#OnThisDay 1890 Michael Collins was born near Clonakilty, Cork. In his short life, Collins would go on to fight in the GPO in 1916, become Minister of Finance, Director of Intelligence, Commander-in-Chief of the National Army & more all before the time he was 32.
#OnThisDay 1920 Wexford Vol. Matthew Furlong, an Easter Rising veteran died after test firing a trench mortar near Kells. The bomb exploded in the tube damaging the left side of his body. He was brought to the Mater to amputate his leg but died soon after.
#OnThisDay 1914 HMS Hawke was sank by U-9 off Aberdeen. Over 500 sailors went down with the ship, among them 49 Ulstermen such as Belfast men:
Stoker Robert Creighton
Stoker Marriot Robert Donald
Stoker Samuel Fee
Stoker Hugh McGinley from Donegal.
#OnThisDay 1763 Lord Edward Fitzgerald was born in Carton House, Maynooth. The son of the Duke of Leinster, Edward fought in the American Revolutionary Wars, his life saved by escaped slave Tony Small. Fitzgerald later became the leader of the United Irishmen.
#OnThisDay 1920 Seán Treacy was killed in a shootout with British intelligence officers on Talbot Street, Dublin. Days earlier, Treacy had survived a shootout with the British Army in Drumcondra. His relation Nora O’Keefe identified his body. He was 25.
The Irish at War 