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Birth of Andrew Kettle, Agrarian Reformer & Nationalist Politician

Andrew Joseph Kettle, a leading Irish nationalist politician, progressive farmer, agrarian agitator and founding member of the Irish National Land League, is born on September 26, 1833, in Drynam House, Swords, County Dublin.

Kettle is one among six children of Thomas Kettle, a prosperous farmer, and his wife, Alice (née Kavanagh). His maternal grandmother, Mary O’Brien, had smuggled arms to United Irishmen in the district in 1798, while her future husband, Billy Kavanagh, had been a senior figure in the movement. He is educated at Ireland’s most prestigious Catholic boarding school, Clongowes Wood College. His education is cut short when he is called to help full-time on the farm. Though an autodidact and always a forceful writer, he is beset later by an exaggerated sense of his “defective education and want of talking powers.” Fascinated by politics, he enjoys the repeal excitement of 1841–44 and in his late teens speaks once or twice at Tenant Right League meetings in Swords. Through the 1850s and most of the 1860s he sets about expanding the family farm into a composite of fertile holdings in Swords, St. Margaret’s, Artane, and Malahide (c.150 acres). Getting on well with the Russell-Cruise family of Swords, his first landlords, he benefits from a favourable leasehold arrangement on their demesne in the early 1860s. The farm is mostly in tillage, though Kettle also raises some fat cattle and Clydesdale horses, which he eventually sells to Guinness’s.

Kettle first enters politics in 1867, when he disagrees with John Paul Byrne of Dublin Corporation in public and in print over the right of graziers to state aid during an outbreak of cattle distemper. In 1868, he joins an agricultural reform group initiated by Isaac Butt. He becomes friendly with Butt and later claims to have converted him to support tenant-right. His memoirs, which are somewhat egocentric, contain a number of such questionable claims. It is, however, the case that he habitually writes up, for his own use, cogent summaries of the direction of current political tendencies, which sometimes become useful confidential briefs for Butt and later Charles Stewart Parnell. He is among the published list of subscribers to the Home Rule League in July 1870.

In 1872, disappointed by the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870, Kettle organises a Tenants’ Defence Association (TDA) in north County Dublin, soon sensing the need for a central body to coordinate the grievances of similar groups around the country. The Dublin TDA effectively acts as this central body, under his guidance as honorary secretary. At the 1874 United Kingdom general election in Ireland, the Dublin TDA decides to challenge the electoral control of certain corporation interests in County Dublin. Kettle secures the cautious approval of Cardinal Paul Cullen for any candidate supporting the principle of denominational education. He is also one of a deputation to ask Parnell to fight the constituency, which the latter loses. He becomes closely acquainted with Parnell, who frequently attends Dublin TDA meetings after his election for Meath in April 1875.

Taking a sombre view of the threat of famine in the west of Ireland after evidence of crop failure appears in early summer 1879, Kettle calls a conference of TDA delegates at the European Hotel in Bolton Street, Dublin, in late May. After a heated debate in which a proposal for a rent strike is greatly modified, Parnell comes to seek Kettle’s advice on whether to become involved in the evolving land agitation in County Mayo. Kettle urges him to go to the Westport meeting set for June 8, 1879, and claims later to have stressed in passing that “if you keep in the open you can scarcely go too far or be too extreme on the land question.” If the incident is correctly recounted, this is a most important statement, which virtually defines Parnell’s oratorical strategy throughout the land war. In October 1879, Kettle agrees to merge the TDA with a new Irish National Land League, set up at a meeting in the Imperial Hotel, Dublin, chaired by Kettle. As honorary secretary of the Land League, Kettle frankly admits that he is able to attend meetings without “the necessity of working.” His attendance is, however, among the most regular of all League officers, with him taking part in 73 of 107 meetings scheduled between December 1879 and October 1881.

In March 1880, Kettle disputes Michael Davitt‘s reluctance to use League funds in the general election. He canvasses vigorously together with Parnell in Kildare, Carlow, and Wicklow and is later pressed by his party leader into standing for election in County Cork, though aware that the local tenant movement has already prepared their own candidates. His association with Parnell antagonises the catholic hierarchy in Munster, who issues a condemnation of his candidacy. The hurly-burly of this election creates the persistent impression that Kettle is anti-clerical in politics, and he is defeated by 151 votes.

On a train journey to Ballinasloe in early April 1880, Kettle confides to Parnell his idea that land purchase can be facilitated by the recovery of tax allegedly charged in excess on Ireland by the British government since the act of union. At League meetings in June and July 1880, he advances his “catastrophist” plan: to cease attempts to prevent the development of an irresistible crisis among the Irish smallholding population, by diverting the application of League funds from general relief solely to the aid of evicted tenants, who might be temporarily housed “encamped like gypsies and the land lying idle,” in the belief that the British government will thereby be compelled to introduce radical remedial legislation. Smallholders do not have enough faith in either League or parliamentary politicians to listen.

At a meeting of the League executive in London and in Paris, before and after Davitt’s arrest on February 3, 1881, Kettle presents his plan that the parliamentary party should, if faced with coercive legislation, withdraw from Westminster, “concentrate” in Ireland, and call a general rent strike. Republicans on the League executive continually find themselves embarrassed by Kettle’s radical calls to action motivated solely by the project of agrarian reform. Parnell is later supposed to have lamented party failure to execute the plan at this juncture.

Kettle is arrested in June 1881 for calling for a collective refusal of rent. After two weeks in Naas jail he is transferred to Kilmainham Gaol, where in October he is, with some misgivings, one of the signatories to the No Rent Manifesto. Discharged from Kilmainham in late December 1881 owing to poor health, he returns principally to work on the family farm for most of the 1880s, though he claims to have formulated a draft solution for the plight of the agricultural labourer and “pushed it through” in correspondence with Parnell. He reemerges in 1890 to defend Parnell after the divorce scandal breaks. Attempting to establish a new ”centre” party independent of extreme Catholic and Protestant interests, he stands for election as a Parnellite at the 1891 County Carlow by-election, where he is comprehensively beaten, having endured weeks of insinuating harangues by Tim Healy, and raucous mob insults to the din of tin kettles bashed by women and children at meetings around the county. He is intermittently involved in County Dublin politics in the 1890s and 1900s and maintains a brusque correspondence on matters of the day in the national press.

Kettle dies on September 22, 1916, at his residence, St. Margaret’s, County Dublin, anguished by the death on September 9 of his brilliant son, Tom Kettle, near the village of Ginchy during the Battle of the Somme. He is buried at St. Colmcille’s cemetery, Swords.

Kettle marries Margaret McCourt, daughter of Laurence McCourt of Newtown, St. Margaret’s, County Dublin, farmer and agricultural commodity factor. They have five sons and six daughters.




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Birth of Áine Ceannt, Revolutionary Activist & Humanitarian Leader

Áine Ceannt (née Ní Bhraonáin), Irish revolutionary activist and humanitarian leader, is born Frances Mary Brennan at 28 Upper Camden Street, Dublin, on September 23, 1880.

Brennan is the daughter of Francis Brennan, who himself is a Fenian earlier in his life, and sister of Lily O’Brennan and Kathleen O’Brennan. Her mother is Elizabeth Anne Butler. She is educated in the Dominican College, Eccles Street, and adopts the name Áine upon joining the Gaelic League. It is through her Irish language activism that she meets her future husband, Éamonn Ceannt, whom she marries on June 7, 1905. Their son, Ronan, is born in June 1906. A convinced republican, she joins Cumann na mBan on its foundation in 1914. She writes and delivers dispatches during the Easter Rising. Her husband is one of the signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and is executed by the British at Kilmainham Gaol on May 8, 1916.

Newly widowed, Ceannt continues her republican activism, serving as Vice-President of Cumann na mBan and as a member of the Sinn Féin Standing Committee. She also plays a role in the development of the Sinn Féin Courts, a parallel legal system designed to offer an alternative to the British courts.

Ceannt is ardently opposed to the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921. She is imprisoned by the Irish Free State government during the Irish Civil War in Mountjoy Prison for her anti-Treaty activity. Throughout the war, she serves at the highest levels within anti-Treaty Sinn Féin. In the years that follow, she spearheads efforts to secure state compensation for the widows and the children of those who had died in 1916 and in the Irish War of Independence. She serves as the head of the Children’s Fund of the Irish White Cross, an American-funded humanitarian organisation founded to assist victims of unrest in Ireland. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Irish Red Cross.

In her later years, Ceannt moves to Churchtown, Dublin. She dies on February 2, 1954, in her home, Inis Ealgan, and was buried in Dean’s Grange Cemetery, situated in the suburban area of Deansgrange in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin.

(Pictured: Photograph, circa 1917, of Áine and Ronan Ceannt, the family of Éamonn Ceannt, who is executed for his participation in the 1916 Easter Rising)


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Death of Hedges Eyre Chatterton, Irish Conservative Party MP

Hedges Eyre Chatterton, Irish Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and subsequently Vice-Chancellor of Ireland, dies on August 30, 1910.

Chatterton is born in 1819 in Cork, County Cork, the eldest son of Abraham Chatterton, a solicitor, and Jane Tisdall of Kenmare, County Kerry. He attends Trinity College Dublin (TCD), before being called to the Irish Bar in 1843. He becomes a Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 1858. He is Solicitor-General for Ireland from 1866 to 1867 and Attorney-General for Ireland in 1867. He is made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland on March 30, 1867. He is elected MP for Dublin University in 1867. He leaves the House of Commons on his appointment to the newly created judicial office of Vice-Chancellor of Ireland in 1867, an office which is abolished when he retires in 1904.

He marries firstly Mary Halloran of Cloyne, County Cork, in 1845. She dies in 1901. In the year of his retirement, he remarries Florence Henrietta Gore, widow of Edward Croker. He has no children. James Joyce remarks in Ulysses that his second marriage at the age of 85 infuriates his nephew, who had been waiting patiently for years to inherit his money.

Despite his many years of service on the Bench, Chatterton does not seem to be highly regarded as a judge. On his retirement the Bar pays tribute to his good qualities but adds several qualifications: “there might have been on the Bench lawyers more profound, reasoners more acute…” In his first decade on the Bench, Chatterton has to endure the continual denigration of Jonathan Christian, the Lord Justice of Appeal in Chancery. Christian is notoriously bitter-tongued, and while he despises most of his colleagues, he seems to have a particular dislike of Chatterton. He regularly votes on appeal to overturn his judgments, and frequently adds personal insults. Nor does he confine his attacks to the courtroom: there is controversy in 1870 when remarks of Christian that Chatterton is “lazy, stupid, conceited and so incompetent that he ought to be pensioned off” find their way into The Irish Times. The hint about pensioning off Chatterton is not taken up, no doubt because he enjoys the confidence of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Thomas O’Hagan, 1st Baron O’Hagan, who is also on bad terms with Christian. In an appeal from Chatterton in 1873, the two appeal judges clash publicly, with O’Hagan reprimanding Christian for insulting a judge who is not there to defend himself.

Chatterton becomes involved in controversy in 1885, over the first attempt to rename Sackville Street to O’Connell Street. Dublin Corporation votes for the name change, but it arouses considerable objections from local residents, one of whom seeks an injunction. Chatterton grants the injunction on the ground that the corporation has exceeded its statutory powers. Rather unwisely, he also attacks the merits of the decision, accusing the Corporation of “sentimental notions.” The corporation is angered by both the decision and the criticisms: while it may have been a coincidence, the fact that Temple Street is briefly renamed Chatterton Street is interpreted by some as an insult to the judge, since the street is much frequented by prostitutes. The controversy is short-lived as the corporation is granted the necessary statutory powers in 1890, and the new name becomes official in 1924, by which time it has gained popular acceptance.

Chatterton dies on August 30, 1910, and is buried in Dean’s Grange Cemetery in the suburban area of Deansgrange in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin.


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Death of Teresa Brayton, Irish Republican & Poet

Teresa Brayton, an Irish republican and poet who uses the pen name T. B. Kilbrook, dies in Kilbrook, a small village near Kilcock, County Kildare, on August 19, 1943.

Brayton is born Teresa Coca Boulanger in Kilbrook, the youngest daughter and fifth child of Hugh Boylan and Elizabeth Boylan (née Downes). Her family are long-time nationalists, with her great grandfather previously leading a battalion of pikesmen at the Battle of Prosperous.

Brayton later becomes a notable member of Irish national parties, the United Irish League and Cumann na mBan. She is described as “a patriot, but never in the vulgar sense a politician” in The Irish Times. She is closely associated with leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, and writes poems in honour of Irish patriots including Charles Stewart Parnell, Roger Casement and Patrick Pearse.

Brayton is educated from the age of 5 in Newtown National School. She writes her first poem at the age of twelve, and soon after wins her first literary award. Later on, she trains to be a teacher, and then becomes an assistant teacher to her older sister Elizabeth in the same school she received her education.

Brayton’s father is a tenant farmer, and from a young age she witnesses the effects of the land wars in Ireland. She is a supporter of Parnell, the Irish National Land League and the Irish Home Rule movement. Her work is largely influenced by her family history and Irish nationalism.

In September 1895, Brayton emigrates to the United States at the age of 27. She first lives in Boston, Chicago, and later moves to New York City. She meets Richard H. Brayton, a French-Canadian who works as an executive in the Municipal Revenue Department, who she then marries. She looks after their home and focuses on her career as a freelance journalist. She lives in the United States for 40 years and becomes well known in Irish American circles as a prominent figure in the Celtic Fellowship. It was in the United States that her reputation is established.

In the 1880s, Brayton begins her career as a poet, writing poetry for both national and provincial Irish newspapers, including Young Ireland and the King’s County Chronicle. She uses the pseudonym “T. B. Kilbrook” while contributing to these papers.

Brayton continues writing under the pseudonym until moving to the United States, where she becomes an acclaimed writer and continues to contribute to papers including the Boston newspaper The Pilot, New York Monitor and Rosary Magazine. Her target audience is the Irish immigrant population of the United States. After establishing herself she releases her poetry in collections including Songs of Dawn (1913) and The Flame of Ireland (1926).

Brayton makes return trips to Ireland regularly and develops a relationship with nationalist peers, and the leaders of the Easter Rising. Upon returning to the United States, she becomes an activist for the Irish Republic and participates in organising the distribution of information to the Irish population through pamphlets and public speaking. Her contribution is acknowledged by Constance Markievicz. Her patriotism to Ireland admit her to the Celtic Fellowship in America, where she shares her poetry at events.

Brayton’s best-known poem is “The Old Bog Road,” which is later set to music by Madeline King O’Farrelly. It has since been recorded and released by many Irish musicians including Finbar Furey, Daniel O’Donnell and Eileen Donaghy, among many others. Many more of her best-known ballads include, The Cuckoo’s Call, By the Old Fireside and Takin’ Tea in Reilly’s.

Brayton makes her permanent return to Ireland at the age of 64 following the death of her husband in 1932 and continues her career as a journalist writing for Irish newspapers and publishes religious poetry in the volume Christmas Verses in 1934. A short story called The New Lodger written by Brayton is published by the Catholic Trust Society in 1933. She dedicates much of her work to the exiled Irish living in the United States, incorporating themes of nostalgia, the familiarity of home and religion throughout her poetry.

Initially upon moving back to Ireland, she lives for a few years with her sister in Bray, County Wicklow. She then moves to Waterloo Avenue, North Strand, County Dublin. Here, she witnesses the bombing of the North Strand on May 31, 1941 during World War II. Shortly after the bombing, she eventually settles back in Kilbrook, where she was born, and lives there for the rest of her life. She spends a brief period of time in the Edenderry Hospital before her death. During her stay there she becomes a good friend with Padraig O’Kennedy, the “Leinster Leader,” who is able to reveal to her something that is linked to a family member of his. A copy of her The Old Bog Road which had been set to music and autographed by her while she was living in the United States. She had it sent to O’Kennedy’s eldest son and on it she wrote the words: “To the boy who sings the Old Bog Road so sweetly.”

Two years after her return to Kilbrook, on August 19, 1943, Brayton dies in the same room where her mother had given birth to her over 75 years previously. She is buried at the Cloncurry cemetery in County Kildare. Her funeral is attended by many, including the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera.

From the vivid imagery she speaks of in her poetry, Brayton, both a poet and a novelist, is described by some as “the poet of the homes of Ireland.” Such scenes include the vivid imagery of the fireside chats, the sound of her latch lifting as neighbours in to visit at night from her poem “The Old Boreen” and about her home cooking and work from “When the Leaves Begin to Fall.” Such images can be compared to most Irish households and can depict a vivid picture to those reading her poetry.

Brayton’s poetry leaves a lasting sense of Irish beauty and community. This can be seen in such poems as “A Christmas Blessing” where she speaks of “taking and giving in friendship” during Christmas. Since her passing she has continued to keep an audience from overseas from Boston and New York primarily, this as a result of the reminder her poems give to Irish exiles of Irish traditions and music which was close to them. While her poems are more often serious, some portray an almost comical undertone tone. In an article in The Irish Times, her poetry is also said to have a racy feel to them.


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Birth of Peter Farrell, Irish Footballer

Peter Desmond Farrell, Irish footballer who plays as a right-half for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Everton and Tranmere Rovers, is born in Dalkey, County Dublin, on August 16, 1922. As an international, he also plays for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. His playing career follows a similar path to that of Tommy Eglington. As well as teaming up at international level, they also play together at three clubs.

Farrell is born and raised in the Convent Road area of Dalkey and is educated at Harold Boy’s National School and the Christian Brothers in Dún Laoghaire, from which he wins a scholarship. He is playing football with Cabinteely Schoolboys when spotted by a Shamrock Rovers scout and subsequently joins Rovers on his 17th birthday in August 1939. Among his early teammates is the veteran Jimmy Dunne. With a team that also includes Jimmy Kelly, Tommy Eglington, Jimmy McAlinden and Paddy Coad, he later helps Rovers reach three successive FAI Cup finals. They win the competition in 1944 and 1945 and finish as runners up in 1946.

In July 1946, together with Tommy Eglington, Farrell signs for Everton. In eleven seasons with the club, he plays 421 league games and scores 14 goals. He also plays a further 31 games in the FA Cup and scores an additional four goals. In 1951 he is appointed Everton captain and during the 1953–54 season leads them to the runners up place in the Second Division, thus gaining promotion to the First Division. During his time with the club his teammates, apart from Eglington, also include Alex Stevenson, Peter Corr, Harry Catterick, Wally Fielding, Tommy E. Jones, Brian Labone and Dave Hickson. He is never sent off during his time at Goodison Park.

Farrell leaves Everton in October 1957 and follows Tommy Eglington to Tranmere Rovers where he becomes player-manager. He plays 114 league games for Tranmere, before leaving in December 1960. After a time as manager at Sligo Rovers, he becomes manager of Holyhead Town and, helped by a number of former Everton and Tranmere players, guides them to the Welsh Football League (North) title.

In September 1967, Farrell signs a one-year contract to manage St. Patrick’s Athletic F.C. He manages the Pats in their 1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup ties against FC Girondins de Bordeaux but resigns in March 1968.

When Farrell begins his international career in 1946 there are, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland–based IFA and the Ireland–based FAI claim jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and select players from the entire island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including Farrell, play for both teams.

Farrell makes 28 appearances and scores three goals for the FAI XI. While still at Shamrock Rovers, he captains the FAI XI on his international debut on June 16, 1946, against Portugal. On September 21, 1949, together with Johnny Carey and Con Martin, he is a member of the FAI XI that defeats England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. After Martin puts the FAI XI ahead with a penalty in the 33rd minute, Farrell makes victory certain in the 85th minute. Tommy O’Connor slips the ball to Farrell and as the English goalkeeper Bert Williams advances, he lofts the ball into the unguarded net. He scores his second goal for the FAI XI on October 9, 1949, a in 1–1 draw with Finland, a qualifier for the 1950 FIFA World Cup. His third goal comes on May 30, 1951, as Farrell scores the opening goal in a 3–2 win against Norway.

Farrell also makes seven appearances for the IFA XI between 1946 and 1949. On November 27, 1946, he makes his debut for the IFA XI in a 0–0 draw with Scotland. Together with Johnny Carey, Con Martin, Bill Gorman, Tommy Eglington, Alex Stevenson and Davy Walsh, he is one of seven players born in the Irish Free State to play for the IFA XI on that day. The draw helps the team finish as runners-up in the 1946-47 British Home Championship. He also helps the IFA XI gain some other respectable results, including a 2–0 win against Scotland on October 4, 1947, and a 2–2 draw with England at Goodison Park on November 5, 1947.

After returning to Ireland following his retirement, Farrell settles in Dublin and follows his father into the insurance business. He dies on March 16, 1999, following a long illness. He is buried in Dean’s Grange Cemetery in Deansgrange, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin.


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Death of Liam Ó Briain, Irish Language Expert & Political Activist

Liam Ó Briain, Irish language expert and political activist, dies on August 12, 1974, in Cabinteely, County Dublin.

Christened as William O’Brien, Ó Briain is born at 10 Church Street, North Wall, Dublin, on September 16, 1888, the seventh child of Arthur O’Brien, clerk, and Mary O’Brien (née Christie), who is from County Meath. He takes an interest in the Irish language from an early age and begins learning Irish by himself from a grammar book, as it is not encouraged by his teachers at the Christian Brothers’ O’Connell School nor spoken by his parents. While still at the O’Connell School, he starts using the Irish version of his name. He also attends meetings of the Gaelic League, then attends University College Dublin (UCD) on a scholarship, where he studies French, English and Irish, receiving a BA (1909) and an MA (1910).

UCD decides to start awarding one annual scholarship for overseas travel in 1911, and Ó Briain wins the first one, using it to visit Germany and study under Kuno Meyer and Rudolf Thurneysen. After three years, he returns home, where he rejoins the Gaelic League and begins teaching French at UCD. He also joins the Irish Volunteers then, the following year, Seán T. O’Kelly convinces him to join the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).

During the 1916 Easter Rising, Ó Briain sees action with the Irish Citizen Army. He comes into conflict with his commander, Michael Mallin, as he wants to pursue a strategy without the Dublin brigade being “cooped up in the city.” However, Mallin overrules him and insists they should focus on taking Dublin Castle. He spends two months in Wandsworth Prison in London and six months in Frongoch internment camp in Wales before being released to discover that he has been fired from his job. However, he quickly obtains a professorship in Romance languages at University College Galway (UCG).

Around this time, Ó Briain joins Sinn Féin, and he stands unsuccessfully for the party in Mid Armagh at the 1918 United Kingdom general election in Ireland, taking 5,689 votes. His campaign leads, indirectly, to his arrest and three months in jail in Belfast. In 1920, following his release, he is appointed a judge in the then-illegal republican court system in Galway, and visits both France and Italy to try to source weapons for the Irish Republican Army (IRA). In November 1920, he is arrested in the UCG dining room by Black and Tans, and is imprisoned for thirteen months, first in Galway and then in the Curragh camp in County Kildare, thereby missing the conclusion of the Irish War of Independence. By the time he is released, the Anglo-Irish Treaty has been signed. He supports the treaty and takes no further part in militant activity.

In the newly independent Ireland, Ó Briain remains a professor at Galway. He also stands in the 1925 Seanad election, although he is not successful. He is the founding secretary of the Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe theatre, also acting in many of its productions, and spends much time translating works from English and the Romance languages into Irish. He stands to become president of UCG in 1945, but is not elected, and in the 1940s and 1950s is best known for his many appearances on television and radio.

From his retirement in 1959, Ó Briain lives in Dublin. In 1974, the National University of Ireland (NUI) confers an honorary doctorate on him. He dies on August 12, 1974, at St. Gabriel’s Hospital, Cabinteely, County Dublin. His funeral to Glasnevin Cemetery is almost a state occasion, with a huge attendance of public figures, and a military firing party at the graveside, where the oration is given by Micheál Mac Líammóir and a lesson is read by Siobhán McKenna. For days after his death, the newspapers carry tributes to his many-sided career and personality. On the one hundredth anniversary of his birth, Proinsias Mac Aonghusa and Art Ó Beoláin write commemorative articles in Feasta.

On September 1, 1921, Ó Briain marries Helen Lawlor, of Dublin, who dies two years before him. The couple’s only child is Eibhlín Ní Bhriain, who is a journalist for The Irish Times and other periodicals.


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The Bachelor’s Walk Massacre

The Bachelor’s Walk massacre occurs in Dublin on July 26, 1914, when a column of troops of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers is accosted by a crowd on Bachelor’s Walk following the Howth gun-running operation. After some verbal baiting, the troops attack “hostile but unarmed” protesters with rifle fire and bayonets, resulting in the deaths of four civilians and injuries to in excess of 30 more. The four killed are Mary Duffy (50), Patrick Quinn (50), James Brennan (18) and Sylvester Pidgeon (40) who succumbs to his wounds on September 24. One of those shot is Luke Kelly, the father of folk singer Luke Kelly.

The events follow the landing of 1,500 rifles and ammunition, purchased for the Irish Volunteers in Hamburg, Germany, in May 1914. In a counter operation to the Unionists running guns into Ulster, Erskine Childers lands the cargo in Howth, County Dublin, and a thousand rifle-carrying Irish Volunteers marched into Dublin. The quantity is negligible when compared to the far greater numbers of weapons landed and distributed by the Ulster Volunteers, completely without hindrance, but the reaction this time is severe from the British ruling authorities.

The incident proves a moment of political opportunity for Irish nationalists as it sharply brings out the different treatment for the Unionists and for unarmed Dublin civilians. Patrick Pearse declares, “The army is an object of odium, and the Volunteers are the heroes of the hour. The whole movement, the whole country, has been re-baptised by bloodshed for Ireland.”


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Death of Charles Kendal Bushe, Lawyer & Judge

Charles Kendal Bushe, Irish lawyer and judge, dies in County Dublin on July 10, 1843. Known as “silver-tongued Bushe” because of his eloquence, he is Solicitor-General for Ireland from 1805 to 1822 and Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench for Ireland from 1822 to 1841.

Bushe is born at Kilmurry House, near Thomastown, County Kilkenny, the only son of the Reverend Thomas Bushe, rector of Mitchelstown, and his wife Katherine Doyle, daughter of Charles Doyle of Bramblestown, near Gowran. Kilmurry House had been built by the Bushe family in the 1690s. His father is forced to sell it to pay his debts, but he is able to repurchase it in 1814. He goes to the celebrated Quaker academy, Shackleton’s School in Ballitore, County Kildare, then graduates from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where his eloquence makes him a star of the College Historical Society. He is called to the Bar in 1790.

Bushe is a member of the Irish Parliament for Callan from 1796 to 1799, and for Donegal Borough from 1799 to 1800. He is Escheator of Leinster in 1799. By this time the office is a sinecure. He is vehemently opposed to the Acts of Union 1800, referring emotionally to Britain’s subjection of Ireland as “six hundred years of uniform oppression and injustice,” a phrase which quickly became a proverb. Although he refuses an offer of a place on the Bench as a bribe for supporting the Union, cynics note that his staunch opposition to the Union does not prevent him accepting high office under the British Crown afterwards. He is appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland in 1805 and holds the office for 17 years until in 1822 he is appointed Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench for Ireland, although only after William Saurin, the equally long-serving Attorney-General, refuses the position. He retire in 1841.

As an advocate “silver-tongued Bushe” is legendary for his eloquence, and as a politician, he is admired by his English contemporaries like Sir Robert Peel and Lord Brougham. As a judge, according to F. Elrington Ball, he does not live up to expectations, although, if not an outstanding judge, he is an impressive and dignified one. As a statesman he is often accused of double-dealing: having opposed the Acts of Union, he has few scruples about accepting office under the new regime; and while himself supporting Catholic Emancipation, he prosecutes members of the Catholic Association for sedition, merely for advocating the same cause.

In Dublin, Bushe is a member of Daly’s Club.

Bushe dies in County Dublin on July 10, 1843, and is buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium in Harold’s Cross, County Dublin.


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Birth of Bobby Molloy, Independent Politician

Robert Molloy, independent politician, is born in Galway, County Galway, on July 9, 1936.

Molloy’s father, Michael Edward Molloy, is originally from Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, and runs a successful wholesale drapery business in the city. His mother, Rita Stanley, hails from Clifden, County Galway. He is educated at Coláiste Iognáid and University College Galway. Before entering politics, he works for several years in printing, the clothing industry and his family’s drapery firm.

Molloy is first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Galway West constituency at the 1965 Irish general election. In 1968, he is also elected Mayor of Galway. The following year he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education. 

Molloy’s early political career is marked by his loyalty to Fianna Fáil’s leadership under Taoiseach Jack Lynch. He quickly rises through the ranks and is appointed Minister for Local Government in 1970, a position he holds until 1973. His tenure as Minister for Local Government is characterised by his efforts to modernise and streamline local government structures in Ireland. His tenure in Fianna Fáil sees him as a stalwart of the party’s establishment, though tensions with its leadership grow over the years, particularly with Charles Haughey.

In opposition from 1973, Molloy serves as the frontbench spokesman, where he becomes involved in a high-profile dispute with James Tully, the Labour Minister for Local Government, over the controversial redrawing of constituencies, known as the “Tullymander.” Molloy, along with fellow Fianna Fáil member Brendan Crinion, used Dáil privilege to accuse Tully of having an improper commercial relationship with a builder in County Meath. The accusation is strongly denied by Tully and Molloy and Crinion later withdraw the charge. Despite this, Molloy faces severe repercussions, being forced to resign from his frontbench position. He is subsequently condemned by a judicial tribunal and censured by the Dáil for abusing parliamentary privilege.

When Fianna Fáil returns to office in 1977, Molloy becomes Minister for Defence in the final government of Jack Lynch.

Molloy supports George Colley in the 1979 Fianna Fáil leadership election. Charles Haughey wins the contest and drops Molloy, alongside other opponents, from the cabinet. Thereafter Molloy becomes a member of the Gang of 22 who oppose Haughey’s leadership of the party.

In 1986, Molloy resigns from Fianna Fáil and joins the newly formed Progressive Democrats, spearheaded by Haughey’s arch-rival Desmond O’Malley. Molloy’s move is seen as a major break from the political establishment, as the Progressive Democrats advocate for low-tax, market-oriented economic policies and a more liberal economic agenda. His decision is driven by his dissatisfaction with the direction of Fianna Fáil under Haughey’s leadership and his belief that the party has become increasingly alienating. 

In 1989, Molloy contests the European Parliament elections but is unsuccessful in his attempt. Following the 1989 Irish general election, Molloy, along with newly elected MEP for Munster Pat Cox, represents the Progressive Democrats in the lengthy negotiations with Fianna Fáil to form a coalition government. Once the negotiations conclude, he is reinstated in the Cabinet as Minister for Energy under Taoiseach Charles Haughey, who had previously caused Molloy’s political humiliation a decade earlier. Over the following three years, Molloy and his Progressive Democrat colleague Desmond O’Malley have a working relationship with their former Fianna Fáil colleagues, though tensions grow due to resentment over their presence in the Cabinet. The issue comes to a head when Molloy and O’Malley make it clear they will not serve in a Cabinet that includes Brian Lenihan Snr, following his controversial remarks during the 1990 Irish presidential election about alleged phone calls to President Patrick Hillery from 1982.

In January 1992, Haughey faces further complications when Seán Doherty reveals information about the phone tapping of journalists dating back to 1982. Despite this, the coalition government ends when Albert Reynolds, Haughey’s successor, calls for a general election after accusing O’Malley of giving “dishonest” evidence to the Beef Tribunal. Molloy strongly denounces Reynolds’ accusation, describing it as “outrageous,” and criticises him for what he perceives as a “lack of generosity” in recent North-South negotiations, in which Molloy had represented the Progressive Democrats in talks with British Unionists.

Molloy stands at the European Parliament elections again in 1994 but is again unsuccessful.

Following the 1997 Irish general election, Molloy is part of the negotiations that lead to the formation of a coalition government between the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil. On that occasion, he is appointed as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government and sits at cabinet as Minister of State to the Government.

Molloy resigns as a minister and quits politics just before the 2002 Irish general election amid controversy surrounding his involvement in the rape case of Barbara Naughton. The controversy stems from a letter Molloy sent to then Minister for Justice, John O’Donoghue, on behalf of a constituent whose relative had been convicted of rape. The letter, which requests the temporary release of the individual pending an appeal, leads to public criticism. The case is high-profile, involving a Connemara man sentenced to eleven years for the systematic abuse of his young daughter. During the trial, the judge, Philip O’Sullivan, notes that someone acting on Molloy’s behalf had tried to contact him in his chambers to clarify whether he had received certain correspondence from the victim’s sister, which the judge describes as “quite improper.” In response to the backlash, Molloy resigns, describing the letter as a “human error of judgment,” but insisting it was not intended to be dishonest. He retires from politics after the election.

Molloy is a member of Fianna Fáil for over 20 years, but his views are not always in line with the mainstream of the party, particularly under the leadership of Charles Haughey. His decision to leave Fianna Fáil in 1986 and join the Progressive Democrats is motivated by ideological differences, notably the party’s move toward a more conservative, state-controlled economy. Molloy, on the other hand, embraces a platform of fiscal conservatism, with an emphasis on reducing taxes, deregulation, and the liberalisation of the economy.

In terms of social issues, Molloy is ahead of his time in advocating for progressive policies, particularly on women’s rights. In a survey conducted in 1976 by the Women’s Political Association (WPA), Molloy scores among the highest of any member of the Dáil for his progressive stance on issues affecting women. He supports measures such as divorce, contraception, and family law reform, which are seen as highly controversial at the time. His responses to the WPA’s questions reveal that he holds views that are in stark contrast to many of his colleagues within Fianna Fáil. His progressive views on women’s rights are notable, as he is the only member of Jack Lynch’s cabinet who consistently supports reformist policies on issues like family law and the role of women in public life.

In 1972, Molloy marries Phyllis Barry, a Montessori teacher from Foxrock, County Dublin, whose father is a cousin of the executed revolutionary Kevin Barry. The couple meet while campaigning in a by-election in mid-Cork. Together, they have four children: Sinead, Sorcha, Donnacha, and Dara.

Molloy dies at the age of 80 on October 2, 2016, in Salthill, Galway, County Galway. He is buried at Bohermore Cemetery, Bohermore, Galway.


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Birth of George Simms, Archbishop in the Church of Ireland

George Otto Simms, an archbishop in the Church of Ireland, and a scholar, is born in Dublin on July 4, 1910.

AboutSimms is born to John Francis A. Simms and Ottilie Sophie Stange, who are both, according to his birth certificate, from Lifford, County Donegal. He attends the Prior School in Lifford for a time and later Cheltenham College, a public school in England. He goes on to study at Trinity College Dublin, where in 1930 he is elected a Scholar and graduates with a BA in Classics in 1932 and a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1936. He completes a PhD in 1950.

Simms is ordained a deacon in 1934 and a priest in 1936, beginning his ministry as a curate at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Clyde Road, Dublin, under Canon W. C. Simpson. In 1937, he takes a position in Lincoln Theological College but returns to Dublin in 1939 to become Dean of Residence in Trinity College Dublin and Chaplain Secretary of the Church of Ireland College of Education. 

He is appointed Dean of Cork in 1952. Consecrated a bishop, he serves as Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, between 1952 and 1956. At forty-two, he is the youngest Church of Ireland clergyman appointed to a bishopric since John Gregg in 1915. He serves as Archbishop of Dublin from 1956 to 1969. During this time, he maintains a courteous relationship with John Charles McQuaid, his Roman Catholic counterpart as Archbishop of Dublin. From 1969 to 1980, he serves as Archbishop of Armagh. 

Alongside Cardinal William Conway, Simms chairs the first official ecumenical meeting between the leaders of Ireland’s Protestant Churches and the Catholic Church in Ballymascanlon Hotel, Dundalk, County Louth, on September 26, 1973, an important meeting amidst the increasing violence in Northern Ireland. The meeting is protested by Ian Paisley.

Simms is a scholar, and publishes research on topics including the history of the Church of Ireland, and theological reflections on key texts including the Book of Kells, Saint Patrick’s Breastplate, and the Sarum Primer. He is also a fluent speaker of the Irish language.

Simms is also an accomplished journalist, and the author of many newspaper obituaries. His weekly Thinking Aloud column in The Irish Times is a popular reflection, and runs continuously for thirty-eight years. He also works on the research, preparation, and even performs the presentation, of a number of television programmes.

In 1978, Simms is made an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin.

Simms is the uncle of mathematician David J. Simms. In 1941, he marries Mercy Felicia Gwynn. They have five children. He dies in Dublin on November 15, 1991. He is interred with his wife in the cemetery attached to St. Maelruain’s Church, Tallaght, County Dublin.