The Boyne Valley, some 20 miles northwest of Dublin in County Meath, is one of the most remarkable sites on earth, for there stands three monuments to the early settlers of Ireland, and their civilization. At first they appear to be huge mounds or hills, but closer investigation reveals them to be man-made structures. They are, in fact, more than 5000 years old and the oldest, still-standing, man-made structures on the planet. They are known as Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth and celestial manifestations occur there each December. The ancients who built the mounds called them Brú na Bóinne. The … [Read more...] about THREE ANCIENT OBSERVATORIES
Historical Happenings
THE IRISH BRIGADE COMES HOME
Prior to the American Civil War, the regular Army was small reflecting the logic that America was best defended by hundreds of volunteer militia units. Many were little more than glorified fraternal organizations, filled with men who liked to parade, drink, and sometimes drill. New York had the Continental Guards, German Black Sharp-shooters and Hungarian Kossuth Rifles among others. Not to be outdone, the Irish formed the O'Connell Guards, Irish Rifles and Irish Zouaves. The more serious of these units were mustered into a formal state militia. On October 12, 1851, the 69th New York State … [Read more...] about THE IRISH BRIGADE COMES HOME
THOMAS DAVIS
There are few events in Irish history as tragic as the death of Thomas Osborne Davis. He was a rare man whose impact on the history of Ireland has never been truly appreciated. Born in Mallow, Co Cork on Oct 14, 1814, the son of a British Army Surgeon, he was educated at Trinity College and called to the Bar in 1838, but Davis heard another call: the call of Ireland. He heard it in the voice of Dan O'Connell when the Great Emancipator visited his home town in 1842, and asked a crowd of 400,000, “Where is the coward who would not die for Ireland?” This was a fiery young O'Connell, not the … [Read more...] about THOMAS DAVIS
THE GALLOPING HOGAN
After Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland, more than 40,000 Irish were relocated west beyond the Shannon by the end of 1654. Those who didn’t were press-ganged into the British Navy, or sold as indentured servants to the colonies. There was one group however, who refused to relocate. They eluded capture in the hills and glens near their ancestral homes, and raided the new settlers on the lands of their clans. They led an outlaw existence, and the British called them highwaymen; the Irish called them Rapparees. They were a constant concern to the English as they continued to strike the new owners of … [Read more...] about THE GALLOPING HOGAN
Hibernian Rifles in Ireland
As the American Irish and their Irish-American sons and daughters coalesced into a wage-earning community of Diaporadoes, organizations like the Ancient Order of Hibernians were formed in 1836 from early Ribbon societies to defend Catholic values. They also nursed a dream of an independent Ireland and maintained links with their Ribbon mentors. In the 1850s, several Ribbon groups in Ireland adopted the AOH name and, facing extreme anti-Catholic bias, fought fire with fire and became anti-Protestant to such a degree that they were called a green version of the Orange Order. While still … [Read more...] about Hibernian Rifles in Ireland