SIX WEEKS OF 'SERVICE' FOR ONE, EIGHT MONTHS FOR 'THE FIEND'. On Saturday, 24th July, 1920, 45 Black and Tan recruits arrived in Limerick city from Baile Mhic Gormáin (Gormanston)… Read More

Ireland, 1920's - an IRA ambush on an RIC patrol results in the death of one of the RIC members (an ex-'Royal Marine') who had only joined the RIC weeks earlier.Two ex-British Army soldiers… Read More

In June, 1920, a Lieutenant Colonel, a Mr Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth, 34, (pictured), was sent from London to Ireland, to deal with "the troublesome Irish", as he had been seconded by his p… Read More

REVENGE WAS HIS MOTIVE, AVENGE WAS THEIR OBJECTIVE... Ireland, 1920's - this British Army man was promoted in rank and sent to Ireland 'to put manners on the Irish'.And maybe he thought he… Read More

ON THIS DATE (10TH JULY) 97 YEARS AGO : FREE STATE MINISTER FOR 'JUSTICE' EXECUTED BY THE IRA.Kevin Christopher O'Higgins (Caoimhghín Críostóir Ó hUigín, p… Read More

In the 1920's, this man fought tooth-and-nail for the implementation of an Irish republican agenda in a 32-County Ireland, and fought viciously, on a full time basis, for six years, to achie… Read More

ON THIS DATE (3RD JULY) 133 YEARS AGO : BIRTH OF THE IRISH 'MRS HITLER'!'Bridget Dowling (pictured) was born in Dublin on this date in 1891 ; she is noteworthy in history because she married… Read More

There is a lot of talk recently about the State Army and the possibility/probability that it has thugs within its ranks ("...68 members of the (State) Defence Forces have been convicted… Read More

ON THIS DATE (26TH JUNE) 102 YEARS AGO : FREE STATE GENERAL KIDNAPPED ON THE EVE OF CIVIL WAR.On the 26th June, 1922, Leo Henderson and a group of 'Irregulars/Dissidents' left the then repub… Read More

Ah sure, look it......we're not anymore bigheaded now than we were before we clocked-up over 1,500,000 hits.YA WHA'???You hadn't noticed, you say... "so what?", ya declare, with a shrug of y… Read More

Go Raibh Maith Agat/Thank You!A couple of days ago, we 'aged' - to over 1,500,000 hits on this blog - and counting...!We espouse, support and believe in traditional Irish Republicanism on th… Read More

'AN OLD AND UNFAIR CRITICISM...'From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955. At the inaugural meeting of Fianna Fáil in May 1926, Mr de Valera said he had been planning a policy… Read More

Ireland, 1921 - this US citizen was in Ireland to visit his brother. A Crown Force patrol was heading his way but he had the sense to make himself scarce, as he knew what they were capable o… Read More

ON THIS DATE (5TH JUNE) ELEVEN YEARS AGO - DEATH OF A STAUNCH IRISH REPUBLICAN."A national security threat, a dedicated revolutionary, undeterred by threat or personal risk.." - FBI descrip… Read More

In the 1920's, leaflets and posters started appearing in this Irish town calling for the Black and Tans to get out of Ireland. The Tans, and their colleagues in the RIC and the British Army… Read More

"FOR THE CROWN GIVES FAIR QUARTER..." ' The United Irishmen's rebellion in Ireland in 1798 was well supported throughout the country and the English were, as in every conflict they s… Read More

BROKEN IRELAND...Broken, damaged, twisted - but still salvageable! ...as was the life of this man who, in the early 1920's, having 'served King and Country' in three different British Army… Read More

EXCLUSIVE !! WE NAME THE LOSERS IN THE 7TH JUNE 2024 COUNCIL AND EUROPEAN ELECTIONS.....YOU!There are thousands of candidates that would like you to vote for them on the 7th June 2024 to ens… Read More

Meself and the team are working on a 20-piece blog post for Wednesday, 22nd May 2024, but sure we'll probably have another two or three items to add to it between this and then (...that's 'c… Read More

Mr Hugh McClean (21), a member of the Black and Tans, from Moray, in Scotland, was billeted in the Cork area and himself and one of his colleagues, a man named Cooke, were keep-fit fanatics… Read More

And we're back!...and we were right about the family gig that kept us out of action last Wednesday : it took the two days before it to properly finalise it, and three days after it to recove… Read More

On the 1st May 1916, in Cork - 108 years ago on this date - rebel weapons were voluntarily surrendered to British-appointed and approved representatives and those who surrendered them were… Read More

KEEPING YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE AND... Easter Week, 1916, Ireland :Irish men and women had armed themselves and, once again, thrown down the gauntlet to Westminster. Gun-battles, ambushes, snip… Read More

In April, 1919, the issue of support for the RIC, the pro-British 'police force' in Ireland, was being discussed by the public and by their representatives in (the 32-County) Dáil… Read More

'Form an orderly queue there, please.. ...and we'll be opening for business on Wednesday, 24th April 2024.....with a 15-part post!' We're putting the finishing touches to the 15 for the… Read More

AT MIDNIGHT ON THE 17TH APRIL 75 YEARS AGO - UP THE REPUBLIC......UP THE YARD, THAT IS! Not that this (or this) couldn't happen in a proper 'Republic', just that instances like that happen… Read More

And here's another 'Proclamation' (of sorts!) for ya - on Wednesday, 17th April 2024, we'll be here with a 14-piece post covering, as usual, Irish history and Irish politics from a tradition… Read More

SPOOF, SPIN, AND IGNORANCE IN A PARTIAL EX-COLONY.There's a certain amount of spin and misdirection in the last few weeks in connection with the 26th anniversary of the signing of the 1998 S… Read More

Es genial estar de vuelta con los amigos!It's great to be back among friends!The weather's against me - the rain, chilly winds, gloomy skies - compared to the two weeks I had in Lanzarote wi… Read More

On the 13th March, 1920, about sixty Volunteers from the Listowel, Ballyduff and Ballybunion Companies of the IRA, County Kerry, ensured all roads leading into the town of Ballybunion, from… Read More

In between the Mother's Day and the State Referendums celebrations, you might think that we'd be too busy to pay attention to our lil' corner of the interweb but no, we're not - dedicated (o… Read More

ON THIS DATE (6TH MARCH) 101 YEARS AGO : FIVE FREE STATE SOLDIERS KILLED BY IRA.Paddy O'Daly, pictured ; IRA man-turned Free Stater.On March 6th, 1923 (101 years ago on this date), five Free… Read More

We're gonna outdo ourselves this Wednesday, 6th March, 2024, as we're putting together a 27-part post in which letters and telegrams will feature in some of them - communications between a M… Read More

ON THIS DATE (28TH FEBRUARY) 224 YEARS AGO : "ON THE BRIDGE OF TOOME TODAY..."'O see the fleet-foot host of men, who march with faces drawn,From farmstead and from fishers' cot, along the ba… Read More

We're dottin' the 't's' and a-crossin' the 'i's' or whatever on a 15-part post that we're getting ready for Wednesday, 28th February 2024, with one piece highlighting how the newly-minted (!… Read More

On the 21st February, 1919, two-hundred-and-twenty workers went on strike at Fulton's Woolen Mill in Caledon, County Tyrone.The strike was led by Irish republican activist Peadar O'Donnell a… Read More

We're putting the finishing touches to a 20-part post for Wednesday, 21st February 2024, in which we'll be mentioning loads of interesting stuff (!), including the following...From 1922 - tw… Read More

On the 14th February, 1919, word began to circulate in Maddenstown, the Curragh, County Kildare, and surrounding districts, of a shooting that had happened the previous day.It wasn't long be… Read More

From 1921 - three members of this extended family were shot by the IRA for their anti-republican activity, which led to some public unease in the areas where they lived.Then paperwork came t… Read More

ON THIS DATE (7TH FEBRUARY) 84 YEARS AGO - WESTMINSTER EXECUTES TWO IRA VOLUNTEERS.James McCormack (aka 'James Richards') was born in Mullingar in County Westmeath in 1910, and he joined a u… Read More

DIA DHUIT. TÁIMID AR AIS...SAGHAS AR..!Hola! ¡Estamos de vuelta... más o menos...!Hello! We're back...sort of..!Shivering here, in wet and windy 14°C in Ireland, comp… Read More

ON THIS DATE (17TH JANUARY) 52 YEARS AGO - POW DEEP DIVE...!52 years ago on this date (17th January 1972), seven IRA prisoners escaped from an 'escape proof' British prison ship, which was… Read More

We're working on a 15-piece post for Wednesday, 17th January 2024 and, as we're only about halfway through it as I type, I won't delay ya (or meself!) too long.Among the pieces we'll be c… Read More

ON THIS DATE (10TH JANUARY) 43 YEARS AGO - SERIOUSLY ILL FEMALE REPUBLICAN POW "RELEASED ON LICENCE".In October 1980, protesting POW's in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh began a hunger strike for… Read More

...and we're back!Almost...Crazy Christmas and Nuclear New Year : between the three of us, we got to eleven Christmas/New Year parties in houses, pubs and nightclubs, opened seventeen presen… Read More

ON THIS DATE (20TH DECEMBER) 101 YEARS AGO : REPUBLICAN GAMEKEEPER-TURNED-FREE STATE POACHER SHOT DEAD BY IRA.'Seamus Dwyer was christened James and took the Irish form of his name in later… Read More

We're working on another 17-part post for Wednesday, 20th December 2023, and I'm told - despite the Christmas distractions - it'll be ready to go by then (Ho! Ho! Ho!).Among the 17 occurranc… Read More

SECOND DAY OF THE 'BORDER CAMPAIGN' OPERATION BEGINS : 13TH DECEMBER 1956. IRA Volunteers, pictured around the time of the Border Campaign.At the time of this IRA campaign, Eamon de Valera's… Read More

'LETTERS OF ASSURANCE' AND ALL THAT...!On Wednesday, 13th December 2023, we'll be cominatya' with a 17-piece post on Irish history and politics, mentioning various occurrences which took pl… Read More

ON THIS DATE (6TH DECEMBER) 102 YEARS AGO : A TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE IS BORN.One of the leaflets (pictured) distributed by Irish republicans in late 1921 to counteract anti-republican propagan… Read More

THE BRITISH 'DORA' IN IRELAND....and we're back, after our 'working holiday'!We had an eventful break (!), and enjoyed the two gigs laid on by the Movement, during and after the working days… Read More

ON THIS DATE (22ND NOVEMBER) 100 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF AN IRA HUNGER-STRIKER.Andrew Sullivan (aka Andy O'Sullivan, pictured), 5th Battalion, Cork 4th Brigade, was one of three IRA men to die… Read More

18 FOR THE 22ND ON 1169...! Well haven't we been busy bees!We've put together 18 articles, covering the years 1919 to 2002, for the blog, for Wednesday, 22nd November 2023!Included in the ar… Read More

IRELAND, 1920 : THEY HAD 'TICKETS TO RIDE...'On the 15th November 1920 - 103 years ago on this date - A British soldier in Ireland, a Lieutenant William Spalding Watts, who was attached to t… Read More

On Wednesday, 15th November 2023, we'll be putting up a five-piece post which - magically! - will turn into a seven-parter right in front of your lil' curious eyes...!Among the pieces we'll… Read More

ON THIS DATE (8TH NOVEMBER) 28 YEARS AGO - DEATH OF A 'GUN-RUNNER'.Neil T. Blaney (pictured), born 29th October 1922, died 8th November 1995 : 28 years ago on this date.On November 10th 1966… Read More

"THE BANE OF SOCIETY AND THE SCOURGE OF MANKIND..." From 1998 - "re-invigorating the Republican Movement and demonstrating its continuity with the struggle of previous generations..." By the… Read More

ON THIS DATE (1ST NOVEMBER) 103 YEARS AGO : THE EVE OF EXECUTION.'On 28 June 1920, five men from C Company of the 1st Battalion at Wellington Barracks, Jalandhar, Punjab decided to protest a… Read More

IRELAND 1920 - A WELL-MEANING CITIZEN INTERVENES...Not that we've been absent too long (...one week, only!), but we're back, anyway, with a seven-parter on Wednesday, 1st November, 2023, wh… Read More

ON THIS DATE (25TH OCTOBER) 106 YEARS AGO : SINN FÉIN ADOPTS A REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION."The Constitution of this new movement which you have adopted is one which it may be well to lay… Read More

About five years after he swore allegiance, again, to the Irish Republic, this man - not for the first time in the course of this on-going struggle - didn't only turn his back on that strugg… Read More

ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 232 YEARS AGO - 'REFORM DEMANDED FOR ALL'.On the 18th October 1791 - 232 years ago on this date - a group of socially-minded Protestants, Anglicans and Presbyteri… Read More

GETTING READY.....FOR A NINE-PARTER ON THE 18TH!The British presence in Ireland gets its strength from the weakness of the Irish, by seducing, subduing and/or executing those they deem to be… Read More

ON THIS DATE (27TH SEPTEMBER) 65 YEARS AGO : TWO IRISH REPUBLICAN LEADERS ESCAPE FROM FREE STATE CUSTODY.On Saturday, 27th September 1958, the Irish republican POW's in the Curragh Internmen… Read More

The 'score' from this particular sporting occasion was 2 - 0, and it's an 'outing' that is still being talked about in Irish republican circles...! In the mid-19th Century in Ireland, these… Read More

ON THIS DATE (20TH SEPTEMBER) 220 YEARS AGO : 'DARLING OF ERIN' BUTCHERED BY WESTMINSTER.Robert Emmet was born on the 4th March, 1778, a son of Dr Robert Emmet and Elizabeth Mason. His fat… Read More

1920 - A 'MISHAP' IN AN ENGLISH PRISON. In the 1800's, scientific and weight/measure skills etc had been acquired from abroad and brought back to Ireland by this well-known Irish rebel, who… Read More

ON THIS DATE (13TH SEPTEMBER) 87 YEARS AGO : TWENTY-FOUR YEAR OLD IRISH REPUBLICAN KILLS HIMSELF OVER MENTAL TORTURE BY FREE STATERS.'In fond and loving memory of Seán Glynn, Captain… Read More

..AND IRISH LAWS'.Ireland, 1930's - this young Irish republican was driven to extremes by the constant evil inflicted on him by the Free State 'authorities' who held him captive... This enem… Read More

ON THIS DATE (6TH SEPTEMBER) 83 YEARS AGO : REPUBLICANS EXECUTED BY DE VALERA.Tom Harte and Paddy McGrath (pictured), two Irish republicans executed on the 6th September 1940 - 83 years ago… Read More

In the 1940's, in Ireland, this Irish republican Volunteer was the 'Best Man' at the wedding of one of his comrades, and all went well on the day.But, 'after Truce and Treaty and the partin… Read More

ON THIS DATE (30TH AUGUST) 182 YEARS AGO : A NEW NATIONALIST VOICE IS 'PRESSED' INTO ACTION.The front page of the first copy of 'The Cork Examiner' newspaper (pictured), which was produced… Read More

SEARCHING ITS OWN MEMBERSHIP, BUT NOT ITS CONSCIENCE...In the 1900's, this newspaper was closed down (temporarily) by Westminster because it was thought by the British to be too inclined tow… Read More

ON THIS DATE (23RD AUGUST) 225 YEARS AGO : A FRENCH BATTLECRY ON IRISH SOIL."UNION, LIBERTY, THE IRISH REPUBLIC!"- the words and ideals proclaimed in Ballina, County Mayo, on the 23rd August… Read More

"...THE GOLDEN SLEEPY DREAM OF YESTERDAYS." A brilliant military tactician, this foreign army man agreed with his comrades-in-arms that the British military and political presence had no pl… Read More

ON THIS DATE (16TH AUGUST) 103 YEARS AGO : AN IRISH FIGHTER IN A BRITISH 'COURT OF JUSTICE'.Pictured : Terence MacSwiney, his wife Muriel and their daughter, Máire, photographed in 19… Read More

BY GUM (!) but we've been busy beavers here in '1169 Towers' over the past week! I'm told that we'll have a 9-parter ready to be unleashed on Wednesday, 16th August 2023, including a few pa… Read More

ON THIS DATE (9TH AUGUST) 82 YEARS AGO : REVOLUTIONARY IRISHMAN EXECUTED BY THE STATERS.Ireland 1915 ; the Irish Volunteer Movement had split ; approximately 170,000 men stayed with John Red… Read More

..AS WITH THE MORAL LAW OF THE CHURCH.." This British 'Sir' took control of a pro-British militia in Ireland and worked with them to obtain ten's of thousands of rifles and millions of round… Read More

ON THIS DATE (2ND AUGUST) 101 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF "AN INFLUENTIAL AND FORMIDABLE" IRISH REPUBLICAN SOLDIER.Henry James 'Harry' Boland (27th April 1887 – 2nd August 1922). "I rise to s… Read More

This IRA Volunteer is said to have been shot by a one-time prison comrade of his, on the 'un-official' instructions given to the gunman (and his colleagues) by a high-ranking Free Stater… Read More

ON THIS DATE (26TH JULY) 109 YEARS AGO : HOWTH GUNS AND A BRITISH MASSACRE ON THE DUBLIN QUAYS.'A nationalist depiction of the shootings at Bachelor's Walk, in which British troops killed th… Read More

And we're back in Dublin, mostly in one piece (!), after our assault on the South-East - Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford and Tipp - where eight (supposed) adults and eleven children in… Read More

IRELAND, 1921 : THE IRA "EXPRESSED A WISH TO MEET THEM IN AN OPEN FIGHT SOON.." On the 6th of May, 1921, IRA Commandant Michael J. Marren, who was in command of at least forty Volunteers (… Read More

ON THIS DATE (5TH JULY) 83 YEARS AGO : THOMAS ÓG MacCURTAIN'S STATED LAST DAY ON EARTH...Tomás Óg MacCurtain, left, 33 years of age, pictured in Cork in 1948 (thanks to… Read More

LEGAL FINDINGS STYMIED FOR FEAR OF UPSETTING A DEAD MAN...! Within months of the British having 'outlawed' the 32-County Dáil Éireann, local councils in Ireland had decided to… Read More

ON THIS DATE (28TH JUNE) 101 YEARS AGO : FREE STATERS USE BORROWED WEAPONS FROM WESTMINSTER AGAINST THEIR OLD COMRADES."For a little while on the morning of the attack on IRA Headquarters, F… Read More

A question that was asked of ourselves by Irish republicans in the 1920's and is still being asked today...In Manchester, England, in the 1950's, the issue of British military and political… Read More

ON THIS DATE (21ST JUNE) 50 YEARS AGO : "FASCIST MURDER SQUAD" STRIKE AGAIN."The Belfast Brigade denied any involvement in the murder of the young protestant whose body was found in the Lowe… Read More

ON THIS DATE (7TH JUNE) 102 YEARS AGO : TWO IRA MEN EXECUTED BY WESTMINSTER.Patrick Maher (left), executed by the British on the 7th of June 1921 - 102 years ago on this date. Ned Foley, exe… Read More

This British executioner and his 'assistant', hired by Westminster and placed in Ireland, had a 'Who's Who' of Irish republicans in his notebook but later became an alcoholic (due to a heavy… Read More

ON THIS DATE (31ST MAY) 11 YEARS AGO : A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR PAYBACK!On (Thursday) the 31st May 2012 - 11 years ago on this date - a vote was held in this State to decide whether to suppo… Read More

ON THIS DATE (24TH MAY) 82 YEARS AGO : 'DRAFT RIOTS' AS WESTMINSTER PUSHES FOR CONSCRIPTION IN IRELAND.In Ireland, in 1941, conscription was again being discussed in Westminster ; this time… Read More

...and we're back (-'ish'!). We're finishing up, and recovering from, the past few weeks of family madness - the three of us who publish this blog had a right mixture of different events, ra… Read More

ON THIS DATE (3RD MAY) 107 YEARS AGO : THREE REPUBLICAN DISSIDENTS EXECUTED BY THE BRITISH.Pictured - Pádraig Pearse, Thomas J Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh.On the 29th April 1916, a re… Read More

This 'surrender document' signalled the end of six days of fighting between approximately 20,000 British troops (including, in their ranks, Irish men) and a volunteer rebel force of about 1… Read More

ON THIS DATE (26TH APRIL) 42 YEARS AGO : "TWENTY THOUSAND MARCHERS..."Mrs. Rosaleen Sands (RIP). Dear MumDear Mum, I know you’re always thereTo help and guide me with all your care,Y… Read More

In the early 1980's in Ireland, this world-famous Irishman wrote a poem for his mother and became as well-known for his writing skills as he was for his social justice campaigns... This Engl… Read More

ON THIS DATE (19TH APRIL) 83 YEARS AGO : IRA DIRECTOR OF PUBLICITY DIES ON HUNGER-STRIKE.IRA man Jack 'Seán' McNeela (pictured) was born in Ballycroy, Co. Mayo, in 1912 and, although… Read More

In our best Galway accent (!) we'll be Cominatya on Wednesday, 19th April 2023.Among the five pieces we'll be posting will be one concerning what happened when a grouping from the Free Sta… Read More