John Keyes Byrne, better known as the Irish playwright Hugh Leonard, was born in Dublin on this day in 1926. He was adopted as a young boy by the Keyes family and took their last name as his middle name. He worked as a civil servant and acted in and wrote plays for community theater on the side. His first professionally produced play was "The Big Birthday Suit" at the Abbey … [Read more...] about November 9, 1926
Today In History
February 11, 1926
A riot erupted at the Abbey Theater during the fourth performance of Sean O'Casey's play The Plough and the Stars on February 11, 1926. O'Casey, an Irish dramatist best known for his Dublin Trilogy which featured The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924) and The Plough and the Stars (1926). The Plough and the Stars was considered a racy, contentious show by … [Read more...] about February 11, 1926
October 29, 1925
Dominick Dunne, investigative journalist and writer, was born on this day in Hartford, Connecticut in 1925. Dunne was born to a wealthy Irish Catholic family and he often recalled feeling like an outsider in the predominantly wealthy protestant part of West Hartford. On November 1982, Dunne's daughter Dominique was murdered by John Thomas Sweeney. Dunne chronicled the trial of … [Read more...] about October 29, 1925
September 10, 1923
On this day in 1923, the then Irish Free State was admitted into the League of Nations, the predecessor to today's United Nations. After the League of Nations was first established in 1919, there were many efforts made by some organizations in Ireland in to join the League. However, this task proved more difficult due to some opinions that joining a body founded by England … [Read more...] about September 10, 1923
August 22, 1922
Irish revolutionary and politician Michael Collins was assassinated in Co. Cork during an ambush on this day in 1922. Collins, who was the preeminent Sinn Fein leader, helped stage the 1916 Easter Rising in response to British parliament's opposition to Irish home rule. An annual commemoration is held every August 22 in Cork and at Collins's graveside at Glasnevin. … [Read more...] about August 22, 1922