The History of The Irish...Worldwide
Joe Gannon's Blog (128)
World War II Ace Tom McGuire: The Iron Major
Lieutenant Tom McGuire was at 12,000 feet above Oro Bay, New Guinea in his P-38 fighter scanning the sky for Japanese planes. The 431st Fighter Squadron had scrambled from their Dubodura airbase to intercept a flight of Japanese bombers and their fighter escort on that October 17, 1943. McGuire…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on January 18, 2020 at 5:30pm — 5 Comments
Billy the Kid: The Wild Rapparee of Lincoln County
There's a stone covered grave on the wild mountainside.
There's a plain wooden cross on which this is inscribed:
Kneel down, dear stranger, say an Ave for me
I was sentenced to death being a wild rapparee
--…
Added by Joe Gannon on November 29, 2019 at 9:30pm — 8 Comments
George Lennon and The Piltown Cross Ambush
The night of November 1, 1920, All Souls Night, was extremely cold in the west of County Waterford. The members of the West Waterford Volunteers flying column huddled along the road at Piltown Cross were not only shivering because of the temperature. Most of them were also trembling slightly as…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on October 28, 2019 at 1:00pm — 4 Comments
John F. Finerty: 'The Fighting Irish Pencil-Pusher'
Chicago Times correspondent John Finerty wiped his brow, drying the sweat from the hot July 7th afternoon, as he looked up to the top of the grassy knoll where scout Frank Grouard was scanning the horizon with his binoculars. They were near the valley of the Little Bighorn in what is…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on September 1, 2019 at 11:30pm — 2 Comments
The Sword in Castletownbere
Back in October of 2017, I wrote an article titled “From Dunkirk to Nagasaki: The Long War of Dr. Aidan MacCarthy,” about a hero of WWII who…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on August 3, 2019 at 8:30pm — 2 Comments
The Kilmallock Barracks Attack: Burning Down the House
Tomás Malone, aka Seán Forde, looked down at the gaping hole in the roof of the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks and hurled in another Mills bomb, hoping that this time he would see the roof explode in flames. They had thrown several gasoline-filled bottles into the gaping hole already from their…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on May 27, 2019 at 2:00am — 3 Comments
This Week in the History of the Irish: May 5 - May 11
DOMHNAIGH -- On May 5, 1981, Bobby Sands
Added by Joe Gannon on May 4, 2019 at 7:00pm — No Comments
Eugene Daly: Westmeath Piper Barely Survives Titanic's Sinking
It had been about a half hour since 29-year-old Eugene Daly had been startled awake from his bunk on the Titanic by the strange screeching noise. As he came up the stairway and emerged on the 3rd class well-deck near the bow, what he saw filled his heart with…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on May 3, 2019 at 9:00pm — 5 Comments
Derryman Robert Evans: Last Man Standing at the Alamo
Inside the roofless old Spanish chapel, the first rays of the early morning Texas sun were illuminating the room with a soft golden glow through the acrid air, clouded by black powder smoke. But what was being illuminated by that rising sun in the chapel of this mission called…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on March 31, 2019 at 5:00pm — 6 Comments
William 'Whack' Ryan: Martyr to Cuban Freedom
As the brilliant rays of the morning sun began to flash off the whitewashed adobe wall in Santiago, Cuba, 30-year-old William Albert Charles Ryan reflected that it would be yet another beautiful day on the tropical island he had come to love. He could hear the sweet songs of a few…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on February 14, 2019 at 6:30pm — 5 Comments
The Tureengarriffe Ambush: Cork and Kerry Strike a Blow
Seán Moylan slowly moved his binoculars back and forth pointed to the west as he scanned the east Kerry countryside in the direction of Scartaglen. He was standing on some high ground in Thade Daly’s Glen in Tureengarriffe, along what is now the R-577 road. Moylan, commanding the Flying…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on January 1, 2019 at 2:30pm — 5 Comments
Alleta Sullivan: 'Champion Gold Star Mother' of WW2
There are many stirring tales of Irish and Irish-American military heroes in the long history of the United States. From…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on November 22, 2018 at 11:30pm — 4 Comments
General Charles Edward Jennings: 'Le Brave Kilmaine'
The port of Brest in the mid-1790s by Jean-François Hue (1751-1823)
As he watched the small French fleet carrying his friend Theobald Wolfe Tone and about 3,000 French troops sail out of Brest, France on September 20,…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on October 19, 2018 at 10:30pm — 1 Comment
WWII Hero Edwin O’Hara: The Honor, But Not the Medal
(Edwin O'Hara, loading the 4 inch gun on the SS Stephen Hopkins. By W.M. Wilson, on display at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.)
For them there are no big parades,
No heroes' welcome gay,
No uniforms, and no applause
To cheer them on…
Added by Joe Gannon on September 23, 2018 at 7:00pm — 4 Comments
Mountain Man John Colter: Surviving 'Naked and Afraid'
John Colter’s leg muscles were burning and his lungs were aching, but he kept his legs moving. As he glanced over his shoulder he could see that most of the Blackfoot warriors chasing him were far behind now, but there was one far ahead of the others, and he was closing the distance. Blood was spotting the grass…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on August 15, 2018 at 3:00pm — 3 Comments
One of 'The Boys of Wexford' Returns: JFK in Ireland
On June 23, 1963 the people of Ireland fell in love with a member of “The Wild Geese” who had less than five months to live. If ever an American politician had a style and ease that allowed the people of Ireland to see the “Irish” in him, it was John Fitzgerald Kennedy. By the summer of 1963 he had become the…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on June 12, 2018 at 4:00pm — No Comments
Semmes and the San Patricios: 'Dishonored and Dishonorable'?
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…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on May 16, 2018 at 3:30pm — 2 Comments
Mayo's Tourmakeady Ambush: Shrouded By 'Fog of War'
Tuesday, May 3, 1921 was a beautiful, sunny day in the nearly treeless Partry Mountains above the town of Tourmakeady, County Mayo, but Tom Maguire was in no condition to enjoy the weather. Maguire, the C/O of the South Mayo Flying Column, from Cross, was lying on his back, bleeding from a…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on April 30, 2018 at 7:30pm — 10 Comments
Titanic Hero Hugh McElroy: 'Sand For Breakfast Tomorrow'
It was a little after 2 am on April 15, 1912. The deck of the R.M.S. Titanic was now tilted over 6 degrees toward the sinking bow. As 17-year-old Jack Thayer and 30-year-old Milton Long moved toward one of the last remaining lifeboats on the boat deck, they were moving downhill, toward the…
ContinueAdded by Joe Gannon on April 5, 2018 at 10:00am — 11 Comments
The Headford Ambush: Time Runs Out in Kerry
Now rise up DJ Allman, arise and tell me true
Who fought at Headford Station that day along with you?
Who stood out on that platform board, who fired that signal gun?
Who fought to free old Ireland with you my darling son?
-- From “The Ballad of DJ Allman"…
Added by Joe Gannon on March 13, 2018 at 11:30pm — 6 Comments
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