The Soviet Union blocked Ireland's application for the UN on this day in 1946. The Soviets claimed that because Ireland was neutral, they did not personally help establish the organization. However, other member nations doubt the Soviet Union's motives for blocking Ireland's application, believing instead that the Soviet Union's real reasons for blocking the application is … [Read more...] about July 30, 1946
January 13, 1941
After undergoing surgery on January 11 for an ulcer, James Joyce, Ireland's most famous author, relapsed and fell into a coma. Born on February 2 1882, Joyce has been widely regarded as one of the greatest and most complex writers in history. He published Ulysses, his most famous work, in 1922. An intensely complex man, he is known for making Dublin a setting and topic for … [Read more...] about January 13, 1941
November 16, 1939
Luke Kelly, musician and founder of The Dubliners was born on this day in Dublin in 1939. Kelly grew up in a working class family. At the age of thirteen he left school and went to England where he worked in building. He was fired and continued living in England while working various odd jobs. As the folk revival began to take form in England, Kelly began memorizing songs in … [Read more...] about November 16, 1939
January 28, 1939
W.B. (William Butler) Yeats was among the most famous Irish poets and playwrights in history. He was born in June of 1865 in Dublin. He spent the majority of his young life in Sligo and as a young man traveled to London to pursue writing. He would later become to the first Irishman in history to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. Yeat’s was inspired in large part … [Read more...] about January 28, 1939
January 16, 1939
This day marks the anniversary of the start of the S-Plan. The S-Plan or the Sabotage Campaign (also known among some as the England campaign), conceived and developed by IRA members Seamus O'Donovan, Sean Russell and Joseph McGarrity was a bombing and sabotage campaign from 1939 to 1940. It targeted the civil, military and economic infrastructure in England and the UK. On … [Read more...] about January 16, 1939