Stair na hÉireann / History of Ireland

31/05/2026

in 1848 — At least 40 immigrant vessels waited in quarantine at Grosse Île, Canada, as thousands fleeing Ireland attempted to reach North America during An Gorta Mór.

Located in the St. Lawrence River, downstream from Québec City, Grosse Île became the main quarantine station for immigrants arriving in British North America. During the typhus epidemic of 1847–48, overcrowded “coffin ships” carrying desperate emigrants from Ireland arrived in horrific conditions. Disease spread rapidly aboard the vessels and throughout the quarantine station itself.

Thousands of Irish men, women and children died at sea, in quarantine sheds, or were buried on the island. Grosse Île became one of the great burial places of the Irish diaspora and remains a powerful symbol of suffering, exile and survival.

Today, the island stands as a memorial to those who fled Ireland during An Gorta Mór and helped shape Irish communities across Canada and North America.

30/05/2026

in 2002 — Writer and playwright John B. Keane died at his home in Listowel, Co Kerry, aged 73.

John Brendan Keane was one of Ireland’s finest and most witty playwrights, renowned for his sharp ear for dialogue and his vivid portrayals of rural Irish life. Born in Listowel in 1928, he became one of the country’s most celebrated literary figures.

Among his best-known works are Sive, The Field, Big Maggie, Sharon’s Grave and Many Young Men of Twenty. His writing often explored themes of land, loneliness, emigration, family conflict and the changing face of Irish society.

In 1955, he married Mary O’Connor and together they had four children — Billy, John, Joanna and Conor. Keane served as president of Irish PEN, was a founder member of the Society of Irish Playwrights, and became a member of Aosdána. In 1991, he was made an Honorary Life Member of the Royal Dublin Society.

Never shy of political debate, Keane remained closely associated with Fine Gael throughout his life and was a familiar voice in Irish public discourse for decades.

29/05/2026

Not all Irish warriors fought with swords. Some fought with words sharp enough to survive centuries.

In ancient Ireland, poets held extraordinary power. Under the Brehon Laws, an ollamh (master poet) ranked alongside kings and bishops in status. A skilled poet could immortalise a family in praise… or destroy a reputation through satire.

It was believed that a powerful satire could raise blisters on the face of the person being mocked — a reflection of how deeply honour and reputation mattered in Gaelic society.

The most feared poets travelled from kingdom to kingdom, carrying news, history, genealogy, and political influence. Kings welcomed them with feasts and gifts, because a well-crafted poem could preserve a ruler’s name long after their fortresses had vanished.

In a world before newspapers, television, or social media, Ireland’s poets shaped public opinion — and sometimes terrified the powerful more than any army could.

“Without poets, the deeds of men would die.”

For centuries, Ireland remembered its history not through monuments, but through memory, verse, and storytelling.

28/05/2026

in 1892 — Revolutionary, teacher, and feminist Margaret Skinnider was born in Coatbridge, Scotland, to Irish parents from Co Monaghan. She would go on to fight in the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin.

“Scotland is my home, but Ireland my country.”
— Margaret Skinnider

A mathematics teacher by profession, Skinnider became active in both the women’s suffrage movement and Irish republicanism while living in Glasgow. In 1914, she joined Cumann na mBan and the Irish Volunteers, and trained with a women’s rifle club where she became an accomplished markswoman.

During the Easter Rising, Skinnider carried dispatches, organised supplies, and took part in combat around St Stephen’s Green and the College of Surgeons under the command of Michael Mallin and Countess Markievicz. She was seriously wounded by British gunfire, becoming one of the few women injured in active combat during the Rising.

After independence, she continued campaigning for republican ideals and later became president of Cumann na mBan. Margaret Skinnider died in 1971 and is buried in the republican plot at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.

28/05/2026

The Irish Traveller Community

A common misconception is that Travellers were displaced due to the Great Hunger (1845-1852) however, by using several different genetic dating methods (RCSI), researchers’ estimate that the separation began around 12 generations ago. This translates into approximately 360 years, dating back to the mid 1600’s. There is a theory that the Oliver Cromwell evictions may have formed the community. Irish Travellers account for 0.6% of the Irish population, consisting of 29,000-40,000 individuals. They are a population with a history of nomadism, where cousin marriages (consanguineous marriages) are commonplace and they are socially isolated from ‘settled’ Irish people. This landmark research, using DNA from a sample Irish Travellers, European Roma and settled people, has found that at a genetic level, Travellers are very close to settled Irish people, but show significant differences, there is no evidence for a recent shared ancestry between Irish Travellers and European Roma.

27/05/2026

in 1595 – Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, defeated the English forces of his brother-in-law, Sir Henry Bagenal, at the Battle of Clontibret, Co. Monaghan.

Fought during the opening phase of the Nine Years’ War, Clontibret marked the first major victory for the Irish confederate forces and dealt a significant blow to English authority in Ulster. O’Neill’s men used ambush tactics and their knowledge of the terrain to harass and inflict heavy losses on Bagenal’s advancing force.

Known in Irish as Aodh Mór Ó Néill, Hugh O’Neill was a Gaelic lord and Earl of Tyrone whose career unfolded against the backdrop of the Tudor conquest of Ireland. In 1595 he moved into open rebellion against the Crown and was proclaimed a traitor later that year. In September he was inaugurated as The O’Neill, becoming leader of the powerful Ó Néill dynasty and the central figure in the greatest resistance to Tudor expansion in Ireland.

26/05/2026

in 1897 – Ernie O’Malley was born in Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

“I had given allegiance to a certain ideal of freedom as personified by the Irish Republic. It had not been realised except in the mind. I had fought against the British Empire in defence of that Republic, against Irishmen in the RIC, Englishmen in the British Army, and Irishmen in the Free State Army. To me they meant the same system.” — Ernie O’Malley

One of the most remarkable figures of revolutionary Ireland, O’Malley served as an IRA officer during the War of Independence and later became a commander in the anti-Treaty IRA during the Civil War. Captured and badly wounded during the conflict, he later turned to writing and preserved the memories of a generation shaped by revolution.

His works — On Another Man’s Wound, The Singing Flame, and Raids and Rallies — remain among the most important firsthand accounts of Ireland’s revolutionary period.

25/05/2026

in 1967 – Celtic Football Club became the first Scottish and first northern European side to win the European Cup, defeating Inter Milan 2–1 at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal.

In front of a crowd of more than 70,000, Celtic fell behind early after Sandro Mazzola converted a penalty for Inter Milan. But the Glasgow side fought back magnificently. Tommy Gemmell equalised before Stevie Chalmers struck the winner in the 84th minute to seal one of football’s greatest triumphs.

As the final whistle sounded, jubilant Celtic supporters flooded the pitch in celebration. The team would forever be remembered as the “Lisbon Lions” — a remarkable side whose starting XI were all born within around 30 miles of Glasgow.

A legendary night in football history and one forever etched into Celtic folklore.

24/05/2026

Directed and edited by Marcus Howard. Filmed in America, Ireland and Australia, this documentary is visually the definitive account of The Catalpa Rescue told in 2 hours and 45 minutes. This is the most inspiring story in Irish history told in the words of the participants. The 3 interwoven prison escapes of James Stephens, John Boyle O'Reilly and The Catalpa Rescue show the determination of the Irish people to be free, it is set in the context of the end of The American Civil War, the 1867 Rebellion, the Manchester Martyrs and the turbulent times the Fenians faced worldwide. The mastermind behind the operation, John Devoy, famously declared the mission’s success was due to:
“A combination of Irish skill and pluck and Yankee grit.” This story shows when all hope is against you, you just keep on going. This is the greatest prison escape in Irish history.

Directed and edited by Marcus Howard. Filmed in America, Ireland an...

24/05/2026

Across Ireland, the land still carries the memory of An Gorta Mór — The Great Hunger — in empty townlands, broken stone cottages, and fields reclaimed by time.

These are the remnants of communities that were devastated in the mid-19th century, when dependence on the potato crop collided with poverty, land pressure, and political and economic systems that failed the most vulnerable. As starvation spread, Ireland remained tied into wider trade networks, and food exports continued from the country — a fact that has long shaped public understanding and debate about this period.

What remains beyond dispute is the scale of human loss, and the transformation of Irish society through death, displacement, and mass emigration.

These places are not ruins of the distant past — they are part of a living historical memory, still felt in families, place names, and cultural identity today.

They stand as a reminder that history is not only what happened, but how it is remembered.