DOMHNAIGH --  On May 21, 1745, the uncle of the 'Liberator,' and an officer in the Irish Brigade of France, was born in Derrynane, Co. Kerry. Young Daniel became a cadet with the French army in 1761. He served in Clare's Regiment of the Irish Brigade, eventually rising through the ranks to become colonel of the regiment. O'Connell was made a count in 1788 and was an opponent of the French Revolution. That opposition would lead him to organize an Irish unit for the British army. This scheme was short-lived and the unit soon disbanded. Count O'Connell returned to France and the French army when the Bourbons were restored to the throne after the defeat of Napoleon. O'Connell left the French army after the revolution of 1830 and retired. Count Daniel O'Connell, the last colonel of the Irish Brigade, died at his chateau near Blois in 1833.

MÁIRT -- On May 22, 1805, Young Irelander Michael Doheny (right) was born in Fethard, Co. Tipperary. Doheny joined O'Connell's Repeal Association in the 1830s and wrote for the Young Irelanders' publication, The Nation, under the name Eiranach. He fled to the United States in 1848, along with James Stephens, after the failure of the Young Irelander's uprising. In the United States, Doheny helped found two famous Irish organizations: the 69th New York militia and the Fenian Brotherhood. Doheny wrote a well-known account of the '48 Rising, "In the Felon's Track," which was published in 1867. He did not live to see it published, however. After seeing Ireland one more time, when he accompanied the body of Terence MacManus home for burial in Dublin, Doheny returned to New York City, where he died suddenly in April 1862. Michael Doheny was laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery in the city's borough of Queens.

National Library of Ireland A Catholic tied to the triangle flogged by Loyalist militia. This was a frequent occurrence in many Irish towns in the days leading to the '98 Rising.

DEARDAOIN -- On May 25, 1798 in Co. Wicklow, as the British authorities began to receive news of people rising up in several parts of the island, anxious loyalist militia units committed two massacres of men they suspected of being rebels. In Dunlavin, 28 or more innocent Catholic members of the Yeomanry were taken from the jail and shot. None of these men had taken part in any actions against the government. With many Catholic members of local Yeomanry militia units going over to the rebels, the victims at Dunlavin were killed on the mere suspicion of some connection to those who had risen. That same day, in Carnew, another 24 or more were taken from the prison in town and murdered in an alley. Several months of the worst fighting and atrocities in Irish history lay ahead.

AOINE -- On May 26, 1706, Col. Charles O'Brien, 5th Viscount Clare, died from wounds suffered at the battle of Ramillies. O'Brien was born in 1670. He had commanded one of the regiments raised by his father, Daniel, during the Williamite War in Ireland. After the Treaty of Limerick, he was one of the soldiers who traveled to France with Sarsfield's army. O'Brien fought at the battle of Marsaglia in 1693, where his brother was killed. In 1696, he was appointed Colonel of his own regiment of the Irish Brigade of France, which became famous as the regiment of Clare, after his title. O'Brien led his regiment in numerous battles all over Europe in the next ten years. At the battle of Ramillies, on May 23, 1706, his regiment was heavily engaged. Though the French lost the battle, Clare's regiment fought gallantly, capturing a pair of colors from the enemy, one Scottish and one English. But in leading his regiment through the heated action there, Lord Clare received nine wounds. He died three days later, sharing that fate with 37 other officers and 326 soldiers of his regiment. Charles O'Brien, Lord Clare, was buried at the Church of the Holy Cross at Louvain, where his wife erected a monument to his memory. O'Brien's son, the 6th Viscount, was also Charles, and was likewise a famous soldier in the Brigade.

Father John Murphy, who commanded the rebels at Oulart Hill.

SATHAIRN -- On May 27, 1798, a North Cork militia and local yeomanry force of around 128 was headed towards the rebel held town of Oulart. The yeomen, commanded by Colonel Foote, a veteran of the American Revolution, were met by the numerically superior but poorly armed rebels of Father John Murphy on Oulart Hill. Foote was reluctant to attack Murphy's men, who were well posted on high ground; but Col. Foote's men were supremely confident that they could easily sweep the ill-armed, untrained Irish rebels from the hill. They had also looted and burned a public house in Ballinamonabeg on their way, which may have increased their courage. While Foote was writing a request for more men, his enthusiastic soldiers began an assault without orders. Foote's subordinate, Major Lombard led the attack on the United Irishmen. Seeing a possible disaster in the making, Foote rode after them, trying to restrain his troops but it was too late. The Irish did not run away, as so many of the yeoman were sure they would. They held their ground until the yeomen came near and then overwhelmed them. Of the 128 men in his command, only Col. Foote, a sergeant and two privates survived the battle.

VOICES

'So long as the sanguine heart that carried Michael Doheny undaunted along the Felon's Tracks beats in the breast of his country, the Irish Nation will be indestructible.'
       -- Sinn Fein founder Arthur Griffith (right).

And wherever we march, thro' the country or town,
In ditches or cellars, the croppies* lie down.
Down, down, croppies lie down.
         -- From the loyalist song 'Croppies Lie Down.' (*Wexford rebels were called croppies because of their close-cropped French-Jacobin style haircuts.)

Courtesy of Ian Croxall The flag of Clare's regiment of the Irish Brigade of France

'Lord Clare himself was noted in the French army for his intrepidity in action. At Ramillies, we see Clare's regiment shining with trophies and covered with laurels again, even in the midst of a discomforted, routed army.'
       -- From an Allied writer (The Allies opposed France.)

And said, 'No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and bravery!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free,
They shall never sound in slavery!
         -- "The Minstrel Boy" by Thomas Moore.

BIRTHS

May -- Bealtaine

21, 1745 - Count Daniel O'Connell (Soldier, uncle of the "Liberator" - Derrynane, Co. Kerry.)
22, 1805 - Michael Doheny (One of the founders of the 69th New York - Fenian - Fethard, Co. Tipperary.)
22, 1859 - Arthur Conan Doyle (Author of Sherlock Holmes books, born of Irish immigrant parents in Edinburgh, Scotland.)
22, 1870 - Eva Gore-Booth (Poet - Trade Unionist- Feminist - Lissadell, Co Sligo.)
24 1877 - Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington (Suffragist, socialist, republican - Kanturk, Co. Cork)
25, 1896 -William Cochran-Patrick (WWI Ace, 21 kills - Ireland.)
25, 1898 - Gene Tunney (Heavyweight boxing champion - New York City.)

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

21, 1800 - Bill for Union introduced in Irish Parliament.
21, 1981 - Patsy O’Hara dies on hunger strike.
21, 1981 - Raymond McCreesh dies on hunger strike.
23, 1706 - Irish Brigade of France fights at the battle of Ramillies.
23, 1723 - Charles O'Brien, 5th Viscount Clare, soldier in the Irish Brigade of France, is killed at Ramilles.
23, 1794 - United Irishmen suppressed. Dublin United Irish Society's premises at Tailors Hall raided.
23-4, 1798 - United Irish rebellion begins in Leinster.
24, 1798 - Enniscorthy Yeomen Cavalry flog a man to death in village of Ballaghkeen - Enniscorthy Yeomen Cavalry flog a man to death in village of Ballaghkeen. 
25, 1798 - Twenty-four United Irish prisoners shot in the ball alley at Carnew. Four hundred and sixty United Irishmen killed in the unsuccessful attack on Carlow town. Thirty-five suspected United Irish prisoners shot in Dunlavin.
25, 1862 - The Irish 6th Louisiana fights in the 1st battle of Winchester, Virginia.
25, 1870 - Gen. John O'Neill and a small force of Fenians invade Canada near St. Alban's, Vermont.
25, 1921 - Customs House burned by IRA in Dublin.
26, 1315 - Edward the Bruce of Scotland lands in Larne with his Scottish expeditionary force.
26, 1650 – Cromwell leaves Ireland.
26, 1706 - Col. Charles O'Brien, 5th Viscount Clare, dies from wounds suffered at the battle of Ramilles.
26, 1798 - Battle of the Harrow.
26, 1798 - Rebels defeated at Tara, Co Meath.
26, 1798 - Battle of Carlow.
26, 1873 - Religious tests for entrance to Trinity College, Dublin abandoned by Act of Parliament.
27, 1595 - Battle of Clontibret
27, 1798 - Battle of Oulart Hill, Co. Wexford; detachment of North Cork militi...
27, 1936 - First Aer Lingus flight - Baldonnel military aerodrome to Bristol, England.