Ireland

  • The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of co-ordinated bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland. Three bombs exploded in Dublin during rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost ninety minutes later. They killed 34 civilians including a full-term unborn child, and injured almost 300. The bombings were the deadliest

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  • Marie Elisabeth Jean Elmes (5 May 1908 – 9 March 2002)was an Irish businesswoman and aid worker who is credited with saving the lives of at least 200 Jewish children during the Holocaust by hiding them in the boot of her car.In 2015, she became the first and so far the only Irish citizen honoured as

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  • Ireland’s president, Douglas Hyde, during World War II, offered condolences to Nazi Germany’s representative in Dublin over the death of Adolf Hitler,  declassified government records show. It was long believed that Ireland’s prime minister (Taoiseach) at the time, Eamon de Valera, was the only government leader to convey official condolences to Eduard Hempel, director of

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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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  • This is an A-political blog just highlighting the many facets of Martin McGuinness, a man who has made an impact on Ireland.I believe that ultimately history will portray him as a peacemaker. Martin McGuinness, pictured circa 1972, holding a Luger pistol Martin McGuinness with masked IRA men at the funeral of Brendan Burns in 1988

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  • Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, “the Day of the Festival of Patrick”), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. While the Republic of Ireland was neutral during World War II,

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  • Cavan Orphanage fire

    (Originally posted February  24,2017) In the early hours of 24 February  in 1943 fire broke out in the basement laundry of St. Joseph’s Orphanage & Industrial School run by the enclosed order of Poor Clare nuns in Main St., Cavan town. The fire very quickly turned into an inferno. The alarm was raised by horrified

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  • It has always been a puzzle to me why Ireland stayed ‘neutral’ during WWII. Aside from the German attacks on Irish merchants ships. The country was also bombed several times in deliberate acts of war against the republic. Forgotten History-Irish WWII Losses   On 26 August 1940, the German Luftwaffe bombed Campile in broad daylight.

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  • Bloody Sunday-1972

    Today marks the 47th anniversary of Bloody Sunday sometimes also referred to as the Bogside Massacre. Sunday January 30th 1972 started as any other Sunday in Derry but would end with tragedy and a population thrown into a dark backlash of opinion towards the British. British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest

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  • I don’t often listen to RTE Radio 1 documentaries,because they are usually about subjects I have no interest in. But today in the car stuck in traffic I listened to a documentary and it broke my heart. Among the 58,000 names inscribed on the Vietnam war memorial wall in Washington DC is that of corporal

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