Historical Happenings

Dubh (Doov) in the Irish language means dark or black and is used to describe someone by the color of their hair as in Roisin Dubh (Dark Rosaleen) or Hugh Dubh O'Neill (Black Hugh O’Neill), an Irish patriot of the 17th century best remembered for his defense of Clonmel in 1650. He was also nephew of Owen Ruadh O’Neill (Owen the Red O’Neill) whose red hair was a distinguishing characteristic. Some believe that survivors of the Spanish Armada who landed in Ireland were the ancestors of Ireland’s black-haired population, but that’s not true; black hair and brown eyes were attributes of the … [Read more...] about THE BLACK IRISH

The O’Halloran sisters, Annie, Honoria and Sarah, lived with their parents and brothers, Patrick and Frank, in Bodyke, Co. Clare as tenants of the notorious Col. John O’Callaghan. Michael Davitt’s Land League forced the Irish Land Act of 1881 to allowed tenants to appeal for Court adjudicated rent reductions and, in some cases, eventual ownership. O’Callaghan charged the O’Hallorans £31 which the court ordered be reduced to £22-10s – a sum the family maintained was still unfair, since before he had raised it the rent had been £13-10s. The O’Hallorans joined in Bodyke rent boycotts and in June … [Read more...] about The Bold Beauties from Bodyke

Today’s media decries the loss of several people to an Influenza virus and, while it is lamentable, there was a time when a flu virus was incredibly more deadly. The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide (about a third of the planet's population) killing an estimated 20 to 50 million – 675,000 of whom were Americans, including 43,000 military. It also broke many AOH divisions nationwide since, at the time, they paid sick and death benefits to members. World War 1 had claimed an estimated 16 million lives, but the flu killed more than three times as … [Read more...] about THE UNSEEN ENEMY

  Seventy-five years ago, 35 orphans perished in a blaze in St. Joseph’s Orphanage in County Cavan. The orphanage was founded by the Poor Clares, a cloistered order of nuns, on Main Street in 1868. At the time, young delinquents could be educated and learn a trade in a reformatory, but orphaned and abandoned children were not accorded the same opportunity. The good sisters sought to address this by establishing an industrial school for girls. In the early morning of February 24, 1943, a small fire started in the laundry of the old building. Within 45 minutes it gutted the entire school, … [Read more...] about WHEN MORALITY WAS DEADLY

The traditional role of women in Celtic culture was one of equality in the Brehon Law. The coming of British law changed that and the subordination of women to the nursery and the kitchen began. But, there were always strong Irish women beneath it all. Those who knew the true value of Irish women never doubted their ability and the Ban naTigh (woman of the house) was a valued influence even though shuttered out of official society. The group of Irish scholars who emerged in the mid-1800s from the Gaelic Revival, translated literature from ancient Irish history and inspired a revival of … [Read more...] about THE STRUGGLE BEGINS ANEW