Rebuilding Lives in Northern Ireland
Posted in Historical Facts on Aug 16th, 2011
On August 16, 1649 Oliver Cromwell landed in Ireland with 17,000 men. They attacked Drogheda and slaughtered several thousand men, women and children. His army marched all over Ireland slaughtering as they went.
Posted in Historical Facts on Aug 15th, 2011
On August 15, 1649 Oliver Cromwell arrived in Ireland. During the next 10 years it is estimated that one third of the population either died of starvation or were killed.
Posted in Historical Facts on Aug 14th, 2011
The greatest defeat of the English armies in Irish history took place on August 14, 1598 at The Yellow Ford.
Posted in Historical Facts on Aug 3rd, 2011
On August 3, 1916 Sir Roger Casement was hanged in London for treason. He had been knighted in 1911 for exposing the brutal cruelties of the colonial regime in the Belgian Congo. He was a protestant and a Republican, and in 1916 traveled to Germany to try and recruit Irish prisoners-of-war for the Republican cause. [...]
Posted in Historical Facts on Jun 21st, 2011
On June 21, 1877 four men were hanged in the Carbon County, PA jail. The miners supposedly were “Molly Maguires,” a band of Irish immigrants who fought for better working conditions in the mines. Overall, between 1877 and 1879, 54 miners were convicted in “show trials” and four more were hanged. These were the largest [...]
Posted in Historical Facts on Jun 8th, 2011
Born 521 A.D., Colmcille was a royal prince, great-great grandson of King Niall. He studied for the priesthood at St. Finian’s monastery. As the story goes, he borrowed a Psalter (a version of the Psalms used in religious services) from Finian and made a copy. When he returned the original, Finian demanded the copy also [...]
Posted in Historical Facts on Jun 6th, 2011
A memorial to John Barry is being erected on the grounds of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. Barry was a native of Wexford. President George Washington conferred upon him the rank of Captain in 1797, and he was given command of the frigate, “United States” thus becoming the First Flag Officer of the U.S. Navy. Washington asked [...]
Posted in Historical Facts on May 31st, 2011
During excavations in March in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, the builders discovered a Viking settlement on what was once an island in the River Poddle. It is believed that the settlement dates from the 10th or 11th century when the river ran through this area. The discovery was that of a medieval timber [...]
Posted in Historical Facts on May 21st, 2011
The only example of an early Celtic princely grave with a wooden chamber has been found in Germany. It is the remains of an aristocratic lady, maybe a princess, estimated to be 2,600 years old. She is believed to be royalty because of the amount of jewelry found. The grave was preserved because of the [...]
Posted in Historical Facts on May 5th, 2011
May 5 is the 30th anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands during the 1981 Hunger Strike. He was 27 years old and fasted for 66 days. He was the first of ten young men to die on hunger strike in 1981. From the writings of Bobby Sands, “I can hear the curlew passing overhead. [...]
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