#OnThisDay 1916 The 36th Ulster Division went over the top at the Battle of the Somme. The fighting was described by one soldier as ‘a Belfast riot on the top of Mount Vesuvius’. The 36th held the Schwaben Redoubt until nightfall but at a very heavy cost.
#OnThisDay 1897 Tom Barry was born in Killorglin, Kerry. A soldier in WW1, Barry went on to become one of the most successful IRA commanders during the War of Independence, leading the 3rd West Cork Brigade to such victories as Kilmichael & Crossbarry.
#OnThisDay 1690 (Julian Calendar) The Battle of the Boyne was fought between the armies of William of Orange & the deposed King James II. It was a victory for William who had a larger, more experienced army, with long lasting effects on the Island of Ireland.
#OnThisDay 1921 The West Cork IRA launched a daring raid on Fastnet Lighthouse. 12 men sailed out to the island, 10 miles off the coast in rough seas, avoided British warships & docked their boat. They took half a ton of guncotton (explosives) & detonators.
#OnThisDay 1775 Timothy Murphy (parents from Donegal) joined the Continental Army to fight for American Independence. In 1777 at the second Battle of Saratoga, Murphy climbed a tree & at 300 yards shot General Fraser & his aide-de-camp, Sir Frances Clerke.
The Irish at War 