The Irish at War

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#OnThisDay 1616 Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone died in Rome of a fever. O’Neill took on & almost beat Elizabethan England in the Nine Years War. The Flight of the Earls in 1607 saw O’Neill & followers leave Ireland for Europe hoping to return with an army. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1883 Alan Brooke, was born to parents from Fermanagh &Louth. Brooke was the head of the British Army in WW2 &was known for standing up to Churchill once saying; "The more you tell that man about the war, the more you hinder our chances of winning it!" #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1803 Robert Emmet's rebellion broke out in Dublin. A well planned idea but was hampered by lack of arms, communication & support from outside Dublin meant that rebellion was more of a riot confined to Thomas St. A dragoon & Chief Justice were killed. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1794 Fr Pierre O’Brien was guillotined in Paris for of being “an enemy of the nation”. O'Brien was born in Compiégne to Irish parents. He was executed for expressing anti-Revolutionary sentiment & not taking the Civil Constitutional Clergy Oath. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1952 PFC Michael Anthony McCormack from Taghmaconnell, Roscommon died while serving with the US Army in the Korean War. Serving with the 142nd Quartermaster Group, McCormack drown as his unit crossed a flooded river.He is buried at home in Roscommon. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1920 Six catholics and four protestants are killed in riots in Belfast. Among the deceased were two ex-servicemen as well as Br. Michael Morgan, a Redemptorist monk who was shot by a British Army machine gun while walking through Clonard Monastery. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1864 The Union & Confederate armies fought the Battle of Atlanta. Each army had a General from Cork present. Brigadier General 'Fightin' Thomas Sweeny (L) & Major General Patrick Cleburne (R). The Union Army won & besieged the city until September. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1952 Pte Owen Prior from Ballinamore, Leitrim drown as he crossed a river near Samnang-jin during the Korean War. Prior enlisted in Rhode Island &served with the 772 Military Police Batt. He is buried at Corraleehan, St Brigid's Graveyard, Leitrim. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1861 The New York 69th , lead by Colonel Michael Corcoran from Sligo, had their first taste of Battle at First Bull Run, though it did not go well. The Union line fled but the 69th made an orderly withdrawal. Corcoran was captured & held for years. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1798 Two United Irishmen leaders, Fr Mogue Kearns & Col Anthony Perry, were hanged in Edenderry, Offaly (my home town). Both fought at Vinegar Hill, escaped&made their way north. Kearns had allegedly escaped a lynching mob in Paris in the Revolution. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1933 Eoin O'Duffy, ex Chief of Staff of the IRA, General & admirer of Benito Mussolini, was made leader of the Army Comrades Association i.e. the Blue Shirts, a quasi fascist organisation that later joined with other parties to become Fine Gael. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1798 William Aylmer & his United Irishmen surrender at Timahoe, Kildare."The rank & file were allowed to give up their arms & leave unmolested although the leaders were arrested",some escaped. Aylmer ended up fighting with Simón Bolívar in Venezuela. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1920 Two RIC constables were shot in an IRA ambush outside of Tuam. Two others were disarmed & released. Later that evening, Tuam became the first town to suffer a reprisal as Black and Tans burn the town hall, shoot & throw grenades in the streets. #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1919 Peace Day Parade took place in Dublin. 20,000 soldiers marched from Dame St to Stephen's Green celebrating the end of The Great War. Thousands came to celebrate. The mood changed that night when 2 soldiers were attacked & a DMP man shot. #Ireland #History #WW1

#OnThisDay 1944 Lieutenant John Gorman from Omagh rammed his Sherman tank into a 70 tonne King Tiger tank disabling both. Gorman saved his crew, got a Firefly tank, destroyed the Tiger & rescued friendlies. He was awarded a Military Cross for his actions. #Ireland #History #WW2

#OnThisDay 1944 The Allies launch Operation Goodwood in Normandy. The Irish Guards as part of the Guards Division, take the town of Cagny despite heavy presence of German armour. Pictured here are three Irish Guards with dust covers on a Loyd carrier. #Ireland #History #WW2

#OnThisDay 1874 Cathal Brugha was born in Dublin. Severely wounded in the Easter Rising, he survived & became Chief of Staff of the IRA from 1917-1919 & Minister of Defence 1919-1922. He opposed the Treaty & was fatally wounded in the Civil War. #Ireland #History

Today would have been Group Captain John Hemingway’s 106th birthday. I was honoured to attend a special memorial event at @MuseumKent on Monday, where family members, relatives of No. 85 Squadron comrades and a @RoyalAirForce representative paid tribute to #TheLastOfTheFew!

#OnThisDay 1920 Lt. Col Gerald B Smyth was shot dead by the IRA in Cork. Smyth gave a speech in Listowel RIC advocating the shooting of IRA suspects. His assassin said; "Colonel, were not your orders to shoot on sight? Well you are in sight now, so prepare." #Ireland #History

#OnThisDay 1884 Louise Gavan Duffy was born in France. A suffragist, nationalist, scholar, member of Cumann na mBan, & was present in the GPO till the evacuation during the Easter Rising. Duffy also established the first Gaelscoil in Ireland in 1917. #Ireland #History