#OnThisDay 1803 Napoleon established the Irish Legion with the intention of an invasion of Ireland. The purpose of the Legion, aside from fighting, was to be seen as an army of liberation rather than conquest, to free up French troops&bog down the English army.
#OnThisDay 1798 The Republic of Connacht was established with John Moore as the President. The Government was to reside at Castlebar, following the recent military success there. This short lived republic however lasted barely a month & was brutally quashed.
#OnThisDay 1767 Henry Joy McCracken was born in Belfast to a prominent Presbyterian family. McCracken was a founding member of the United Irishmen & lead a contingent of them during the 1798 Rebellion in Antrim. He was later captured, court-martialled & hanged.
#OnThisDay 1922 As the Irish Civil War intensifies, in Bantry four IRA officers die while attacking the Post Office&several Free State soldiers die defending it, both have many wounded. Near Cork city,a mine is detonated under a lorry killing another FS soldier.
#OnThisDay 1916 Second Lieutenant Eric Erichsen Craig from Derry was killed in action when hit by a mortar after only 43 days since he arrived in France. A trainee doctor, Craig hoped to follow in both his brothers’ footsteps as a doctor on the frontline.
The Irish at War 