on the Past’ and in this 1967 column the historian, TP O’Neill draws attention to the little-known story of the Irish medical man, Richard Carmichael: In the 19th centur...
Rev John Hayes Social reformer, priest and founder of the influential group, Muintir na Tire, Canon John Hayes died in 1957 and his loss was greatly lamented. But who was he and why was Muintir na Tire such a powerful social reform movement in the middle of the 20th century? The Offaly Independent reported: Big Loss to the Nation Death of Very Rev. Canon Hayes….In the years since 1937 the names of Canon Hayes and of...
The Derrybeg tragedy, 1880 In 1933 the Derry Journal shed light on the Derrybeg tragedy which occurred in county Donegal in the summer of 1880. Although over fifty years had passed the incident was still recalled in the locality. Five people drowned when a chapel flooded during mass. It was a terrible incident and one the people of Donegal could hardly believe could happen. Here the newspaper reports: ANNIVERSARY OF MEMO...
Nicholas Callan Our recent blog post about Harry Ferguson and his inventions show the remarkable engineering and scientific minds that have emerged from Ireland. From County Louth include the name of Nicholas Callan, a priest at Maynooth College whose experiments led to numerous changes which made the world a better place. In 1964 on the centenary of his death the Irish Independent newspaper said this of him: NICHOLAS CA...
Margaret Pearse She was the sister of Padraig and William, executed for their roles in the 1916 rising, but Margaret Pearse never wavered in her support for them and her politics remained the same until her death in 1968. Such was her standing in Irish society that the government offered a state funeral, usually only for high ranking public officials. SENATOR MARGARET PEARSE, sister of the two executed 1916 leaders, P...
Old Irish customs- Chalk Sunday You will have heard to the tradition surrounding St Swithan’s Day (15 July) which dictates whether Ireland will see rain or not for the next forty days, probably amongst the most popular of Irish traditions especially as we look annually for some sunshine! But what about ‘Chalk Sunday’? This was the day when bachelors kept there heads down, especially in the south of Ireland where the t...
Clann na Talmhan (Sons of the Soil) For a quarter of century, in the middle of the 20th century, one political party in Ireland came to prominence. Linked to farmers and those engaged in the agricultural sector, Clann na Talmhan was an Irish agrarian political party active between 1939 and 1965. Founded in Athenry, county Galway in June 1939, months before the outbreak of the Second World War, the following news of the elec...