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Birth of Kathleen Goodfellow, Writer, Poet & Translator

Kathleen Goodfellow, Irish writer, poet, and translator known for her literary works, nationalist sympathies, and patronage of the arts, is born in Dublin on August 20, 1891.

Born to George and Susan Goodfellow (née Nicholson), Goodfellow is raised in a Quaker family. Her father and uncle are builders who construct a row of houses on Morehampton Road, Donnybrook, where she lives for the rest of her life. She is educated at Alexandra College and graduates with an Arts degree from Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

Goodfellow joins the Rathmines branch of Cumann na mBan, a women’s republican organization, where she learns first aid, drilling, and signaling. There, she meets artist Estella Solomons, with whom she forms a lifelong friendship. Solomons’ studio later becomes a safe house for republicans during the Irish War of Independence.

Under the pseudonym Michael Scot, Goodfellow publishes Three Tales of the Times in 1921, a work about life in Ireland under the Black and Tans. She also writes poetry and translates French poetry, notably the works of 15th-century poet François Villon, publishing these translations in The Dublin Magazine between 1924 and 1928.

Goodfellow is independently wealthy, inheriting property in Ireland and England after her mother’s death in 1932. She is a generous patron of the arts, supporting The Dublin Magazine, a literary journal owned by her friend Seumas O’Sullivan, to which she contributes articles, poems, and reviews. She also supports children’s charities and serves on the Board of Governors of the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook.

Her philanthropy extends to securing funding for The Dublin Magazine (1926–1958) and gifting a bird sanctuary, The Grove, in Donnybrook to An Taisce. Despite her influence, she remains modest and private about her contributions, and her own photographic collection is destroyed after her death.

In 1939, Goodfellow falls while getting off a tram and breaks her leg badly, which leaves her with a limp. She dies at the aged of 89 on May 20, 1980, and is buried with her parents in Mount Jerome Cemetery in Dublin.

A plaque is erected in memory of Goodfellow’s donation at The Grove, a woodland area at the corner of Morehampton Road and Wellington Place, on October 19, 2022. A plaque commemorating Estella Solomons is placed on the opposite gatepost. Goodfellow’s diaries, poems and literary manuscripts are held in the Trinity College Dublin archives.

Goodfellow’s work and life reflect the intersection of Irish literary culture, nationalist history, and cultural patronage in early-to-mid 20th-century Ireland.


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Death of Johnny Lyons, 98FM Sports Presenter & Editor

Johnny Lyons, the long-time sports presenter and editor at 98FM, is found dead at his Dublin home on the evening of August 19, 2015. The 49‑year‑old broadcaster had been away from work for several weeks recovering from a broken ankle and was expected to return to the air the following week.

Friends become concerned when they cannot reach him, prompting a search of his apartment in Dublin city centre, where his body is discovered. The cause of death is not immediately known, but 98FM confirms he died suddenly and peacefully.

Lyons joins 98FM in 1996 and serves as the station’s Sports Editor for nearly two decades. He is best known for hosting the popular Sunday morning show Now That’s What I Call Sport (9 a.m.–10 a.m.) and also presents Premier League Live on Today FM. His distinctive voice, passion for soccer, and larger‑than‑life personality make him a familiar and beloved figure in Irish sports broadcasting.

The news of Lyons death shocks colleagues and fans across the media and sporting worlds. 98FM’s management describes him as “the backbone of our sports team” and “a great friend.” The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) praises him as “a great football man who really understood the game” and plans to pay tribute at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium during the following month’s match against Georgia. Tributes pour in from fellow broadcasters, politicians, and sports figures, with some calling him “the unmistakable voice of sport in Dublin.”

Lyons’s funeral is held at the Church of St. Therese, Mount Merrion, Dublin, followed by burial at Shanganagh Cemetery in Shankill, County Dublin. The station and FAI both announce on‑air tributes in his memory. His sudden passing leaves a significant gap in Irish sports radio, and his legacy as a passionate, knowledgeable, and charismatic sports voice will be remembered by many.


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Oliver Cromwell Sets Sail for Ireland

Oliver Cromwell, English statesman, farmer and soldier, sets sail from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales, on August 13, 1649, with a fleet of about 35 ships, accompanied by a second and third flotilla that arrives days later. The invasion marks the beginning of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, a brutal four-year campaign (1649–1653) that reshapes the island’s political and demographic landscape.

By 1649, England is in the midst of the English Civil War. The execution of King Charles I in January leaves the Commonwealth of England under Cromwell’s leadership. Ireland, already embroiled in the Irish Confederate Wars, has become a battleground between Irish Catholic Confederates allied with the exiled Charles II, Royalist forces under James Butler, Earl of Ormonde, and  Parliamentarian forces led by Cromwell and his son-in-law Henry Ireton.

Cromwell’s landing at Dublin is swift but not without hardship—seasickness plagues him during the voyage. He lands with around 9,000–20,000 troops, stores, and £20,000 in cash. His early actions include the Siege of Drogheda (September 10, 1649) where, following a prolonged cannonade, his forces breach the town’s defenses. On September 11, the entire garrison—about 8,000 men, including English troops, Irish soldiers, and civilians—is massacred, including commander Sir Arthur Aston. Early actions also include the Sack of Wexford (October 1649). Despite Cromwell’s public justification for the slaughter, Wexford’s garrison and civilians are killed in a similar manner.

Over the next four years, Cromwell’s forces defeat the Irish Confederacy by late 1650, engage in widespread plunder, executions, and displacement of Catholic populations, confiscate large tracts of Catholic land for Protestant settlers under the Cromwellian Plantation, and introduce the Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652, barring Catholics from most public offices and redistributing land.

Modern estimates suggest 15–40% of Ireland’s pre-1641 population perishes due to warfare, famine, and disease. The campaign entrenches Protestant dominance in Ireland and leaves deep scars in Irish memory.

Cromwell’s invasion is remembered in Ireland as a symbol of English conquest and sectarian violence. While some historians argue his actions are within contemporary military norms, many see them as part of a broader pattern of colonial subjugation. The detailed land surveys he orders—mapping every parish and barony—become a tool for land redistribution, shaping Ireland’s political and economic structure for centuries.

In short, August 13, 1649, is the start of a campaign that not only ends Irish Catholic political power but also alters the island’s demographic and cultural fabric for generations.


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The Hanging of IRA members Reginald Dunne & Joseph O’Sullivan

Reginald Dunne and Joseph O’Sullivan, members of the London Battalion of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), are hanged at Wandsworth Prison on August 10, 1922, for the assassination of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson on June 22, 1922.

Wilson, a senior British Army officer and military advisor to the Belfast Government (Stormont), is shot dead on the steps of his Eaton Square home in London as he returns from an unveiling ceremony at Liverpool Street station. Dunne and O’Sullivan, both former British Army soldiers, have joined the London IRA and are active in the anti-Treaty republican movement. O’Sullivan lost a leg at Ypres, Belgium, in 1917, while Dunne served in the Irish Guards during World War I.

The killing is widely seen as a political act, with Dunne and O’Sullivan claiming to have acted in defence of Irish nationalist principles, blaming Wilson for the “Orange Terror” and the deployment of the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). Some historians suggest the assassination may have been intended to pressure Michael Collins to attack the Four Courts garrison, though no conclusive evidence of orders was ever established.

After the shooting, Dunne escapes but O’Sullivan is captured by a hostile crowd. Dunne attempts to rescue him but is himself arrested after wounding two police officers and a passerby. Both are tried quickly, found guilty after just three minutes of deliberation, and sentenced to death by Justice Montague Shearman.

Despite petitions from 45,000 people and appeals from figures like George Bernard Shaw, both men are executed on August 10, 1922, and buried within the prison grounds.

The executions are a major political flashpoint. It is only after the abolition of hanging that the law is changed and Joseph’s brother, with the assistance of the Irish National Graves Association, is able to arrange for the bodies of the two men to be repatriated to Ireland.

In 1967, the British government allows the bodies of Dunne and O’Sullivan to be exhumed and returned to Ireland. Former comrades accompany the bodies from England to Dublin Airport, where they place an Irish tricolour flag on Dunne’s coffin. This is the same flag that Dunne had placed on the coffin of Terence MacSwiney at Euston railway station when his body was returned to Cork in 1920.

Graveside orations are held in Dublin, attended by former comrades, Michael Collins’s associates, and representatives of Éamon de Valera, the president of Ireland. The bodies are reinterred in Dean’s Grange Cemetery outside Dublin in 1967.

Dunne’s trial speech, reprinted in the Irish Independent, remains a notable piece of republican political rhetoric, framing the act as a necessary stand for Irish rights.

(Pictured: Joseph O’Sullivan (left) and Reginald Dunne (right))


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The First Vietnamese Boat People Arrive in Ireland

On August 9, 1979, Ireland welcomes its first group of Vietnamese refugees, known as the “boat people,” under a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resettlement initiative. These are Vietnamese who have fled the communist takeover of Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975, enduring perilous journeys across the South China Sea in small boats.

The first arrivals come on a flight from Hong Kong, with 58 Vietnamese refugees disembarking at Dublin Airport. They are met by members of the Irish Red Cross and Minister for Foreign Affairs Michael O’Kennedy, who assures them of Ireland’s willingness to help. The refugees are taken by bus to a Red Cross centre in Blanchardstown for initial accommodation.

Many of the refugees have spent months in refugee camps in Hong Kong and Malaysia, often rescued from overcrowded boats after long, dangerous voyages. Some, like Tri Quoc Nguyen, recall the smell of vomit and sweat from days at sea, and the trauma of internment for family members. Delays in resettlement elsewhere—such as the United States—leads some to choose Ireland for its perceived safety and shorter wait.

The Irish government invites these refugees, and religious and non-governmental organisations play a major role in resettlement. The first group of about 212 Vietnamese is dispersed to various Irish towns, including Tralee, Portlaoise, and Cork. Many later move to Dublin, where they begin building new lives.

Over the decades, the Vietnamese-Irish community has grown into a well-established ethnic minority in Ireland, with contributions in business, education, and culture. Many open Vietnamese restaurants and community businesses, and maintain strong family and cultural ties.

This August 9, 1979 event marks the beginning of a significant chapter in Irish migration history, symbolising Ireland’s role in humanitarian resettlement during the late 20th century.

(Photo credit: RTÉ Stills Library)


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Death of Joan Trimble, Composer, Pianist & Newspaper Proprietor

Joan Trimble, Northern Irish composer, pianist, and newspaper proprietor, dies on August 6, 2000, in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. 

Trimble is born on June 18, 1915, in Enniskillen, the elder daughter of William Egbert Trimble, proprietor of The Impartial Reporter, and Marie Dowse, a violinist from a Dublin family of musicians. She attends Enniskillen Royal School for Girls and is the school’s first Head Girl. She studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and the Royal College of Music in London, where she studies composition with Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and piano with Arthur Benjamin. She and her sister Valerie become a celebrated piano duo, performing widely in the UK and Europe, and are known for their signature tune Jamaican Rumba.

Between 1959 and 1977, Trimble is professor of accompaniment and musicianship at the Royal College of Music.

Trimble’s compositional career spans two decades, producing works such as Buttermilk Point (1938), The Heather Glen (1949), Phantasy for Piano Trio (1940), and the suite Ulster Airs (1939–40). In 1957, she makes a notable mark by composing Blind Raftery, the first new opera by a woman to be broadcast on BBC Television.

Later in life, Trimble inherits her father’s newspaper, becoming its proprietor and editor, and takes up composition again in 1990 when commissioned for her 75th birthday. She dies in Enniskillen on August 6, 2000, at the age of 85, two weeks after the death of her husband. She is remembered for her contributions to Irish music, her skill as a pianist, and her role in preserving her family’s legacy in both the arts and journalism.

In 2002, the Joan Trimble Awards Scheme is established by her family in her memory, and administered by the Fermanagh Trust “in recognition of her lifelong commitment to County Fermanagh.” The purpose of the scheme is to encourage and support the involvement of young people in creativity, the performing arts and Irish culture, and to provide bursaries for training and education.

In 2012, Fermanagh County Museum stages an exhibition titled “Buttermilk Point: The Musical Life of Joan Trimble, 1915–2000.”

On June 18, 2015, “Music in Fermanagh” presents A Celebration Concert as part of the Joan Trimble Centenary Celebration at the Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen.


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Anti-Treaty IRA Attempts to Isolate Dublin

In the early morning of August 5, 1922, during the Irish Civil War, around 200 anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers are mobilised around Dublin. Their mission is to isolate the city by destroying all bridges and road crossings leading into it, cutting off Free State forces and supplies.

The anti-Treaty IRA, opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the newly established Irish Free State, aim to dismantle the stone bridges over Dublin’s rivers and canal, lay explosives on road and railway bridges, dig trenches in roads to block movement and scout the surrounding countryside for Free State troops.

They are organised in groups of 5–40, some armed with handguns and grenades, others with explosives and tools like spades and picks. Parties are sighted in the hills south of the city (from Kilakee to Roundwood) and across villages north of Dublin (from Raheny to Blanchardstown).

The Free State’s intelligence service intercepts the plan when Liam Clarke, a captured anti-Treaty officer, reveals the details to Free State Intelligence officers. This intelligence allows the Free State to anticipate and counter the operation.

On August 6, Free State forces move quickly to intercept the IRA. They capture 31 anti-Treaty irregulars at Glencullen Bridge (pictured) and later take 104 fighters in County Dublin, including officer Pat Sweeney. These actions cripple the remnants of the anti-Treaty IRA in Dublin and prevent the city from being isolated.

The “Bridges Job” is a major anti-Treaty attempt to cut off Dublin during the Irish Civil War. Its failure marks a turning point, as Free State forces can now move freely into the city, accelerating the end of the conventional phase of the conflict.


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The Body of Harry McEntee of the IRA Dublin Brigade is Found

On August 3, 1923, the body of Captain Henry Hugh “Harry” McEntee is found at Dubber Cross near Jamestown Road, Finglas, County Dublin. McEntee, 26, is a carpenter and a member of the Irish Republican Army’s Dublin Brigade, serving on the active service unit (ASU) during the Irish Civil War.

McEntee is abducted by members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), based at Oriel House, Westland Row, who are linked to National Army Intelligence and the Protective Corps. He is reportedly threatened by CID officers before his death. The abduction occurs on July 31, 1923, near his home on Gloucester Street (now Seán McDermott Street).

On the morning of August 3, his body is discovered in a field at Maher’s farm, close to Jamestown Road in Finglas. He had been shot dead. The exact details of his capture and killing are later ordered to be destroyed in 1932 by the Pro-Treaty government.

McEntee is buried in the Republican Plot at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. A National Graves Association memorial plaque is placed there around 1932 and is maintained by the Fianna Sluagh in Finglas during the 1950s–60s. In 2023, his family and community commemorate the centenary of his death, remembering him as a skilled carpenter, devoted father, and soldier of the Irish Citizen Army.

In summary, Henry McEntee’s abduction and murder in August 1923 are part of the violent post-war repression of anti-Treaty IRA members, and his case remains a poignant example of the personal toll of Ireland’s Civil War.


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Diarmait Mac Murchada is Defeated in Battle by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair

On August 1, 1166, Diarmait Mac Murchada (anglicised Dermot MacMurrough), King of Leinster, is defeated in battle by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (anglicised Rory O’Conor), who has recently become High King of Ireland. This defeat is a decisive blow to Mac Murchada’s power and marks the end of his reign as an independent ruler.

Mac Murchada has ruled Leinster since 1126 and is a powerful and ambitious king. He is an ally of Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, High King of Ireland, but their alliance is strained by rivalries and political maneuvering. In 1166, Mac Lochlainn’s own position is weakened after his subjects rebel and kill him, and Mac Murchada is next in Ua Conchobair’s line of succession.

Ua Conchobair, now High King, turns his attention to eliminating rivals. On August 1, 1166, Mac Murchada is defeated in open battle and forced to flee Ireland. His expulsion is a critical turning point as it strips him of his kingdom and leaves him without a base to rule.

In exile, Mac Murchada seeks help from King Henry II of England. He promises to swear fealty to Henry and grant land in Ireland in exchange for military support to reclaim his throne. Henry allows him to enlist the aid of Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (“Strongbow”), and other Norman lords from South Wales.

Mac Murchada returns to Ireland in 1167 with an advance party of Anglo-Normans. In 1170, Strongbow arrives with a larger force, and together they capture Dublin. Mac Murchada marries his daughter, Aoife (Eva), to Strongbow, and upon his death in 1171, Strongbow succeeds as ruler of Leinster.

Mac Murchada’s defeat and subsequent alliance with the Normans initiates the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland, a process that leads to centuries of English political and military involvement in the country. His actions are remembered as a pivotal moment in Irish history, with complex legacies — seen by some as a desperate ruler trying to restore his throne, and by others as a traitor who opens the door to foreign domination.

In summary, August 1, 1166, is the day Diarmait Mac Murchada is overthrown by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, leading to his exile and ultimately setting in motion the Norman conquest of Ireland.

(Pictured: Diarmait Mac Murchada)


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Birth of Thomas Brennan, Co-founder of the Irish National Land League

Thomas Brennan, an Irish republican, agrarian radical, and co-founder and joint secretary of the Irish National Land League, is born on July 28, 1853, at Yellow Furze, County Meath. He plays a key role in Irish land reform and nationalist activism.

Brennan is the second of two children to Patrick Brennan of the Catholic parish of Beauparc and Catherine Brennan (née Rourke). Little is recorded of his early education, but he develops a reputation as an intelligent and articulate public speaker. At age 18, he begins working as a clerk at Murtagh Bros., a Dublin-based bakery, alongside his uncle James Rourke. Through his connections with Patrick Egan, he and his uncle join the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and become active in election campaigns and nationalist organizing.

By 1877–1878, Brennan has become the civil secretary of the Leinster IRB and honorary secretary of the Dublin Mechanics Institute. In 1879, he plays an instrumental role in establishing the Land League of Mayo, acting alongside Michael Davitt and Patrick Egan. When the Irish National Land League is formally founded in October 1879, Brennan is appointed assistant secretary, effectively helping manage the League’s operations and campaigns for tenant farmers.

Brennan is known for his eloquence at public rallies, often linking land agitation to Irish nationalist objectives and espousing radical, egalitarian ideas. During the Land League’s activities, he faces trial for encouraging non-payment of rent but is not convicted. He later takes on the duties of national secretary after Davitt’s arrest and authorizes the issuance of the “No Rent Manifesto” from Kilmainham Gaol in 1881, a pivotal document in Ireland’s land struggle.

Following internal shifts in Irish nationalist politics and limitations placed on his influence by Charles Stewart Parnell, Brennan emigrates to the United States. He works for Patrick Ford’s Irish World newspaper in New York City, critiquing aspects of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) and emphasizing non-violent republican principles. By 1883, he settles in Omaha, Nebraska, partnering with Patrick Egan in the Omaha Mortgage Company, specializing in real estate, investment, and insurance. He becomes a respected businessman and seeks to maintain connections with the Irish American nationalist community.

Brennan never marries and eventually dedicates himself to business in Omaha. He passes away on December 19, 1912, in Omaha, Nebraska, having left a lasting impact on Irish land reform efforts and the nationalist movement. He is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Omaha.

Brennan is remembered as a founder and key administrator of the Irish National Land League, a signatory of the “No Rent Manifesto,” and a prominent voice in the Irish republican movement. His advocacy helps shape the course of land reform in Ireland and fosters Irish nationalist sentiment both domestically and among the diaspora.

Sources confirm that his activism, speeches, and organizational skill were central to the Land League’s influence, and he remains a notable figure in 19th-century Irish political history.