Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Conmara was an 18th century Irish hedge school teacher and poet, known for his bold character. He fled to Newfoundland in 1743 after impregnating a woman. Upon return he jokingly converted to Protestantism, but was sacked as the Church clerk for bad behaviour. Donnchadh wrote poems praising Newfoundland, which included an innovative method of mixing languages (the Newfoundland dialect of English, along with his native Irish tongue). At this time, his poems also favoured the Jacobite Rising of 1745 in Scotland.

Depiction of Philip Nolan, Irish horse trader and freebooter watching a Spanish force sent out to confront him and his fellow colonists at his fort at the Brazos river. The Spanish believed Nolan to be a subversive working for northerners to undermine their rule in Texas. Thomas Jefferson invited Nolan to his plantation in Virginia to discuss the wild horses to be found in Texas (Nolan often caught mustangs). The Spanish killed him in the skirmish, after years of tentatively allowing his activities. He spent time with the Comanche tribe.

"We are asked to commit suicide and I cannot do it. We are asked to annihilate the Irish nation. We were the heirs of a great tradition, and the tradition was that Ireland had never surrendered, that Ireland had never been beaten, and that Ireland can never be beaten." - H Boland "Our leader, Pádraic Pearse, said that liberty is eternal. It belongs to all. Liberty can't be bartered for trade. Either we are entitled as a nation to the full unlimited control of our own destiny or we are not."

THREAD on the life of Muircheartach Ó Briain, High King of Ireland and great-grandson of Brian Ború, who extended his power over the whole of Ireland and expanded Irish power abroad through alliances with the King of Norway and nobles in England, Wales and Scotland. His first recorded movements came in 1075, around the age of 25, when he lost a battle to the Airgíalla near Ardee in Co. Louth, a kingdom which extended through large swaths of Ulster.

Soon after, his father Turlough appointed him as the king/governor of the Kingdom of Dublin.

The Fall of Troy was a popular story in medieval Ireland. Known as Togal Troí, it is found in three manuscripts, including the Book of Leinster.

Not only was it translated into Irish, but greatly expanded upon, particularly around speeches and descriptions of armies. 1/7 Troilus was given the characteristics of heroes from native folklore:

"Rough croft hair upon him. Though a sackful of wild apples were flung on his crown, not an apple would fall to the ground, but each of them would stick to his hair."

While the Latin sources the Irish drew

174 years ago today, GAA founder Michael Cusack was born into an Irish-speaking household in Co. Clare.

"It is only by such an arrangement that pure Irish athletics will be revived, and that the incomparable strength and physique of our race will be preserved." He believed that the established sports at the time (rugby and cricket), which he was noted to be good at, were too Anglicised, and were run by a Protestant elite which opposed playing games on Sundays, which didn't suit the schedules of the rural people of Ireland.

Father Charles Coughlin was born to Irish parents in New York in October 1891. He became an extremely influential leader in America, and used radio early on, where he reached 30 million people weekly. Coughlin condemned communism, capitalism, atheism, bankers, Nazis ... 1/11 and promoted in their place 'Americanism'. He was a passionate supporter of worker's rights, and condemned the government and financiers for manipulating money to the point that rising wages were not enough to provide a living wage. Although he denied being anti-Semitic, he 2/11

Oswald Mosley was the founder of the infamous British Union of Fascists. He first came to prominence by resigning from the Conservative Party over the Black and Tans’ atrocities in Ireland in 1920. He appeared on Gay Byrne’s Late Late Show in 1975 (linked below). Mosley moved 1/8 to Ireland following WWII due to the hatred of him in England. He lived in Clonfert Palace in Galway, which burned down in 1954, something that devastated him. Throughout his career he tried to court the Irish vote in Britain, although this largely failed. Mosley was fond of 2/8

100 years ago today - remarkable scenes in Ireland as 40,000 turn out to pray outside Mountjoy Prison as six IRA men are executed. Post offices shut down for the day. Bray, Dún Laoghaire and Blackrock shut down. Extra masses were held. These men are part of the ‘Forgotten Ten’. CORRECTION: These executions took place in 1921, making it the 99th anniversary. The centenary will be a year from today.