While Thatcher's government demonised Irish identity through state-sanctioned paranoia, the children of immigrants were quietly staging a hostile takeover of the British charts. From the punk vitriol of Johnny Rotten to the ethereal subversion of Kate Bush, this is the story of how the displaced sons and daughters of the Irish Underground…

Donald Trump's latest intervention in Irish affairs has demonstrated a striking lack of appreciation for the constitutional and political sensitivities that continue to shape relations on the island of Ireland. During his visit to Dublin, the American president departed from the carefully guarded neutrality traditionally maintained by U.S.…

DOMHNAIGH -- On September 13, 1803, John Barry (left), of Ballysampson, Co.Wexford, considered by many to be the 'Father of the U.S. Navy,' died in Philadelphia. At a young age, Barry went to sea as a fisherman; by age 20, he had a master's license. He emigrated to Philadelphia in…

MÁIRT -- On September 8, 1798, Lord Cornwallis and General Gerard Lake cornered French General Joseph Humbert's small Franco-Irish army at Ballinamuck, County Longford. With the two British armies closing in, Humbert drew his men up into line of battle. Humbert had less than 2,000 men, and only…

fLUAIN -- On August 31, 1767, Henry Joy McCracken, leader of the United Irish rising in Antrim, was born in Belfast. McCracken was running a cotton factory by the age of 22. He and Thomas Russell organized the first Society of United Irishmen in Belfast in 1791. He was imprisoned for 13…

LUAIN -- On August 24, 1968, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marched from Coalisland to Dungannon in County Tyrone…

LUAIN -- On August 17, 1778, Bernardo O'Higgins, the father of Chilean independence, was born in Chile. Bernardo's mother was…

DOMHNAIGH -- On August 9, 1876, Josephine Bracken, whose parents were from Belfast, was born in Victoria City, British Hong Kong. Her father James, a soldier in the British army, was a native of County Offaly. Josephine's mother, a McBride, died in childbirth. She was adopted…

County Kildare native Charles Wogan pulled up the collar of his coat against the wind-blown sleet and snow and paced nervously back and forth on what is now Maria-Theresien-Street in Innsbruck, Austria. The city clocks had announced the new day, April 28, 1719, a few minutes ago.…

SATHAIRN -- In the early morning hours of August 2, 1943, a small American torpedo boat was moving just west of New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. In command was a young …

DOMHNAIGH -- On July 26, 1739, George Clinton, soldier, first governor of New York, and vice president of the United States was born in Little Britain, N.Y., of Irish Protestant parents. Clinton served in his father's New York state militia unit during the French and Indian War before being elected to the…

DOMHNAIGH -- On July 19, 1798, after months of begging and cajoling by Theobald Wolfe Tone, the French…

DOMHNAIGH -- On July 12, 1691, the Jacobite army in Ireland fought the forces of William of Orange at the Battle of Aughrim. Although the battle of the Boyne fought a year earlier is seen by many today as decisive, the Jacobite…

DOMHNAIGH -- On July 5, 1812, Frederick Maning (left), who would become beloved in New Zealand by its native Māori people, was born in Johnville, County Dublin. Maning immigrated to Australia with his father in 1824. In 1833 he moved on to New Zealand on his own when few Europeans…

CÉADAOIN -- On July 1, 1897, Gen. Tom Barry , one of the…

LUAIN   -- On June 22, 1922, Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson was shot and killed by two …

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 14, 1690, William of Orange, King of Holland, and recently declared King of England, arrived in Belfast with his fleet. The Catholic King James II had been tolerated by the Protestant nobility for a time because all his possible heirs were…

LUAIN -- On June 8, 1853, John Mitchel escaped from Australia, eventually making it to the United States. Mitchel, a member of the Young Ireland Party, was born in Comnish, Co. Derry. John was the son of a Presbyterian minister. He obtained a…

LUAIN -- On June 1, 1866, the Fenian Brotherhoodundertook the most famous action of its history: the invasion of Canada. Mexican…

I got a chance to spend a magical 48 minutes this evening with a WG member who died a few weeks ago. It wasn't a supernatural experience, but it was sublime!

Himself was no less a man than …