On January 28, 1967, Helena Moloney died in Dublin. Moloney was a great woman, born in Dublin in 1884, as a teen, she was deeply moved by a speech given by Maud Gonne and decided to join Inghinidhe na hÉireann (the Daughters of Ireland) a revolutionary women's society founded by Maud Gonne on Easter Sunday 1900. She went to Maud Gonne’s house to join up and arrived in the middle of a police raid. Asked by the police if she was a member, she replied that she was and was proud to be, whereupon she was promptly arrested. From the beginning, Helena played a prominent role in the organization … [Read more...] about BEAN na hEIREANN
Historical Happenings
Three Ancient Observatories
The Boyne Valley, some 20 miles northwest of Dublin in County Meath, is one of the most remarkable sites on the planet, 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 a celestial manifestation occurs there each December. The oldest mound, Newgrange, is about 262 feet in … [Read more...] about Three Ancient Observatories
James Stephens
At midnight on the rainy night of November 24, 1865, there was hardly a soul to be seen on the streets of Dublin. Policemen on duty took shelter in doorways, blowing on their fingers to warm them in the bitter cold. Not far away and colder than the policemen six men, soaked to the skin, were waiting outside Richmond Prison. When they spoke, they spoke in whispers and watched the high wall of the prison for a signal. In a cell within the prison, a man paced back and forth. He too awaited a signal for he knew, that unless plans miscarried, this was the night he was to be rescued. His name … [Read more...] about James Stephens
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell, a Protestant Squire in Avondale in Co. Wicklow, was the son of an English father and an American mother. The maternal grandfather for whom he was named was Charles Stewart: Commanding Officer of U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides) during the War of 1812; the U.S. Navy's first Rear Admiral (an appointment made by President Lincoln in 1862); and a genuine hero. On February 20 1815, with a strategy described by James Fenimore Cooper as, the most brilliant maneuvering in naval annals, Stewart, heavily outmanned and outgunned, soundly defeated and captured two British ships … [Read more...] about Charles Stewart Parnell
The Irish in Labor
In 1913, John Murphy fired all his employees who had joined the Irish Transport and General Worker's Union led by James Larkin and James Connolly and urged other Dublin employers to follow suit. Larkin and Connolly knew this lockout was a death threat against the Union, so they led the workers in a general strike signaled by the walkout of the Tram workers at 10 AM on August 26. It was a daring move for, although labor unions were not new, they had never succeeded in Ireland where government troops often supported employers. It is ironic that 33 years earlier the Land League had introduced … [Read more...] about The Irish in Labor