LUAIN -- On Sept. 17, 1860, units of the Irish Battalion of St. Patrick of the Papal army fought a Piedmontese army allied with Garibaldi at Spoleto.…

DOMHNAIGH -- About September 9, 1845, the first effects of the potato blight were reported around Ireland. No one was sure what caused the potato leafs and stalks to turn black and wither,…

DOMHNAIGH -- On August 19, 1504, the battle of Knockdoe was fought northeast of Galway by the forces of Gerald Fitzgerald, 'The Great Earl,' and his Anglo-Irish allies, against those of his son-in-law, Ulick de Burgh, or Burke of Clanrickard, husband of his daughter, Eustacia. Knockdoe would be…

LUAIN -- On August 6, 1775, Daniel O'Connell , 'The Liberator,' one of the most influential men in Irish history was born near Cahirciveen, County Kerry. Raised by his uncle, Daniel learned the Irish language and Irish lore in Kerry. O'Connell did part of his schooling in France…

DOMHNAIGH -- On July 29, 1693, units of the Irish Brigade of France fought at the battle of Landen (also known as Neerwinden) against the forces of William of…

CÉADAOIN -- On July 18, 1874, Irish revolutionary Cathal Brugha was born Charles William St. John Burgess on Richmond Avenue in Dublin. Cathal joined the Gaelic League in 1899 and became a lieutenant in the Irish…

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 24, 1797, John Hughes, the first archbishop of New York, was born in Annaloghlan, County Tyrone. Hughes emigrated to the United States in 1817 and was ordained in Maryland in 1826. Appointed bishop in New York in 1842 and archbishop in 1850, Hughes was a fierce defender of Catholic…

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 17, 1845, author and poet Emily Lawless  (right) was born in Lyons Castle, County Kildare. Her family was part…

MÁIRT -- On June 12, 1844, Januarius A. MacGahan , war correspondent, was born near New Lexington, Ohio. MacGahon's father was a native of County Derry. Januarius was an excellent student and became a teacher and then moved to St. Louis and was hired as a newspaper reporter. In…

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 3, 1836, Dr. Barry O'Meara (left) died in London. Born in Ireland, O'Meara joined the British Navy in 1808, after he had been dismissed from the army for assisting in a duel. In July 1815 he was serving on the HMS Bellerophon when Napoleon surrendered on board. His knowledge of Italian…

DOMHNAIGH -- On May 27, 1798, a North Cork militia and local yeomanry force of around 128 was headed towards the rebel held town of Oulart, Co. Wexford. The yeomen, commanded by Colonel Foote, a veteran of the American Revolution, were met by the numerically superior but poorly armed rebels of Father John Murphy…

LUAIN --  On May 21, 1745, Count Daniel O'Connell, the uncle of the 'Liberator,' and an officer in the Irish Brigade of France, was born in Derrynane, Co. Kerry. Young Daniel became a cadet with the French army in 1761. He served in Clare's Regiment of the…

In November of 1846, as the war between Mexico and the United States raged, an unusual unit of the Mexican army was formed by General Santa Anna, it was called the San Patricios or St. Patrick's Company. Commanded by John Riley, a deserter from Company K of the 5th U.S. Infantry, who probably gave it the name, it…

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 29, 1916, surrounded and driven from their position in the GPO, with James Connolly severely wounded, and having little hope of help from outside the city, Patrick Pearse and the leaders of the Rising were faced with…

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 15, 1848, in Dublin, Thomas Francis Meagher presented the tricolor national flag of Ireland to the public for the first time at a meeting of the Young Ireland Party. Meagher had recently gone to Paris with an Irish delegation sent to congratulate the French republicans…

LUAIN -- On the monrning of April 9, 1916, a German merchant ship, the Aud, had just left the port of Lübeck, loaded with guns and ammunition for the …

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 1, 1776, Irish-born Edward Hand (right) was appointed a brigadier general in the Continental Army. Hand first came to the colonies as a surgeon's mate and later an ensign in the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of the British army. In 1774, he resigned from the army and settled in…

DOMHNAIGH -- On March 25, 1846, Michael Davitt  (right), revolutionary and agrarian…

LUAIN - On March 19, 1921 Tom Barry and the West Cork Flying Column ambushed crown forces at Crossbarry, County Cork during the Irish War of Independence. The British had learned that …