O’KELLY, James Joseph (1845–1916), Fenian, journalist and MP, was born near Westland Row, Dublin, eldest among five children of John O’Kelly, petty landlord, dray-maker and blacksmith, and his wife (née Lawlor). His three brothers were artists, including the distinguished painter Aloysius O’Kelly, for whom he acted occasionally as agent. James attended school in Dublin and … Read more
Founded 150 years ago, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was a secret, oath-bound, revolutionary organisation dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish republic by force. The Fenians (as they were known generically) were an international phenomenon with a presence on all six continents. Not only did the organisation engage in military operations across the … Read more
There is always particular interest in this country in an American president who has an Irish ancestral connection, although frankly the Anglo element is usually predominant in presidential pedigrees. Yet the rise of the Irish as a successful ethnic group can be charted in the number of US presidents possessing Irish ancestors: before John Fitzgerald … Read more
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, was founded c. 1030 by Sitriuc, king of the Dublin Danes, when Dunán was bishop. In the following century, when the occupant of the see of Dublin had been elevated to the rank of archbishop, Lorcán Ua Tuathail (a.k.a. St Laurence O’Toole) established a priory of Augustinian canons there. After the … Read more
TheFenian spirit is ever present in Ireland and needs at any time but alittle organisation to make it burst into renewed activity.’ So wroteJohn O’Leary in 1896. O’Leary had been a leading Fenian, playing asignificant editorial role on the Irish People, for which in 1865 he,alongside other leading figures, was convicted of treason-felony andsent into … Read more