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The Great Irish Famine
The great Irish Famine was a turning point in Irish history. Prior to this the population had been on the rise. However, during the Famine the population fell drastically from 8 million- 4 million people due to starvation,disease and emmigration, Whole families and communities were wiped out as the stable food, the potato, suffered from a disease known as blight. Although the British government sent over large supplies of Corn to help the Irish there was a lack of education on Corn preparation. -
Foundation of the GAA
Michael Cusack and 7 other men met in Hayes' hotel, Thurles and founded the Gaelic Athletic Association for the preservation and cultivation of our natural past times- Gaelic Football, Hurling Camogie, Handball and rounders. The GAA is still a major part of Iirsh society today as a result of this meeting. -
Foundation of the Gaelic League
The Gaelic League was set up to encourage the preservation Irish culture, its music, dances, and language and to revive the language. It was a non-political organisation that staged various events to promote the Irish language including the first St. Patrick's day parade. They also introduced Irish into the School Curriculum. -
Abbey Theatre established
The Abbey Theatre was founded as part of the Gaelic Literary Revival which sought to promote and develop Irish culture and tradition. It opened its doors on the 27th of December 1904 with three performances including Cathleen ni Houlihan and On Baile's Strand written by Yeats and Spreading the News by Lady Gregory. This contributed to a new sense of national identity;people feeling proud about their irishness. -
Sinking of Titanic
The Titanic was the largest ship of its time.The word titanic means gigantic in greek. The ship was built in Belfast and was claimed to be unsinkable. However, on its maiden voyage it hit an iceberg on the North Atlantic with the loss of 1517 lives. -
World War 1
On this day World war 1 began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. The war lasted 4 years and was between the Allies (France, Great Britain, USA and Italy) and the Central Powers (The German Empire). A total of 37 million people died in the war. -
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence began on this day as the Irish sought to free themselves from the oppressive chokehold of the United Kingdom. Must of the fighting was done in the form of guerilla warfare. It ended with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921. This treaty ended British rule in most of Ireland and was seen as an Irish success.. -
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil war was waged between two opposing groups of Irish republicans over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The forces of the "Provisional Government" (which became the Free State in December 1922) supported the Treaty, while the Republican opposition saw it as a betrayal of the Irish Republic. Many of those who fought in the conflict had been members of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence. Families and friends fought on opposing sides throughout the conflict. -
Foundation of the Free State
The Irish Free State was created as a self-governing state with Dominion status on 6 December 1922. This meant that Ireland had its over government, it's own currency, its own laws and it was seen as an independent country. 6 counties in Northern Ireland were not included as part of the Free State and remained a part of the United Kingdom. -
World War 2
WW2 began on this day with the invasion of Poland by the German forces. The war lasted for six years and was fought between the allied forces (The Soviet Union, USA, Great Britain, China, France and a large number of other countries around the world) and the Axis Forced (Germany,Japan, Italy and Hungary). The war resulted in an estimated 85 million deaths. It ended in an Allied victory.
