Ireland
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In the spring of 1919, as the Irish War of Independence was beginning to spread across the island, an extraordinary and largely anomalous episode in revolutionary history unfolded in the mid-west of Ireland. For two weeks, from 14 to 27 April, Limerick was effectively governed not by the British authorities or the newly established Dáil…
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The Omagh bombing, which took place on August 15, 1998, stands as the deadliest single atrocity of the decades-long sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Just four months after the historic signing of the Good Friday Agreement, a car bomb exploded in the busy centre of Omagh, County Tyrone, in an attack…
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Love’s gone, the sky went blackThe hate that started long ago is backI hear the silence in the airSpeak up no one dares Like shattered hearts that won’t repairWe count the names, we say the prayersThe world moved on, or so it seemsNow we’re caught inside the hateful screams Wake me up when October ends…
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(Originally posted November 2016) On the morning of October 3rd, 1975, Dr. Tiede Herrema was driving from his home in Castletroy, County Limerick, to a meeting at the Ferenka steel plant in Annacotty when he was abducted by two Irish republicans, Marion Coyle and Eddie Gallagher. Herrema had been sent by the parent company in…
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“Le Dernier Métro” (The Last Metro) is a 1980 French film directed by François Truffaut. It is a poignant drama set in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II. The film captures the struggles of a Jewish theater owner and his wife as they attempt to keep their theater running amidst the horrors of occupation and…
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Many people believe that Adolf Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945. However, the statement that “Hitler died on 20 May 1956 in a traffic accident at the age of 74 in Nidwalden, Switzerland” is also true—depending on which Hitler you’re talking about. Before I receive a flood of emails and comments telling me I’m…
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The 12th of July is the day when a whole bunch of protestants in Northern Ireland go Dutch. It is an event that truly intrigues me, because it basically goes against everything the Dutch stand for. So what is it all about? On the 12th of July every year. The day commemorates Protestant king William…
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(Originally posted on July 7 2022) Tuam is an idyllic town in Ireland. It is the second-largest settlement in County Galway. Unfortunately, since 2014, it has become known for all the wrong reasons. The Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home (also known as St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home or simply The Home) in Tuam,…
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So many people think that the Holocaust only lasted as along as WWII. But they could not be further away from the truth. It could be argued that the foundation of the Holocaust goes back to 1879, when Wilhelm Marr becomes the first proponent of racial anti-Semitism, blaming Jews for the failure of the German…
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Vere Thomas St. Leger Goold was born in 1853 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, into an aristocratic family with a strong military background. The Goolds were part of the Anglo-Irish upper class, and young Vere was afforded all the advantages of a privileged upbringing: access to elite education, exposure to genteel society, and the leisure…
