Ireland
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f you have ever stood on the terraces of Croke Park on a blistering August afternoon, you know that hurling is not just a sport; it is an opera of speed, leather, and ash. Dubbed the fastest field sport on earth, its ancient origins stretch back three millennia, woven tightly into the fabric of Irish…
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When I was a young boy, Count Dracula scared the crap out of me. Having an older brother pretending to be the blood sucking Count didn’t help either. The fear was so real that to this day I still have a phobia for Bats. Little did I know then I would end up living in…
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It may sound like a 19th century Gothic novel or the name of an Irish folk singer but neither apply, Penny Black is in fact the name of the first adhesive postage stamp. It was first issued in Great Britain om May 1 ,1840 but was not valid for use until 6 May it showed…
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Margaret Connolly, the sister of Ireland’s president Catherine Connolly, told RTÉ Six One News, yesterday: “My heart lies with the Palestinian people. We’ve had 800 years of colonisation by England. Why wouldn’t we come on the flotilla?” If she knew anything about her own country’s history, she’d know that technically she is incorrect. The English…
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Although the Republic of Ireland was neutral and was left largely unscathed during the war, Northern Ireland as part of the UK was not that lucky. Belfast being the biggest city of Northern Ireland was hit by German bombers 4 times, between the 7th of April and 6th of May 1941. Northern Ireland was ill…
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A while ago, I discovered a Jewish Cemetery in Limerick. It was across from a landmark pub in the city called the The Hurlers Pub. There was a small laneway across from Hurlers leading to the small cemetery. One of the graves was of Simon Gewurz. He was originally from Bratislava in Slovakia and moved…
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Saint Patrick’s Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, is widely celebrated in the English-speaking world and to a lesser degree in other parts of the world. But who exactly was he? Early in the 5th Century, an Irish ship beat against the waves along the western…
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I moved to Ireland in 1997 and have not regretted it one day. I love the place and the people. Does that mean it is a perfect place? Of course not. I would be lying if I said there is no antisemitism in Ireland, because there is. But compared to most other European countries, it…
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Among the many operations planned by Nazi Germany, one of the most ambitious was Operation Sealion (Unternehmen Seelöwe), Adolf Hitler’s intended invasion of Great Britain in 1940. While it never materialized, the operation remains one of the most intriguing what-if scenarios of the war. Had it succeeded, the course of history might have taken a…
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The Dutch word for superstition is bijgeloof and, in a literal sense, translates into side belief or side religion. This sort of religion was the cause of the murder of Bridget Cleary on 15 March 1895. Bridget Cleary was an Irish woman who was murdered by her husband. She was either burned alive or immediately…
History of Sorts 