#OnThisDay 1916 Company Sergeant Major James Reddy, an Old Contemptible from Dublin died from wounds received at the Somme. Reddy fought with the Manchester Regiment in WW1 & had served in the Boer War. His 18 year old son (right) was wounded but survived.
#OnThisDay 1776 Ireland born Capt. Daniel Neil fired the first shots at the British at Elizabethtown, New Jersey following the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. Neil (bottom left) was killed by bayonet at the Battle of Princeton 1777.
“When our friendless standards were first unfurled, who were the strangers who first mustered around our staff, Erin’s generous sons. Ireland, thou friend of my country in my most friendless days,” George Washington’s praise for his Irish soldiers.
#OnThisDay 1922 Private James Byrne was shot dead outside of Sligo Jail. Byrne was born in 1907 and at 15 years old, he was the youngest military casualty of the Irish Civil War. His two brothers joined the National Army.
#OnThisDay 1918 Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers & Cumann na mBan were declared illegal organisations by the Lord Lieutenant, stating that they are a ‘grave menace’ designed to ‘terrorise the peaceful & law-abiding subjects of His Majesty in Ireland’.
The Irish at War 