LUAIN -- On July 8, 1770, Mary Ann McCracken -- patriot, philanthropist and sister of United Irish martyr Henry Joy McCracken -- was born in Belfast. Mary Ann was the fiercely independent daughter of a Presbyterian sea captain. With her sister, Margaret, she started a small muslin…

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

LUAIN -- 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…

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 9, 1798, Col. Chetwynd-Stapylton and a detachment of the York Fencibles rode into the town of Saintfield, County Down, and straight into a force of United Irishmen who had earlier occupied the town. The United Irishmen attacked…

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…

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…

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

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…

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…

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…

LUAIN -- On March 25, 1846, Michael…

DOMHNAIGH -- On March 17, 1858, James Stephens founded the Irish Republican Brotherhood in Dublin at the same time as John O'Mahoney was founding the…

MÁIRT -- On March 11, 1858, Irish revolutionary Thomas James Clarke was born of Irish parents on the Isle of Wight but the family moved to Dungannon, County Tyrone, shortly after that. His father, James Clarke, was a sergeant in the British Army. Thomas spent part of his…

Thomas Freeman had a national reputation for precision and trustworthiness. He was a government surveyor, civil - topographical engineer and astronomer during the formative period of the Republic. Freeman was an Irish immigrant who caught the attention of master surveyor George Washington and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. As a result Freeman had a significant role in laying out the District of Columbia. Freeman was engaged in 1808 as the chief surveyor of the Mississippi…

LUAIN -- On March 4, 1804, in Australia, former United Irishmen stage a small insurrection that ended with a short fight at Castle Hill. Starting in 1799 the British had been shipping many of the leaders and participants of the Rising 1798 Rising to “Van Diemen’s Land”…

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 staunchly republican. His…

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…

MÁIRT -- On February 13, 1782, Dillon's regiment of the Irish Brigade of France helped capture St. Kitts from the British during the American Revolution. Earlier, Dillon's regiment…

SATHAIRN -- 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 was descended from a long line of O'Donnells in…

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