#OnThisDay 1862 The Battle of Perryville was, like many battles, a very Irish affair. On the Union side was Philip Sheridan who stood fast on Peter’s Hill & the 35th Indiana Reg (1st Irish) in their emerald green kepis. Opposing them was Cork-born Patrick Cleburne, who had his horse ‘Dixie’ shot out from under him.
The battle was a major strategic victory for the Union as it kept Kentucky from falling into Confederate hands.
#OnThisDay 1922 Three teenage IRA members were found shot dead in a quarry in Clondalkin, (near the Red Cow roundabout). They had been putting up Anti-Treaty posters/intel gathering in Drumcondra when they were arrested by Charlie Dalton Deputy Head of Intelligence for the Army. They were taken by car & interrogated in Wellington Barracks, released but never seen alive again. Some had been shot more than 15 times.
This event is known as the Red Cow Murders.
#OnThisDay 1968 A NICRA (Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association) & DHAC Civil Rights march took place in Derry. Two days earlier Stormont had banned all parades. The civil rights march went ahead & the RUC baton charged & used water cannons on them. Some say this is the day ‘The Troubles’ began.
#OnThisDay 1917 Private Henry Alexander Love from Clogher Park, Tyrone was killed in action. The Love family migrated to Australia in 1911 & Henry enlisted on New Year’s Eve 1915 serving with the 41st Battalion Australian Infantry. He was 26 years old.
#OnThisDay 1871 John O’Neill & his Fenians attack a Canadian customs house & Hudson Bay Company post at Pembina, Manitoba in an ill-fated attempt to invade Canada. The border was 1-2 miles north so they never actually got to Canada & were arrested by Americans.
The Irish at War 