Henry II returns to England on April 17, 1172, having granted a charter to Dublin, the first granted to an Irish town.
Toward the end of 1171, Henry II, the first king of England to set foot on Irish soil, lands at Crook, County Waterford. His visit to Ireland serves two purposes. Firstly, it allows him to bring his adventurous English barons to heel and put the royal seal on their conquests in Ireland. Secondly, it means he can avoid meeting the cardinal legates who have been dispatched from Rome to investigate his complicity in the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, in 1170.
When the King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, finds himself exiled in the late 1160s, he quickly finds help across the Irish Sea. He finds Henry II on the banks of the Loire in 1166 and is then pointed in the direction of south Wales by a Bristol merchant to find Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, more commonly known as Strongbow, who is then out of royal favour due to his prior support of Henry II’s competition for the kingship, Stephen of Blois.
Bolstered by English forces, Diarmait returns to Ireland and retakes his kingdom with Strongbow’s help, the latter earning the hand in marriage of Diarmait’s daughter, Aoife, in return. None of this has greatly concerned Henry II, until Diarmait dies, and Strongbow seizes the Kingdom of Leinster for himself in 1171. Leinster encompasses not only the counties of Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Kildare, and parts of Wicklow, Laois, and Offaly, but the kings of Leinster are often the overlords of the flourishing Hiberno-Norse ports of Wexford and Dublin, both of which have considerable trading links with England and wider Europe.
Concerned with the growing power of Strongbow in Ireland, Henry II decides to head across the Irish Sea. He originally intends to arrive in Ireland in September 1171, but unfavourable winds on the coast of southwest Wales delay his journey for 17 days. He finally embarks from Pembroke on October 16 and arrives on the County Waterford coast the following day.
Naturally, Henry does not come alone and is at the head of an estimated 4,000 strong army comprised of 500 knights and their esquires and a large body of archers, all of which are carried, along with horses, in 400 ships. The undertaking is vast, and a large quantity of supplies are gathered to provision this considerable force. These ingredients include salted meats and fish, 1,000 lbs. of wax to ensure that Henry can seal charters and mandates, and, of course, the oil on which the medieval war machine runs, wine.
With the arrival of Henry II in Ireland, Strongbow surrenders the kingdom of Leinster and the Hiberno-Norse towns of Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford. Henry II regrants Leinster to Strongbow as a lordship, and later grants him Wexford. However, Waterford and Dublin become, and remain, royal ports.
Henry II then tours Ireland, showing the clergymen and native kings who their new lord is. He first visits Lismore and Cashel, then back to Waterford for a brief rest, before journeying by way of Kilkenny to Dublin, where he arrives around November 11. At all of his stop he collects the submissions of the Irish kings, with the probable exception of Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O’Connor), who is the claimant to the high kingship of Ireland at the time.
Outside the city walls of Dublin, Henry II constructs a palace at the present-day southern side of Dame Street, where he celebrates the winter festivities until February 2. At this time, he also grants Dublin its first charter, on a piece of parchment measuring only 121 x 165 mm, which, extraordinarily, survives to this day. Henry’s charter to Dublin grants the right to live in the city to the men of Bristol, with whom the men of Dublin have enjoyed pre-existing economic relations.
About March 1, 1172, Henry II makes his way to Wexford, before finally departing for England on Easter Sunday, April 17, after celebrating Mass. It is probable that he had intended to stay in Ireland longer than he did, but events in England and Normandy divert his attention. In Normandy, Henry II’s son, Henry, has gone into rebellion against his father, while in England, the cardinal legates are threatening to interdict Henry’s lands unless he comes to meet with them regarding Becket’s murder.
The circumstances which lead to Henry II’s departure are more telling for Ireland’s future than any member of contemporary society could have realised. Now, Ireland has to compete with the other segments of a vast transnational realm, with lands stretching across England, Wales and France. Although Henry II is the first king of England to arrive in Ireland, his visit does not mean that royal visits would become a routine occurrence. Throughout the Middle Ages, the kings of England only directly visit Ireland in 1185, 1210, 1394–5, and 1399. As such, Henry’s visit and departure marks the beginning of absentee lordship over Ireland.
(From: “The royal visit: what did Henry II do in Ireland 850 years ago?” by John Marshall, PhD student in the Department of History at Trinity College Dublin, RTÉ, http://www.rte.ie | Pictured: Henry at Waterford, Ireland, October 18, 1172. Illustration by James E. Doyle (1864). Image: Historical Picture Archive/ Corbis via Getty Images)
O’Hegarty comes from a family with strong nationalist roots. His parents are John, a plasterer and stucco worker, and Katherine (née Hallahan) Hegarty. His elder brother is Patrick Sarsfield O’Hegarty, the writer. His parents’ families emigrated to the United States after the Great Famine, and his parents married in Boston. His father is a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). In 1888, his father dies of tuberculosis at the age of 42, and his mother has to work to support the family.
O’Hegarty is educated at the Christian BrothersNorth Monastery school in Cork. By 1902, he has left school to work as a sorter in the local post office, rising to post office clerk. He is a supporter of the Gaelic revival, Irish traditional music, and Gaelic games. A committed sportsman, in his twenties he is captain of the Post Office HQ’s hurling team. He follows his brother Patrick into Conradh na Gaeilge and eventually the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He is a member of the Celtic Literary Society by 1905 and founds the Growney branch of Conradh na Gaeilge in 1907. A puritanical character by nature, he is a non-smoker and never drinks.
O’Hegarty is a founder of the local branch of the Irish Volunteers in Cork in December 1913. In June of the following year, he is appointed to the Cork section of the Volunteer Executive, and then to the Military Council. In October, the Dublin government discovers his illegal activities, and he is dismissed. Excluded from Cork under the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) regulations, he moves to Ballingeary, where he works as a labourer. From there he moves to Enniscorthy, County Wexford, where he lives with Larry de Lacy. On February 24, 1915, he is arrested and tried under the Defence of the Realm Act for putting up seditious posters. But for this and a second charge of “possession of explosives” he is discharged. The explosives belonged to de Lacy.
The Volunteers appoint O’Hegarty as Commandant of Ballingeary and Bandon. During the Easter Rising, he is stationed in Ballingeary when visited by Michael McCarthy of Dunmanway to propose an attack on a Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) post at Macroom. But their strength is fatally weakened and, having no reserves, they call off the attempt. In 1917, he becomes Vice-commandant of No.1 Cork Brigade. He works as a storekeeper at the workhouse but is intimidating, and clashes with the Poor Law Guardians.
During the Irish War of Independence, O’Hegarty is one of the most active in County Cork. Like others, he is exasperated with Tomás Mac Curtain’s inactivity and refusal to be more bellicose. One such is battalion commander Richard Langford, who joins with O’Hegarty’s unit to make an unauthorized raid on the RIC post at Macroom. Langford is court-martialed, but O’Hegarty continues to rise in the ranks. When a RIC Inspector is murdered, Mac Curtain condemns the shootings and calls for their end. On March 19, 1920, Mac Curtain is shot and killed in his home in Cork. The coroner blames the British establishment in Dublin, but the police never make any attempt to investigate the killings. Shortly after these events General Hugh Tudor begins the policy of official reprisals.
In January 1920, an inquiry is held into corruption alleged against “Hegarty’s Mob” or “Hegarty’s Crowd” running Cork City. O’Hegarty blames the former mayors for the charges of incompetence but remains on good terms with them.
In a raid on Cork City Hall on August 12, 1920, the British manage to net all the top brass of the IRA in Cork. In an incredible failure of intelligence, they do not identify the leadership as their prisoners. They are all released, including Liam Lynch, and O’Hegarty. Only Terence MacSwiney, the new Lord Mayor of Cork, is kept in custody and sent to England.
On February 25, 1921, the Coolavokig ambush is carried out by the 1st Cork Brigade under O’Hegarty at Ballyvourney village, on the road between Macroom and Ballyvourney. The IRA suffers no casualties; however, the number of British casualties has been disputed to this day.
The brigade commanders in the southern division retain a residual lingering resentment of Dublin GHQ’s lack of leadership and supplies. Seán Moylan, commandant of No. 2 Cork Brigade, thinks good communications with No.1 Brigade are to be vital, but little of this is seen via the organizer, Ernie O’Malley, at GHQ. At a meeting set up for April 26, 1921, when the manual of Infantry Training 1914 is produced, the document raises great anger. The meeting ends in uproar when O’Hegarty, who is “a master of invective, tore the communication and its authors to ribbons.”
O’Malley and Liam Lynch, the general, meet with O’Hegarty in the mountains of West Cork, near a deserted farmhouse, just off the main road. In the retreat that follows, the Irish take heavy casualties and leave their wounded to the good care of the British. These are the “Round-ups” in which the Irish sleep outside in order to avoid being at home when the Army calls. They are told by the Brigade to learn the national anthem of England to avoid arrest.
In East Cork brigade, O’Hegarty uncovers a spy ring. He is ruthless in the treatment of Georgina Lindsay and her chauffeur, who give away information to the Catholic clergy, but is remarkably lenient on brigade traitors within. He is allegedly not too bothered about evidence but is reminded that all executions of a traitor have to be approved by Dublin first.
O’Hegarty becomes more and more aggressive toward the establishment, using tough language to impose his will over the area. He attempts to force the civilian Teachtai Dála (TDs) for Cork to stand down, to give way to military candidates, telling the Dáil in December 1921, that any TD voting for the treaty will be guilty of treason. But Éamon de Valera is decided and overrules any interference with the Civil Government. Like the commanders, de Valera rejects the treaty but has already been defeated in the Dáil on a vote by W. T. Cosgrave‘s majority.
On February 1, 1922, O’Hegarty marries Maghdalen Ni Laoghaire, a prominent member of Cumann na mBan.
O’Hegarty is on the IRA’s Executive Council, but when there is a meeting on April 9, 1922, it is proposed that the Army should oppose the elections by force. As a result, Florence O’Donoghue and Tom Hales join him in resigning. In May, he and Dan Breen enter into negotiations with Free Stater Richard Mulcahy. A statement is published in the press asking for unity and acceptance of the Treaty. During this time, the republicans become very demoralized and ill-disciplined, but they have to gain strength before announcing independence from Dublin. The debate amongst the anti-Treaty IRA command is increasingly rancorous.
The bitter divisions split the anti-treatyites into two camps. Two motions are debated at the Army Convention on June 18, 1922. At first, the motion to oppose the treaty by force is passed. These men include Tom Barry, Liam Mellows, and Rory O’Connor, who are all in favour of continuing the fight until the British are driven out of Ireland altogether. However, one brigade’s votes have to be recounted, and then the motion is narrowly defeated. Joe McKelvey is appointed the new chief of staff, but the IRA is in chaos. While he strongly opposes the Anglo-Irish Treaty, O’Hegarty takes a neutral role in the Irish Civil War and tries to avert hostilities breaking out into full-scale civil war. He emerges as a leader of the “Neutral IRA” with O’Donoghue. This is a “loose” confederation of 20,000 men who have taken part in the pre-truce wars but have remained neutral during the Civil War from January 1923. Over 150 persons attend its convention in Dublin on February 4, 1923. By April 1923, O’Malley is imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison. In a letter to Seamus O’Donovan on April 7, he blames Hegarty for all this compromise and “peace talk.”
It has been alleged by the author Gerard Murphy that O’Hegarty had a role in the assassination of the Commander-in-Chief, Michael Collins, in August 1922, along with Florrie O’Donoghue and Joe O’Connor. It is alleged that as members of the 1st Southern Division Cork, they are actually feigning claims of neutrality but remain part of the IRB in order to set up talks towards peace and the cessation of hostilities at the start of the Irish Civil War.
Although probably an atheist during the Irish War of Independence, O’Hegarty returns to the Catholic church later in life. On forming the Neutral Group of the IRA in December 1922, he tries to unify differences in the volunteers between Republicans and the Free Staters. He communicates with the Papal Nuncio during the inter-war years in an attempt to have Bishop of CorkDaniel Cohalan‘s excommunication bill lifted. Instead, he turns to commemoration as a way to earn favour in Rome, with the dedication of a Catholic church at St. Finbarr’s Cemetery. After his wife’s passing, he becomes a close friend with Florence O’Donoghue until his own death.
Mac Liammóir is born Alfred Willmore on October 25, 1899. He is born to a Protestant family living in the Kensal Green district of London.
As Alfred Willmore, he is one of the leading child actors on the English stage, in the company of Noël Coward. He appears for several seasons in Peter Pan. He studies painting at London’s Slade School of Fine Art, continuing to paint throughout his lifetime. In the 1920s he travels all over Europe. He is captivated by Irish culture and learns the Irish language which he speaks and writes fluently. He changes his name to an Irish version, presenting himself in Ireland as a descendant of Irish Catholics from Cork. Later in his life, he writes three autobiographies in Irish and translates them into English.
While acting in Ireland with the touring company of his brother-in-law Anew MacMaster, Mac Liammóir meets the man who becomes his partner and lover, Hilton Edwards. Their first meeting takes place in the Athenaeum, Enniscorthy, County Wexford. Deciding to remain in Dublin, where they live at Harcourt Terrace, the pair assists with the inaugural production of Galway‘s Irish language theatre, An Taibhdhearc. The play is Mac Liammóir’s version of the mythical story Diarmuid agus Gráinne, in which Mac Liammóir plays the lead role as Diarmuid.
Mac Liammóir and Edwards then throw themselves into their own venture, co-founding the Gate Theatre in Dublin in 1928. The Gate becomes a showcase for modern plays and design. Mac Liammóir’s set and costume designs are key elements of the Gate’s success. His many notable acting roles include Robert Emmet/The Speaker in Denis Johnston‘s The Old Lady Says “No!” and the title role in Hamlet.
In 1948, Mac Liammóir appears in the NBC television production of Great Catherine with Gertrude Lawrence. In 1951, during a break in the making of Othello, he produces Orson Welles‘s ghost-story Return to Glennascaul which is directed by Hilton Edwards. He plays Iago in Welles’s film version of Othello (1951). The following year, he goes on to play ‘Poor Tom’ in another Welles project, the TV film of King Lear (1953) for CBS.
Mac Liammóir claims when talking to Irish playwright Mary Manning, to have had a homosexual relationship with General Eoin O’Duffy, former Garda Síochána Commissioner and head of the paramilitary Blueshirts in Ireland, during the 1930s. The claim is revealed publicly by RTÉ in a documentary, The Odd Couple, broadcast in 1999. However, Mac Liammóir’s claims have not been substantiated.
Mac Liammóir’s life and artistic development are the subject of a major study by Tom Madden, The Making of an Artist. Edwards and Mac Liammóir are the subject of a biography, titled The Boys by Christopher Fitz-Simon.
Micheál Mac Liammóir dies at his and Edwards’s Dublin home, 4 Harcourt Terrace, at the age of 78 on March 6, 1978. Edwards and Mac Liammóir are buried alongside each other at St. Fintan’s Cemetery, Sutton, Dublin.
Clean-up operations are underway around Ireland on Wednesday, December 30, 2015, in the wake of Storm Frank, which causes widespread flooding following its landfall in western areas on Tuesday, December 29. Thousands of households and businesses are left without electricity in many areas of the country.
A Met Éireann status orange wind warning is lifted at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday although the forecasts caution that severe winds of 65-80 km/h and gusts of up 130 km/h are still expected. While the heaviest rainfall from the storm falls overnight, many rivers and lakes have yet to peak meaning further flooding is possible.
According to an ESB Networks spokesman, 7,500 homes are without power in the afternoon, down from the overnight total of 13,000. He says repair crews are working to restore power to those cut off. The biggest single outage overnight is around Bandon and Fermoy in County Cork where 4,000 homes are without power, although it has been restored to almost all homes by the afternoon of December 30.
At 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, the worst affected areas are County Wicklow with 1,200 houses without power, Macroom in County Cork where 600 are without power and Athlone where 500 homes are cut off. Around 500 homes in Naas, County Kildare, are without power as are 350 houses in Skerries in north County Dublin. It is hoped that power will be restored to all customers by the evening.
County Cork appears to be the worst affected by the storm where 60 mms (almost three inches) of rain falls since the morning of December 29. The threat of further flooding in Cork remains as the ESB increases the flow of water through the Inniscarra Dam to 250 cumecs (cubic metres per second) between 9:00 a.m. and midday which leads to increased flooding downstream. This is higher than the level of flow (180 cumecs) the previous and between December 6 and 12 along the River Lee following Storm Desmond.
Cork County manager Tim Lucey says there has been “extensive flooding” across a range of areas, but that Midleton and Bandon are worst hit with some 90 properties affected in each of the towns. He tells RTÉ Radio that one positive is the fact flood defences in Mallow and Fermoy have done their job. He notes that some five feet of water has built up behind a flood barrier in Mallow and this indicates the damage that could have been done to the town.
South Galway bears the brunt of flooding in the west, with river gauges expected to rise further over the coming days. Overnight rainfall is not as heavy as anticipated in the west, but several properties succumb to the waters. Up to 30 families in the south Galway area are forced to stay with relatives, with several being accommodated in hotels by Galway County Council, as floodwaters cut off access routes to their homes.
In Mayo, the area around the Neale remains underwater and a number of minor roads and thousands of acres of farmland are also affected. With rain continuing to fall across the west, conditions are expected to remain critical over the next few days.
The N11 between Rosslare and Dublin, the N25 from Cork to Waterford, the N71 between Cork and Killarney and the N4 between Dublin and Sligo all have diversions in place. The N25 is closed overnight between Killeagh and Castlemartyr in County Cork due to flooding. The N71 Cork/Bandon Road is also closed overnight at the viaduct due to flooding. There is severe flooding on the N40 South Ring Rd. at J6 Kinsale, particularly on the westbound off-ramp. The N11 Dublin/Wexford Road is impassable through Enniscorthy and also at Kyle’s Cross near Oylegate. The N4 is closed eastbound at Ballynafid in County Westmeath due to flooding. There are also several road closures in Kerry, Waterford and Tipperary.
Midleton is also hit by severe flooding as water levels in the Owenacurra River rise dramatically with up to 30 families having to be evacuated from their homes. Macroom in mid-Cork is also flooded for the first time during the year. Bandon is put on red alert by Cork County Council’s early warning system. Traders and residents are told to take all measures necessary to protect their property and stock. Locals stay up all night preparing the town for the latest round of flooding. Nevertheless, some 20 businesses in Bandon are flooded for the second time in a month after waters start to come up shores and gutters in the town as water levels in the River Bandon rise overnight.
The River Slaney burst its banks in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, causing widespread flooding in the town. Several cars have to be abandoned. High tide in Enniscorthy occurs around 10:30 a.m. on December 30.
The ESB says the flow of water through Parteen Weir, which regulates water flow through Ardnacrusha power plant, will remain at 440 (cubic metres per second) on December 30 and that the situation will be reviewed again the following day. “The levels in Lough Derg may reach 2009 levels in the coming days and, as a result, the flow through Parteen Weir may increase to 2009 levels (up to 500 cumecs) in the coming days,” it says.
Clare County Council says water levels on the lower River Shannon at Springfield, Clonlara, have increased by 5-10cm in the last 24 hours and are some 20cm below a peak level recorded on December 13th. It says the Mulkear River in County Limerick, which enters the River Shannon south of Annacotty, is currently in flood and is contributing to increased water levels at Springfield. Council staff are assisted by the Fire Service and Defence Forces at Springfield in their pumping operations and transporting residents of some 12 homes isolated by floodwaters.
Fianna Fáil urges TaoiseachEnda Kenny to call an emergency Cabinet meeting to address the fallout from the storm. The party’s environment spokesman, Barry Cowen, says many communities felt neglected as further significant damage was inflicted on homes and businesses by the rainfall and winds brought by Storm Frank. “The scenes that we are witnessing in communities impacted by the latest storm are truly heart-breaking,” he says. “People feel neglected by the Government. It’s astonishing that the Taoiseach has decided not to interrupt his Christmas holidays in light of the devastation caused by Storm Frank.”
The Government’s National Coordination Group on Severe Weather meets in Dublin on December 30. Sinn FéinMEPLiadh Ní Riada says the Government has displayed “ineptitude in preparing flood defences” and that “more hollow promises” from the Coalition are no substitute for action. “The risk of flooding is increasing and will continue to increase. People across this island need to know that our political leaders have a plan to prevent this happening in the future,” she says.
(From: “Storm Frank causes floods, closes roads and cuts power to thousands” by Ronan McGreevy, Th Irish Times, http://www.irishtimes.com, December 30, 2015 | Pictured: Water flows through buildings and down the street in Graignamanagh, Co Kilkenny on Tuesday night by Paul B via Twitter)
Cronin is known as an arts activist as well as a writer. He is Cultural Adviser to TaoiseachCharles Haughey and briefly to Garret FitzGerald. He involves himself in initiatives such as Aosdána, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Heritage Council. He is a founding member of Aosdána, and is a member of its governing body, the Toscaireacht, for many years. He is elected Saoi, a distinction for exceptional artistic achievement, in 2003. He is also a member of the governing bodies of the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Ireland, of which he is for a time Acting Chairman.
His first collection of poems, called simply Poems (Cresset Press, London), is published in 1958. Several collections follow and his Collected Poems (New Island Books, Dublin) is published in 2004. The End of the Modern World (New Island Books, 2016), written over several decades, is his final publication.
Cronin’s novel, The Life of Riley, is a satire on Bohemian life in Ireland in the mid-20th century, while his memoir Dead as Doornails addresses the same subject.
Cronin knows Samuel Beckett from when they do some work for the BBC during the 1950s and 1960s. He gives a prefatory talk to Patrick Magee‘s reading of The Unnamable on the BBC Third Programme. Beckett is not impressed, saying, “Cronin delivered his discourse… It was all right, not very exciting.” Cronin later publishes a biography of him, Samuel Beckett: The Last Modernist (1996), followed on from No Laughing Matter: The Life and Times of Flann O’Brien (1989).
In his later years, Cronin suffers from failing health, which prevents him from traveling abroad, thus limiting his dealings to local matters. He dies in Dublin on December 27, 2016, one day short of his 93rd birthday.
Cronin firstly marries Thérèse Campbell, from whom he separates in the mid-1980s. She dies in 1999. They have two daughters, Iseult and Sarah. Iseult is killed in a road accident in Spain. He secondly marries the writer Anne Haverty who, along with daughter Sarah, survives him.
Corish’s father, Richard Corish, a well-known trade union official and Sinn Féin member, had been elected to the Second Dáil shortly after the birth of his son and later joins the Labour Party, serving as a local and national politician until his death in 1945. His mother is Catherine Bergin. He is educated locally at Wexford CBS and, in his youth, is a member of the 1st Wexford Scout troop (Scouting Ireland). At the age of nineteen, he joins the clerical staff of Wexford County Council. He spends several years playing Gaelic football for the Wexford county team. He was married to Phyllis Donohoe, and they have three sons.
Corish is elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party candidate in the Wexford by-election in 1945, necessitated by the death of his father who was the sitting TD. He takes a seat on the fractured opposition benches, as Fianna Fáil‘s grip on power continues.
In 1960, Corish succeeds William Norton as Labour Party leader. He introduces new policies which make the party more socialist in outlook and describes the party program as Christian socialist. He considers that the party principles are those endorsed by Pope John XXIII and greatly admires the Pope who he says is “one of the greatest contributors of all changes in Irish attitudes.” However, the party moves carefully because “socialism” is still considered a dirty word in 1960s Ireland. He claims that Ireland will be “Socialist in the Seventies.” To a certain extent he is right because Fine Gael and the Labour Party form a coalition government between 1973 and 1977.
Corish becomes Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Social Welfare. A wide range of social security benefits are introduced during his time as a government minister, including a Deserted Wife’s Benefit and Unmarried Mother’s Allowance, Prisoner’s Wife’s Allowance, Single Woman’s Allowance, and the Supplementary Welfare Allowance, providing supplementary income to individuals and families with low incomes. In 1974, compulsory social insurance is extended to virtually all employees, and that same year short-term social insurance benefits (occupational injury, maternity, unemployment and sickness benefits) become partially index-linked. According to one study, this signals “an extension in the function of the income maintenance system from basic income support to proportional replacement of market earnings for some groups.” The replacement of the existing flat-rate unemployment benefit with an earnings-related benefit means that the average unemployment replacement rate goes up from about 30% to 60%.
Corish is deeply religious, telling the Dáil in 1953 that “I am an Irishman second, I am a Catholic first…if the hierarchy give me any direction with regard to Catholic social teaching or Catholic moral teaching, I accept without qualification in all respects the teaching of the hierarchy and the church to which I belong.”
In 1977, the TaoiseachLiam Cosgrave calls a general election, and Fianna Fáil is returned to power in a landslide victory. Corish resigns as leader of the Labour Party, having signaled his intent to do so before the election. He is succeeded as party leader by Frank Cluskey. He retires from politics completely at the February 1982 Irish general election.
Corish dies in Wexford at the age of 71 on February 17, 1990.
Wallace is born into a family of twelve children. He graduates from University College Dublin (UCD) with a teaching qualification. He marries Mary Murphy from Duncormick, County Wexford, in 1979. The couple has two sons, but the marriage ends when the children are young. He has two more children from another relationship in the 1990s.
Prior to entering politics, Wallace owns a property development and construction company completing developments such as the Italian Quarter in the Ormond Quay area of the Dublin quays. The company later collapses into liquidation, with him finally being declared bankrupt on December 19, 2016.
On December 15, 2011, Wallace helps to launch a nationwide campaign against the household charge which is introduced as part of the 2012 Budget.
Wallace is the listed officer of the Independents 4 Change, which is registered to stand for elections in March 2014 and, along with Clare Daly, is one of two MEPs which represent the party in the European parliament. During their time in the Dáil, Wallace and Daly, the Dublin North TD, become friends and political allies, and work together on many campaigns, including opposition to austerity and highlighting revelations of alleged Garda malpractices, including harassment, improper cancellation of penalty points and involvement of officers in the drug trade. They are partially active in protesting the Garda whistleblower scandal, which eventually leads to the resignation of Minister for JusticeFrances Fitzgerald, although she is later cleared of wrongdoing by the Charleton Tribunal.
In July 2014, Wallace and Daly are arrested at Shannon Airport while trying to board a U.S. military aircraft. He says the airport is being used as a U.S. military base and that the government should be searching the planes to ensure that they are not involved in military operations or that there are no weapons on board. He is fined €2,000 for being in an airside area without permission, and chooses not to pay. He is sentenced to 30 days in prison in default, and in December 2015 is arrested for non-payment of the fine.
In December 2015, Wallace and independent TDs Clare Daly and Maureen O’Sullivan each put forward offers of a €5,000 surety for a man charged with membership of an unlawful organisation and with possession of a component part of an improvised explosive device.
At the 2016 Irish general election, Wallace stands as an Independents 4 Change candidate and is re-elected, finishing third on the first-preference count with 7,917 votes.
In 2017, Wallace calls on Ireland to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and “condemn the illegal expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands as well as the ongoing human rights abuses against Palestinians.”
Wallace is criticised for supporting Venezuela, Ecuador, China, Russia, Belarus and Syria during his period as an MEP. In November 2020, he refers to Belarusian opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya as a “pawn of western neoliberalism.” In February 2021, he is reprimanded for using a swear word during a session of the European Parliament. He has referred to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as being an “unelected gobshite.”
In April 2021, Wallace and Daly are called “embarrassments to Ireland” by Fianna Fáil‘s Malcolm Byrne after the two MEPs had travelled to Iraq and visited the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi militia supported by Iran.
Wallace questions the director general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Fernando Arias, in the European Parliament in April 2021. He accuses the OPCW of falsely blaming the government of Bashar al-Assad for the 2018 Douma chemical attack. He says that, while he does not know what had happened in Douma, the White Helmets were “paid for by the U.S. and UK to carry out regime change in Syria.” Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews calls his accusation against the White Helmets a conspiracy theory and disinformation. French MEP Nathalie Loiseau describes his comments as “fake news” and apologises on his behalf to NGO groups in Syria.
In June 2021, Wallace and Daly are among the MEPs censured by the European Parliament’s Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group for acting as unofficial election-monitors in the December 2020 Venezuelan parliamentary election and April 2021 Ecuadorian general election without a mandate or permission from the EU. They are barred from making any election missions until the end of 2021. They are warned that any further such action may result in their ejection from the European parliament under the end of their terms in 2024.
Wallace has stated his opposition to vaccination certificates. He says “I’m not anti-vax but we’re going down a dangerous path with COVID pass” and expresses concerns about civil liberties. Both Wallace and Daly have refused to present vaccination certs upon entering the European Parliament, resulting in them being reprimanded by the European Parliament.
In April 2022, Wallace and Daly initiate defamation proceedings against RTÉ.
In November 2022, Wallace criticises protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, accusing some protestors of violence and destruction and saying it “would not be tolerated anywhere.”
In February 2023, Wallace claims on social media that he has “three wine bars in Dublin.” This arouses alarm from his European parliamentary group, as no such assets were listed on his mandatory declaration of financial interests. After the chair of his parliamentary group calls any omission from the declaration “unacceptable” and not “worthy of our political group,” he amends his declaration to state that he is an “advisor” to the three wine bars and receives up to €500 a month in income for this role.
Deane is born on December 2, 1879, in New Ross, County Wexford, and grows up in Clontarf, a suburb of Dublin. His family lives close to the families of both Bram Stoker and his wife, Florence Balcombe, and his mother had been acquainted with Bram Stoker in her youth.
Deane enters the theater as a young man, first appearing in 1899 with the Henry Irving Company, of which Stoker is stage manager for many years. Even before he forms his own troupe in the early 1920s, he has been thinking about bringing Dracula to the stage. Stoker had attempted this in 1897 but the verdict from Irving consigned it to the waste-paper basket. Unable to find a scriptwriter to take on the project, Deane writes the play himself in a four-week period of inactivity while he is suffering with a severe cold. He then contacts Florence Stoker, Bram’s widow, and negotiates a deal for the dramatic rights.
To stage the production, Deane is required to submit the completed script to the Lord Chamberlain for a license under the Theatres Act 1843. The play is censored to limit violence – for example, the count’s death cannot be shown to the audience – but is approved on May 15, 1924.
Deane re-imagines Count Dracula as a more urbane and theatrically acceptable character who could plausibly enter London society. It is Deane’s idea that the count should wear a tuxedo and stand-up collar, and a flowing cape which conceals Dracula while he slips through a trap-door in the stage floor, giving the impression that he has disappeared. He also arranges to have a uniformed nurse available at performances, ready to administer smelling salts should anyone faint.
Deane’s play premieres on August 5, 1924, at the Grand Theatre in Derby, England. Despite critics’ misgivings, the audiences love it. Although he originally intended to play the title role himself, Raymond Huntley plays the role of the Count and Deane fills the role of Van Helsing. It is a huge success and the production tours England for three years before settling in London, where it opens at the Little Theatre in the Adelphi on February 14, 1927. It later transfers to the Duke of York’s Theatre and then the Prince of Wales Theatre to accommodate larger audiences.
When the play crosses the Atlantic in 1927, the role of Dracula is taken by the then-unknown Hungarian-American actor Bela Lugosi. For its United States debut, Dracula is rewritten by the American playwright John L. Balderston. The show runs for a year on Broadway and for two more years on tour, breaking all previous records for any show put on tour in the United States. It is the Deane/Balderston interpretation upon which the classic Tod Browning film Dracula (1931) is based.
Flannery edits the Dominican bi-monthly journal entitled Doctrine and Life from 1958 to 1988, while at St. Saviour’s Priory, Dublin, where he also serves as prior from 1957 to 1960. He also edits the Religious Life Review. During and after the Second Vatican Council he makes available in English all the documents from the event.
From August 1969, Flannery is a member of the executive committee of the Northern Relief Coordination Committee, raising funds on behalf of the families of those interned without trial in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s.
Flannery embodies the post-Vatican II conception of the priest as a social catalyst engaged by the gospel, closer to his flock than to the clerical hierarchy. He has a great gift for friendship, is indefatigably interested in people, and courts religious affairs commentators and journalists at a time when the hierarchy ignores them, magnifying his influence.
Flannery dies of a heart attack on October 21, 2008, at Kiltipper Woods Care Centre, Dublin. Following a funeral mass at St. Saviour’s Priory, he is buried in the Dominican plot at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, on October 24, 2008.
Rackard is born in Killane on January 6, 1927. He makes his first regular appearance for the Wexford senior team during the 1947 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and is a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement before the 1957 All-Ireland championship. During that time he wins two All-Ireland medals, four Leinster medals and one National Hurling League medal. He is an All-Ireland runner-up on two occasions. His brothers, Nicky and Billy, also experience All-Ireland success with Wexford.
Rackard plays his club hurling with Rathnure and enjoys much success and is a four-time county club championship medalist in his lengthy career.
In 1948, Rackard is a key member of the defence as Rathnure reaches only their second championship decider ever. A 3–5 to 0–2 trouncing of reigning champions Ferns St. Aidan’s gives him his first championship medal. After failing to retain their title the following year, Rathnure is back in the county decider once again in 1950. Another convincing 5–10 to 2–6 defeat of old rivals Ferns St. Aidan’s gives him his second championship medal.
It is 1955 before Rathnure qualifies for another championship decider and four-in-a-row hopefuls Ferns St. Aidan’s provides the opposition once again. A close game develops, however, a 2–9 to 2–5 victory gives Rackard a third championship medal.
After a number of years out of the limelight, Rathnure reaches the county final once again in 1961. A fourth defeat of Ferns St. Aidan’s gives Rackard, who scores two goals from his full-forward berth, a fourth and final championship medal.
Rackard first comes to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Wexford minor hurling team in the early 1940s. He enjoys little success in this grade but is called up to the senior team in 1947.
After losing the provincial final in 1950, Rackard is at centre-back the following year as Wexford faces Laois in the eastern decider. A 3–12 to 4–3 victory gives him his first Leinster medal as Wexford claims the provincial crown for the first time since 1918. The subsequent All-Ireland decider sees three-in-a-row hopefuls Tipperary providing the opposition. Nicky Rackard’s goal-scoring ability is quelled by Tipperary goalkeeper Tony Reddin, while Séamus Bannon, Tim Ryan and Paddy Kenny score key goals which power Tipperary to a 7–7 to 3–9 victory.
After back-to-back Leinster defeats over the next two years, Wexford faces Dublin in the 1954 decider. A huge 8-5 to 1–4 victory gives Rackard his second Leinster medal. A record crowd of 84,856 attend the subsequent All-Ireland decider with Cork providing the opposition. Wexford has a four-point lead with seventeen minutes left to play, however, history is against Wexford when Johnny Clifford scores the winning goal for Cork with just four minutes left. A 1–9 to 1–6 victory secures a third successive All-Ireland for Cork.
In 1955, Wexford continues their provincial dominance with Rackard collecting a third Leinster medal following a 5–6 to 3–9 defeat of Kilkenny in a replay of the Leinster final. Galway, who gets a bye into the final without picking up a hurley, provides the opposition and takes a halftime lead. A Tim Flood goal nine minutes from the end clinches a 3–13 to 2–8 victory and a first All-Ireland medal for Rackard. It is Wexford’s first All-Ireland triumph in forty-five years.
Rackard adds a National Hurling League medal to his collection in 1956 as Tipperary is bested by 5–9 to 2–14. The subsequent championship campaign sees Wexford reach the provincial final once again. A narrow 4–8 to 3–10 defeat of Kilkenny gives Rackard his fourth and final Leinster medal. Galway falls heavily in the All-Ireland semi-final, allowing Wexford to advance to an All-Ireland final meeting with Cork. The game goes down in history as one of the all-time classics as Christy Ring is bidding for a record ninth All-Ireland medal. The game turns on one important incident as the Wexford goalkeeper, Art Foley, makes a miraculous save from a Ring shot and clears the sliotar up the field to set up another attack. Nicky Rackard scores a crucial goal with two minutes to go giving Wexford a 2–14 to 2–8 victory. In spite of Cork’s loss, Wexford’s Nick O’Donnell and Rackard, in an unparalleled display of sportsmanship in any game, raise Christy Ring onto their shoulders and carry him off the field. Wexford wins the game and Rackard collects his second All-Ireland medal but there is no doubt in their minds that the real hero is Ring.
A farm accident in 1957 brings an end to Rackard’s inter-county career.
Rackard also has the honour of being selected for Leinster in the inter-provincial series of games and enjoys some success. In 1956 he lines out in his only inter-provincial decider. A 5–11 to 1–7 trouncing of Munster gives Rackard a Railway Cup medal.
In retirement, Rackard, along with his brothers, come to be regarded as one of the greatest hurling families of all-time. In 1984, the centenary year of the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association, he is named to the Hurling Team of the Century. In 1992, both Billy and Bobby Rackard’s brilliance is recognised when they are presented with the All-Time All Star Award for hurling. Rackard is also posthumously named on the Hurling Team of the Millennium in 1999.
(Pictured: The Rackard brothers from left Bobby, Nicky and Billy)
seamus dubhghaill 