GRACE

She was called the Countess of Irish Freedom by playwright Sean O’Casey and though she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she spat it out and risked her life for the common people of Ireland that she loved so much. Constance Gore-Booth was born into a well-to-do Anglo-Irish family on Feb. 4, 1868 in London.  Her father had a large estate in Co. Sligo where she moved in the circles of the Protestant Ascendancy growing up as a noted horsewoman and a crack shot as well as a beautiful young woman.  Yet, she couldn’t help comparing her life to the lives of the poor dispossessed Irish … [Read more...] about THE COUNTESS OF IRISH FREEDOM

A joint meeting of all the Wolfe Tone Societies took place in Derry in August 1966 in which it was proposed that a non-partisan civil rights campaign be started to influence cultural and political trends in the country and by using democratic means, weaken the bigoted Unionist government of Northern Ireland.  IRA Chief of Staff Cathal Goulding was present and pledged support.  The IRA had ceased military operations four years earlier after the failure of its Border Campaign and felt that it was now time to try political opposition.  Perhaps a  campaign of civil disturbance could unseat … [Read more...] about A January Remembrance

There are more than just Christmas lights illuminating the darkness as the sun rises on the Winter Solstice in Ireland.  On December 21, a marvelous event occurs at Bru na Boinne.  On a hill in the Boyne Valley of Co. Meath stands a complex of three monuments to the early settlers of Ireland, and their civilization: Knowth, Dowth and Newgrange.  Built more than 5000 years ago, they are among the oldest man-made, still-standing structures on the planet.  Newgrange, in particular, is surrounded by enormous standing stones.  A magnificently carved kerbstone lies before the entrance to its 65-foot … [Read more...] about LIGHTS FROM THE PAST

One hundred years ago, in the Ireland of 1914, many pacifists adhered to the legacy of Daniel O’Connell’s and Charles S. Parnell’s non-violent course and put their hopes in Home Rule and John Redmond’s Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) as an answer to equal rights for the native Irish.  Unfortunately, Home Rule meant different things to different people.  O’Connell had seen a domestic Parliament for Ireland under the Crown while Young Ireland and the Fenians saw Home Rule as total separation from Great Britain.  Parnell sought a Parliament in Dublin through constitutional means with limited … [Read more...] about A CENTURY AGO – 1914

One hundred years ago was a great time to be in Ireland to paraphrase Thomas J. Clarke who had been sent by Clan na Gael leader John Devoy to revitalize the dormant IRB.  Clarke was, of course, talking about rising nationalist sentiment across Ireland and the growth of the Irish Volunteers as an army of his dream of a new Irish Republic!  We are currently in a decade-long period from 2013 to 2023 when the centenary of many of the events along the road to that Republic should be commemorated.  Beginning with the Great Dublin Lockout of 1913 which established the Irish Citizen Army to 1923 when … [Read more...] about To Commemorate Or Not To Commemorate

August 7, 1916 is significant in Irish history because it marks the premiere of Ireland’s first motion picture O’Neil of the Glen. It also led to another link between Ireland and America. There are so many Irish-American patriots who deserve to be remembered for the contributions they made for the sake of Ireland, yet their names have faded. One Irish-American was really an American Irishman, for even though he was raised in America, he was born in Kerry. His name was James Mark Sullivan and his family had been members of the Young Ireland Movement and editors of its newsletter, The Nation, … [Read more...] about Jim Sullivan