DOMHNAIGH -- On February 25, 1891, Edward "Ned" Daly, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising, was born in a home on Frederick Street in Limerick city. Edward's family was…

Ireland has been calling to me for many years and last month I finally answered.  My sister, Gloria, our life long friend, Valerie and my newphew Chris and his girlfriend, Morgan, spent nine days (not nearly enough time) visiting Dublin and Northern…

DOMHNAIGH -- On February 18, 1817, Walter Paye Lane, Confederate general in the American Civil War, was born in County Cork. He emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was only 4 years old. Lane grew up in Ohio but traveled to…

Trading Fate

Fourteen-year-old Patricia Walsh, her mother, father, and six siblings, scratched out a living in the stone fields of County Galway, Ireland. Colum Walsh supported the family as a stonemason building estate structures and repairing the fences of an…

MÁIRT -- On February 13, 1782, Dillon's regiment of the Irish Brigade…

Since the ancient past, societies have honored athletes.  Athletic competition may have developed out of pragmatic concerns such as training warriors, but it was soon realized that certain individuals were gifted with exceptional talents.  In the…

DOMHNAIGH -- On February 4, 1860, Spanish General Don Leopoldo O'Donnell y Jorris, 1st Duke of Tétuan, 1st Count of Lucena, 1st Viscount of Aliaga, won the battle of Tétuan in Spain's war against Morocco. Leopoldo…

The period between November 1974 and January 1976 was a particularly dark and frightening time around South Armagh. I remember vividly the fear and shock being felt around the area at that time and when McArdles Bar in Crossmaglen was bombed in Nov. 74, leaving one dead and several seriously injured,…

Back in the mists of time, long before the Milesians arrived from Egypt, and even longer before the Celtic tribes came and settled, another ancient tribe inhabited the island of Ireland. The ‘Tuatha De Dannan,’ translated as ‘people of the Goddess…

This poem was penned after the death of King Charles I, who was beheaded outside Whitehall Palace in London on the afternoon of January 30th, 1649, exactly 368 years ago, today. 

"He nothing common did or…

Who doesn’t love carrot cake? I sure do, and when I learned there was actually a day devoted to celebrating it, I couldn’t wait to make one in its honor. For the record, food historians suggest modern carrot cake probably descended from carrot…

I had decided not to go on the Bloody Sunday march in Derry, my home town, because I was too frightened. I felt I had good cause. Word was that British parachute regiment was to be on duty here that day and I knew they had gone on a…

DOMHNAIGH -- On January 28, 1967 , Helena Moloney, republican and trade unionist, died in Dublin. Moloney was born in Dublin in 1884. While only at teen-ager Moloney heard Maud Gonne give a pro-nationalist speech near the Customs…

This month in January 1868, after a voyage of 89 days, an infamous convict-ship docked for the last time in Freemantle harbor, Western Australia.

On October 12, 1867,…

DOMHNAIGH -- On January 21, 1876, James "Big Jim" Larkin one of the greatest labor leaders of the 20th century, was born in Liverpool, England, the second son of a poor Irish couple. At 5 he was sent back to Newry, County Down, to…

On top of roof and window,

Those boys stood up to fight,

‘Til the burning of the cottage

And no escape in sight.…

LUAIN -- On January 15, 1861, Young Irelander Terence Bellew MacManus died in San Francisco. MacManus was born in County Fermanagh in 1811. He later moved to Liverpool, England, where he began a successful shipping agency. In…

If you’re a loyal follower of my recipe posts (if I actually have any “followers”), this recipe might ring familiar. I posted it back in March suggesting that the soup would make a lovely “spring” dish, but since I’ve made it again recently to…

SATHAIRN -- On Jan. 7, 1945 Major Thomas McGuire Jr., the second highest scoring US ace of WWII, and …

Three hundred and forty-four years ago, on a bleak, frigid night in January 1674, Bishop Oliver Plunkett and his close friend John Brennan, Bishop of Cashel, were forced to flee the town of Drogheda and run for their lives. Wearing long, hooded…