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
Today In History
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
May 10, 1869
The Transcontinental Railroad was completed. The first spikes were driven in 1863 during the Civil War, and over the following 6 year period, over 2,000 miles of track was laid entirely by hand over rugged terrain including the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Central Pacific Company built East from Sacramento, while the Union Pacific built West from Omaha, Nebraska. Both teams … [Read more...] about May 10, 1869
April 28, 1869
On this day in 1869, eight Irish laborers joined forces with a group of Chinese laborers to lay ten miles and fifty-six feet of track in under twelve hours for the Central Pacific Railroad company. It was a record in track-laying never to be equalled. The feat was the result of an ongoing rivalry between the Union Pacific and Charles Crocker’s Central Pacific. Each rail handler … [Read more...] about April 28, 1869