Arctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton was born on this day in 1874 in Co. Kildare. Shackleton was the son of a privileged Anglo-Irish family originally from Yorkshire. At age 16, he left school to go to sea as an apprentice and was a certified Master Mariner by 1898. After befriending the son of the main financial backer for the National Antarctic Expedition, Shackleton was … [Read more...] about February 15, 1874
December 25, 1873
Patrick "The Cope" Gallagher was born on Christmas day of 1873. Patrick was founder of "The Cope," where he gets his nickname from. At first established as the Templecrone Agriculture Co-Operative Society, today the Cope is a chain of supermarkets found in Donegal. As a young boy, Patrick was hired as a farm laborer and then as a potato picker in Scotland. The hard work, small … [Read more...] about December 25, 1873
March 27, 1872
Mary MacSwiney was born on this day in 1872. She was a founding member of the Munster Women's Franchise League, in Cork, and there became involved with various republican groups. She was arrested and imprisoned following the Easter Rising. The following year, she and her sister, Annie, founded St. Ita's School for girls in Cork City, where all subjects would be taught in Irish. … [Read more...] about March 27, 1872
December 26, 1871
St. Stephen's Day or the Feast of St. Stephen is celebrated in Ireland as one of nine official public holidays. It has been celebrated in Ireland for hundreds of years and became a public holiday following the Bank Holidays Act, 1871. This day honors Stephen who is historically recognized as the first Christian martyr after being stoned to death. The day in Irish is known as … [Read more...] about December 26, 1871
April 16, 1871
On April 16, 1871, celebrated Irish playwright John Millington Synge was born in Rathfarnam, Co. Dublin. Born into an upper class Protestant family, Synge would take his own path, nurturing his fascination with the Catholic peasant class of rural Ireland with frequent trips to Wicklow, theWest of Ireland and the Aran Islands. Recording everything he noticed, Synge became one of … [Read more...] about April 16, 1871