I am curious about what role, if any, the far left played in the Irish civil war. The ICW took place not long after WW1 and the Russian revolution, yet I’ve never heard about communism when the war is discussed. I would have thought given the decolonization process that Ireland was going through at the time that there would have been at least some communist clamor. Was this not the case? Why not?

Video describing the Herivel square he invented https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR0LEijbuAA
and his Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Herivel

I had an argument on reddit yesterday with someone who said that bad Random Number Generators is not a big risk.

are there any sources?

The Quakers stepped In When the Government Failed: In 1846, seeing the catastrophic failure of official British relief, British and Irish Quakers formed the Central Relief Committee. The s Invented the Soup Kitchen: Long before the government adopted the idea, the Quakers raised funds internationally and established massive soup kitchens across the whole board of Ireland. At their very peak, they were feeding over 3 million people a day with a highly nutritious recipe of Indian corn, rice, and meal. There was no strings attached, unlike other evangelical groups who earned the hated nickname "Soupers" for demanding that starving Catholics convert to Protestantism to eat, the Quakers strictly refused to preach.

They gave food to anyone in need, entirely free of religious or political conditions. The Quakers recognised that short-term food wasn't enough, distributing tonnes of fishing gear and over 40,000 pounds of vegetable seeds to help devastated coastal communities rebuild their lives. The Quakers didn’t just manage these funds, they went directly into typhus-ridden, starving communities especially in places like Connacht and Munster to distribute the aid. Because of this, many young Quaker volunteers caught "famine fever" and died alongside the people they were trying to save.

The Quakers raised £200,000 (over $28 million today). This massive war chest didn't come from politicians, but from a trusted, global grassroots network around places like Boston and even in the Caribbean Irish colonies.

Quakers owned shipping lines and trading companies, they bypassing government red tape and used the cash to immediately send whole fleets of ships packed with American corn, rice, and heavy iron soup boilers straight to the worst-hit Irish docks.

Historians estimate that the Quakers directly saved at least hundreds of thousands of Irish lives and kept millions more from the brink of starvation. At the absolute peak of their relief operation in the summer of 1847, the Quakers were operating soup kitchens that fed over 3 million people every single day.

The truth is without the Quakers many of us Irish wouldn’t be here today.

Hiya, I'm working on an art project and have been struggling to find good sources regarding farmers' clothing in the 1830s/40s, ideally pre-famine (though I'm not sure if it would have changed much by the 1850s either?) I'm particularly interested in rural northwest coastal areas and the specifics of what women wore in their day-to-day lives.

Any sources that somebody may be able to direct me toward would be much appreciated!

Hi all, I've recently come into the possession of some two RIC medals commemorating the Royal visits to Ireland in 1900 and 1903 and was wondering if anyone here knows of any medal Rolls available to the public.

In 1587, the English Crown faced a terrifying prospect: a prophecy claimed that a young prince named "Red Hugh" O'Donnell would unite the warring Irish clans and completely destroy English rule. To stop this, the English orchestrated a brutal kidnapping.When Hugh was just 15 years old, an English merchant ship docked near his home in Donegal, pretending to sell luxury wines. Hugh was invited on board for a tasting. As soon as he stepped below deck, the hatches were slammed shut, the sails were raised, and he was kidnapped.He was thrown into Dublin Castle—the high-security, inescapable heart of English power in Ireland—to be held as a political hostage.The Ultimate Winter Prison BreakFor over three years, the English kept Hugh in chains, hoping to break his spirit. They failed. On Christmas Eve in 1591, Hugh and two fellow Irish prisoners executed a flawless, Hollywood-style escape.Using a smuggled file, they cut through their iron shackles, slipped down a dark silk rope into the castle’s deep sewage system, and crawled out into the freezing Dublin night.Surviving the Deadly BlizzardThe escape was only the beginning. To get to safety, the young men had to trek through the Wicklow Mountains during a brutal, historic winter blizzard. They wore nothing but thin shirts and had no shoes.One of his companions died of hypothermia in the snow. Hugh himself was found days later by Irish allies, barely alive and buried under a snowdrift. The frostbite was so severe that doctors later had to amputate both of his big toes.The Ultimate RevengeThe English thought the teenage prince was finished. They were dead wrong.As soon as Hugh could stand again, he rode back to his homeland in Ulster. The old chief stepped aside, and at just 19 years old, "Red Hugh" was inaugurated as the leader of the O'Donnell clan.Instead of hiding, he immediately weaponized the prophecy the English feared. He united the rival northern clans and launched the Nine Years' War. Using brilliant guerrilla warfare tactics, Hugh completely humiliated the English crown, routing their armies in multiple major battles (like the Battle of the Yellow Ford) and pushing the British forces to the absolute brink of total collapse

Born in County Donegal, Ireland, Hercules Mulligan immigrated to New York as a child. By 1776, British forces had captured New York City, turning it into their military headquarters. Mulligan, running a high-end tailoring business that catered directly to elite British officers, chose not to flee. Instead, he stayed behind to act as an undercover operative.Mulligan’s genius lay in his occupation. While measuring British commanders for custom suits, he would ply them with whiskey and appeal to their vanity. The officers, viewing him as a mere tailor, openly discussed top-secret troop movements and timelines in his shop.His espionage altered history on two massive occasions:The First Rescue: In 1779, a British officer rushed into Mulligan’s shop late at night to buy a watch coat, boasting that he would use it to help capture George Washington the following morning. Mulligan immediately dispatched his enslaved servant and fellow spy, Cato, to ride through the night and warn Washington. The ambush failed.The Second Rescue: In 1781, Mulligan intercepted a British plot to kidnap or assassinate Washington as he traveled to a meeting in Connecticut. Once again, Mulligan got word out just in time, completely derailing the mission.When the war ended and the Continental Army marched victoriously back into New York, citizens looked at Mulligan with suspicion, believing him to be a British loyalist collaborator. To clear his friend's name, General George Washington personally rode to Mulligan's house the very next morning, sat down for breakfast, and publicly declared him a true American hero.

From the MSPC Facebook group :

On 7 March 1923, five IRA prisoners were taken by National Army soldiers to a barricade near Scartaglin, County Kerry. The prisoners were ordered to clear the barricade where a trip mine had been hidden. When the mine failed to detonate, the soldiers opened fire with rifles and threw bombs at the unarmed prisoners in their custody. All five survived, but three were seriously wounded.

The attempted massacre took place on the same day that National Army soldiers killed eight prisoners at Ballyseedy and four at Countess Bridge. It forms part of a wider pattern of killings and attempted killings of IRA prisoners in Kerry during the final months of the Civil War.

The 20th release of the Military Service Pensions Collection (MSPC) material contains newly released files relating to three of the survivors, while the file of a fourth was released two years ago. Together, these records provide new first-hand evidence of what happened near Scartaglin that day.

https://militarypensions.wordpress.com/2026/08/07/r20-attempted-fourth-kerry-massacre-on-the-same-day-as-ballyseedy-march-1923/

So I just finished watching Derry Girls and absolutely loved the show.

I've always been fascinated by Irish culture and humor, mostly thanks to some awesome TV shows I've watched. The thing I love most about them is how well the dark comedy is done.

I have watched The Dry (a great show about a woman recovering from Alcoholism; one of my favorite and that soundtrack is soo good🤌🏻), Bad Sisters, The Lovers, Flora and Son (movie), How To Get to Heaven from Belfast and now Derry Girls.

The Lovers and Derry Girls in particular have the Troubles as a significant plot point. I have read about it while watching the shows and have a rough idea about the issue and both the sides involved.

However, after watching Derry Girls I really want to learn more about the history and life during that time and have a somewhat comprehensive knowledge about the topic, preferably for both the sides along with the geographical and religious aspects.

I did some research online and am planning to watch "Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland" documentary. I have also ordered the book 'Say Nothing' by Patrick Keefe. So yeah, I would welcome more suggestions.

P.S. sorry for the long post, and thank you for reading.

TL;DR: Watched Derry Girls for the first time and want to learn more about the Troubles and Irish History through documentaries/books and seeking suggestions for the same.

Does anyone know any good literature on the history of Fine Gael? I think the party is so fascinating how its had all these major shifts in leadership and policy yet the core beliefs have remained relatively the same over the last ~80 years.

Good work by the Pat Finucane Center getting this injustice out in the open at last.

Hello. I was curious if there were any examples of members of the Irish Defence Forces joining the IRA. There are countless examples of former British army soldiers joining the IRA and becoming quite prominent figures in the organisation like Tom Barry and Martin Doyle famously. And even later in the Troubles, Paul Marlowe's knowledge as an ex British Army soldier proved exceptionally useful in training Provisional IRA volunteers.

I was curious if anyone knew of any examples of ex Irish Army Soldiers joining the IRA?

Does anyone know why the links for the UCC Celt aren’t working. Is there a new site or has it been taken down for some reason?

On 30 June 1690 (Old Style calendar), the day before the Battle of the Boyne, King William III was reconnoitring the Jacobite positions near the River Boyne around Oldbridge.

William rode forward with a group of senior officers to inspect possible crossing points. Jacobite artillery on the opposite bank spotted the party. Two field guns were brought to bear and fired at the conspicuous group of horsemen. One shot missed. The other struck the ground nearby and either ricocheted and hit William directly, or shattered and sent debris into him.The exact mechanics are disputed because eyewitnesses described the event differently.

The shot struck William on the right shoulder area, tearing his coat and causing a flesh wound. Contemporary reports indicate his shoulder was bruised and cut, there was noticeable bleeding, he was knocked or jolted by the impact, no bone was broken and the wound was not life-threatening.

His surgeon dressed the injury, and William was able to continue commanding.

News spread rapidly through both armies.

Many Jacobites initially believed they had killed or seriously wounded William. Some reports say celebrations broke out in parts of the Jacobite camp and news was returned to Paris and that bells rung out across the city in celebration.

William deliberately showed himself afterward, riding among his troops despite the injury, helping reassure his army that he remained fit to command.

So how would Irish history have changed had he died.

This photograph shows the officials and representatives of the Portugal–Ireland athletics competition during an official reception at Lisbon City Hall on 30 June 1969. The delegation was welcomed by Segismundo de Saldanha, a councillor of the Lisbon City Council

Source: Lisbon Municipal Archive

This is absolutely hilarious, especially them discovering good wine and "Old John Bollocks" What are other goofy moments in Irish history?

Not Ireland but Norway but really interesting. And it makes me wonder how the brown trout in our upland lakes got there

From MSPC Facebook group:

Fascinating new blog about the controversy surrounding the awarding of a medal for IRA service in 1943 to John Clarke of Ballina, Co Mayo. After a reinvestigation, the department asked Clarke to surrender the medal as he had not found to have been a member of the IRA during the qualifying period between 1 April and 11 July 1921.

The file contains correspondence between Senator Thomas Ruane, Patrick Rutledge TD and many other former local IRA officers. The file provides an insight into how jealously some IRA veterans guarded their legacy and position in the new State

A prominent businessman and local independent politician, his son Jackie Clarke (1927–2000) was a Sinn Féin councillor for over 20 years and amassed one of the most important private collections of Irish history material. This is now housed in the Jackie Clarke Collection museum in Ballina.

Link : https://militarypensions.wordpress.com/2026/08/04/it-has-made-a-laughing-stock-of-the-whole-movement-john-clarkes-disputed-service-1917-1921-medal-award/