DOMHNAIGH -- On June 2, 1567, Shane "the Proud" O'Neill was murdered. The eldest son of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone, Shane became chief of the O'Neills in 1559. Shane alternately fought and negotiated with the English through the years. In 1562, Shane went to London to make peace…

I'm a musician by trade but have also worked a good bit in documentary film over the last few years. Hy Brasil, as well as being the title of my new album, is an island from Irish mythology. "That shadowy isle" appeared on maps until the 1860's until they realised that it wasn't there at all, as…

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…

DOMHNAIGH-- On May 26, 1706, Col. Charles O'Brien, 5th Viscount Clare, died from wounds suffered at the…

I’m writing this post from Dublin, where I’m finishing up another great visit to Ireland. You know what that means? I’ve had potatoes [nearly] for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in as many shapes and textures as one can imagine: fried potatoes for breakfast, chips to go with fish at lunch, and…

DOMHNAIGH -- On May 19, 1798, Lord Edward Fitzgerald , military…

Louis Philip Brennan was born on Main Street, Castlebar, County Mayo, on January 28, 1852, the 10th child of Thomas Brennan, a hardware merchant in the town. 

DOMHNAIGH -- On May 12, 1916, the British army executed Sean Mac Diarmada and James Connolly, the last of the Rising leaders they would kill in Dublin. The treatment accorded to Connolly, a hero among the poor of Ireland for his…

THE LABOUR HERCULES: The Irish Citizen Army and Irish Republicanism 1913-1923

[Irish Academic Press ISBN: 9781788550741]

Jeffrey Leddin’s latest book charts the rise and activities of Irish Labour’s first urban working-class militia. The Irish…

DOMHNAIGH -- On May 5, 1981, Bobby Sands (right) died on hunger strike at Long Kesh prison. He had begun the strike on March 1, in…

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 3^rd class well-deck near the bow, what he saw filled his heart with…

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 28, 1916, as the rebels in Dublin were being squeezed harder and harder by the British and nearing the end of their resistance, outside the city the rebels were achieving a small victory. Led by Thomas Ashe, a group of Irish Volunteers ambushed a 40-man unit of…

I see his blood upon the rose

And in the stars the glory of his eyes,

His body gleams amid eternal snows,

His tears fall from the skies.…

MÁIRT -- On April 23, 1014 the Battle of Clontarf, one of the most famous and important battles in Irish history, was fought just north of Dublin. It was a bloody stand-up battle, fought mainly with ax and sword, with Brian Boru's men prevailing. This battle would later enter Irish legend as the place where…

While locally grown berries are not quite in-season yet in most parts of the U.S., their wide availability makes them popular year-round. For a quick and delicious Easter dessert, you might want to serve this easy-to-assemble berries-and-cream dish known as Eton Mess. Despite its rather inelegant…

LUAIN -- 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 on…

‘Mad Mike’ Hoare believed you get more out of life by living dangerously. And yet about 35 family and friends gathered in Durban, South Africa, on 17 March, St Patrick’s Day, to honour Mike as he turned 100 years old. Among them were five of the Wild Geese who fought with him in the Congo in the…

I’m celebrating new membership in The Wild Geese. Recently I read Colm Herron’s A Maiden So Bewitching and asked him if I might post a comment. Having read other of his books and essays, how could I help but notice right away that this is something different – totally different – from his earlier…

When Fr. Sylvester Malone died Dec. 29, 1899, almost at the very end of the century, it signaled the end of an era not only for the Catholic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn but also for the entire neighborhood. A beloved and respected figure among all local residents, Fr. Malone (pictured…

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 7, 1865, Brig. Gen. Tom Smyth was mortally…