Fuair siad bás ar son Saoirse na hÉireann. McDonnell was born on Slate Street in the Falls Road of west Belfast on 14 Sept 1951, and was the fifth of 10 children and went to a nearby Roman Catholic school. McDonnell was arrested in Operation Demetrius and interned on the prison ship HMS Maidstone. He was later moved to Long Kesh Prison for several months. Upon release he joined the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade. McDonnell met Bobby Sands in the run up to an IRA firebomb attack on the Balmoral Furnishing Company. During the ensuing shoot-out between the IRA and the RUC and British Army, both ..read more

Fiach MacHugh O’Bryne (Fiach Mac Aodh ÓBroin) was the son of the chief of the O’Byrnes of the Gabhail Raghnaill. His sept, a minor one, claimed descent from the 11th century King of Leinster, Bran Mac Maolmordha, and was centred at Ballinacor in Glenmalure, a steep valley in the fastness of the Wicklow mountains. Their chiefs styled themselves as Lords of Ranalagh. The territory of the Gabhail Rabhnaill stretched from Glendalough south to the Forest of Shillelagh in Wexford and west to the borders of present day Co Carlow, an area of some 150,000 acres. Resenting the greed and cruelty of the E ..read more

Executions of Easter Rising Leaders continue by a British regime in Stonebreakers’ Yard at Kilmainham Gaol, completely insensitive to the fact it was creating numerous martyrs and generating an emotional calling cry for Irish rebellion that would culminate in the War of Independence. Shot dead on this day: Michael Mallin | Born in Co Dublin, he was a music teacher, devout Catholic and teetotaler. On the eve of the 1916 Rising, Michael Mallin played the flute in the four-piece Workers’ Orchestra during a recital for the Irish Citizen Army in Dublin’s Liberty Hall. He was a silk weaver and co-fo ..read more

1567 – Shane O’Neill’s army crosses the Swilly estuary at Farsetmore, and is defeated in a pitched battle by Hugh O’Donnell. Many drown while trying to escape; O’Neill loses 1,300 men. 1597 – Death of Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne. Fiach Mac Aodha Ó Broin was Lord of Ranelagh and sometime leader of the Clann Uí Bhroin, or the O’Byrne clan, during the Elizabethan conquest of Ireland. 1796 – John Pitt Kennedy, civil engineer; road and railway pioneer in India, is born in Carndonagh, Co Donegal. 1879 – Birth of surgeon, Sir William Wheeler, in Dublin. 1888 – Engineer, Samuel Geoghegan designed his own na ..read more

It also appeared on Top of the Pops, thanks to its diffusion on Radio Caroline, though it was banned from the national broadcasting station. The song also charted at No.1 in Ireland ..read more

Christy Moore is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. In 2007, he was named as Ireland’s greatest living musician in RTÉ’s People of the Year Awards. The former lead-vocalist and chief songwriter of Planxty and Moving Hearts, Moore helped to bring the musical traditions of Ireland up to modern standards and he has been a major inspiration to many modern Irish artists. Traditional Irish music had little influence on Moore’s early music, trained in old-time pop tunes and religious music, Moore was inspired as a teenager by American Rock and Roll. Moore moved to Britain in th ..read more

The passenger liner Lusitania is torpedoed and sunk ten miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Co Cork by German U-boat U-20 under the command of Captain Walter Schweiger, resulting in the death of 1,198 of the ship’s passengers and crew. Only 761 people survived what was perceived by Britain as a flagrant breach of international law. The death of 124 US citizens turned much US opinion against Germany. A debate has raged since as to whether the ship was a legitimate target. Although denied by Britain at the time, the ship almost certainly was carrying munitions which the passengers would not have ..read more

The Philadelphia Nativist Riots (also known as the Philadelphia Prayer Riots, the Bible Riots and the Native American Riots) were a series of riots that took place between 6-8 May and 6-7 July 1844, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the adjacent districts of Kensington and Southwark. The riots were a result of rising anti-Catholic sentiment at the growing population of Irish Catholic immigrants. In the months prior to the riots, nativist groups had been spreading a rumour that Catholics were trying to remove the Bible from public schools. A nativist rally in Kensington erupted in violence on ..read more

Arriving in Dublin on 6 May 1882, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Frederick Cavendish (who was married to the niece of British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone), attended to some formal business in Dublin Castle, the seat of the British government, before walking home to the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park. Joining Cavendish in his walk, was his under-secretary, Thomas Henry Burke, the two men were approached by a group of seven men, three in front, two in the middle and two behind. Passing through – Joe Brady and Tim Kelly, Brady stabbed Burke while Kelly made for Cavendish – both ..read more

1074 – Donatus (or Dunan), the first Bishop of Dublin, dies on this date and is buried in Christ Church Cathedral. Patrick, his successor, is sent to Canterbury for consecration (records are unreliable – the date of his death is also recorded as 23 November). 1384 – Philip de Courtenay lands at Dalkey and campaigns in the midlands and the Leinster mountains. 1728 – Act of Parliament removes the right to vote from Catholics. 1763 – Mary Molesworth, widow of Richard Molesworth (3rd Viscount Molesworth, MP for Swords 1715-26), and her daughters Melosina and Mary die in a fire at their London hous ..read more