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 Volunteers in 1913. He would become one of the most uncompromising advocates of Irish republicanism among all the revolutionary leaders. Severely wounded during the Easter Rising, Brugha lived to become Chief of Staff of the IRA during the War of Independence. One of the fiercest opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Cathal Brugha fought on O'Connell Street against the Free Sate government at the start of the Civil War. On July 5, 1922, surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered in the Hamman Hotel, Brugha ordered the men under his command to surrender. But after they did, Brugha burst into the street with two pistols blazing. He was fatally wounded, dying two days later.

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DEARDAOIN -- On July 19, 1798, after months of begging and cajoling by Theobald Wolfe Tone, the French Directory finally authorized the sending of French troops to Ireland to aid the rising there. Since the death of his friend, Gen. Hoche, the previous September, Tone had lost some of his influence with the French. Tone and others must have known the chances for success had probably slipped away through endless delays; most of the members of the United Irishmen had already risen up and been defeated. Napoleon had set sail on his Egyptian adventure -- he would later admit he should have gone to Ireland instead. A plan was devised to send small numbers of French soldiers in numerous expeditions and help prop up the Irish resistance, which in truth, even then was nearly crushed. Gen. Jean-Joseph Humbert (left) would command the first French force of some 1,100 men.

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AOINE -- On July 20, 1866, at the battle of Lissa (depicted left by Eduard Nezbeda, 1911) in the Adriatic, an Austrian fleet defeated a numerically superior Italian fleet. Commanding one of the Austrian ships was Irishman Alfred Barry. Alfred, whose brother, Richard, was also an officer in the Austrian navy, was one of the greatest admirals in Austrian naval history. At Lissa, with the Italian fleet in a line formation, Austrian commander Admiral Count Wilhelm von Tegetthoff formed his ships in a wedge and drove them right through the Italians. Barry was commanding the Prinz Eugen on the right side of the formation, as they split the Italians Barry's ship was hit 21 times but he continued on, doffing his cap and making a showy bow to the captain of one of the Italian ships as they passed closely by. The Italians lost 3 ships and retreated, lifting the naval siege of Lissa. Barry was honored by Tegetthoff after the victory. Barry later helped build the Austrian navy into one of the world's best. He died in 1907 and is buried in Pula.

Picture courtesy of Lt. Col. Ken Powers The Prince of Wales Flag, the regimental color carried by the 69th New York State Militia at 1st Bull Run.strong

SATHAIRN -- On July 21, 1861, at the battle of 1st Bull Run, the first major engagement of the American Civil War, the Irish 69th New York State Militia fought under the green flag of Erin and the Stars and Stripes for the first time. The unit was in a brigade commanded by Col. William T. Sherman, whose name is now one of the most well known of the war. He was not, however, well loved by the 69th New York . The Union army suffered an ignominious defeat that day, but the 69th would be among a handful of Union regiments that performed well during the battle. Held in reserve at first, the 69th soon advanced and routed the 4th Alabama. But when the brigade met stiffer opposition, Sherman attacked with one regiment at a time, wasting his numbers. Rebel reinforcements from the Shenandoah Valley now turned the tide of the battle, and the Federal army was routed. One of the last regiments off the field, the 69th lost 38 men killed that day, the first being Capt. James Haggerty, from Donegal, and 59 wounded; 95 were headed to Confederate prison camps, including its Sligo-born colonel, Michael Corcoran. One of the last men off the field was Waterford's Thomas Francis Meagher, captain of Company K, who eventually swam the last yards to safety across Bull Run creek. It was a rough beginning, but the regiment had begun a storied history that would soon have them earn the sobriquet "Fighting 69th.

VOICES

Currier & Ives Michael Corcoran leading the 69th into battle.

Oh, the boys of the Sixty-ninth, they are a gallant band,
Bolder never drew a sword for their adopted land;
Amongst the fallen heroes, a braver had not been,
Than you lamented Haggerty, of Erin's isle of green.
         -- A lyric from "Boys That Wore the Green" by William Woodburn. Recorded by David Kincaid on his CD "The Irish Volunteer"

BIRTHS

July -- Iúil

15, 1899 - Sean Lemass (Politician - Ballybrack, Co. Dublin)
17, 1846 - John Mclure (Fenian) near Manhattan
18, 1874 - Cathal Brugha (Revolutionary - Dublin.)
19, 1922 - George McGovern (Senator, WWII bomber pilot - Avon, S. Dakota)

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

15, 1580 - Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne rises in rebellion in Co. Wicklow.
15, 1729 - Count John Joseph Anton O'Dwyer, Lt. Field Marshal in the Austrian army, dies.
16, 1618 – Donal O’Sullivan Beare killed in Madrid by John Bathe.
16, 1777 - Irish-born Gustavus Conyngham, "The Dunkirk Pirate," is given command of the USS Revenge.
17, 1690 - Williamite forces begin an unsuccessful siege of the town of Athlone, where Col. Richard Grace commands Irish forces.
17, 1798 - Henry Joy McCracken, United Irishman, executed in Belfast
17, 1951 - Dublin's Abbey Theatre is destroyed by fire.
18, 1561 - Battle of Red Sagums - Shane O'Neill defeats English.
18, 1861 - Irish-born Col. Patrick Moore and his 1st Virginia fight at Blackburn's Ford.
19, 1798 - French Directory authorizes the sending of three expeditions to Ireland and gives command of the first one to Gen. Humbert.
20, 1616 - Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, dies in Rome.
20, 1863 - Young Irelander John Mitchel's son, Confederate Capt. John C. Mitchel, is killed during a Union bombardment of Ft. Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. His brother, Willie, was killed 17 days earlier at Gettysburg.
20, 1866 - The Austrian fleet, including the ship of Alfred Barry, defeats the Italian fleet at the battle of Lissa.
21, 1650 - Henry O'Neill, son of Owen Roe O'Neill, executed by the English Parliamentarians after the Battle of Scarrifholis
21, 1972 - 'Bloody Friday,' IRA bombs kill 9 in Belfast.
21, 1691 – Galway city surrenders to Williamites.
21, 1747 - Irish Brigade of France fights at the battle of Lauffeld.
21, 1861 - Battle of 1st Bull Run (Virginia) - The 69th New York State Militia is one of the last organized Federal units to leave the field.