theirishatwar

HMS Laurentic sank off Donegal coast losing 354 lives & £5 million of gold

January 25, 2020 theirishatwar

#OnThisDay 1917 HMS Laurentic hit two mines in Lough Swilly, Donegal & sank. 354 lives, like John Kenny from Arklow, perished. Most died due to exposure even though they got into life boats. £5 million worth of gold ingots sank too (£225,697,000 today!). #Ireland #History #WW1

HmsLaurentic

Irish Civil War booby trap

January 23, 2020 theirishatwar

A Free State soldier pointing to a booby trap under the leg of a bench on a litter strewn road during the Irish Civil War. A sign of how nasty the Civil War was. Date & location unknown.

#Ireland #History

Civil war bomb

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir John French’s reason for the Irish War 1920

January 23, 2020 theirishatwar

#OnThisDay 1920 the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir John French told a French newspaper, ‘the main cause of trouble is that Irish emigration has ceased. There are now more than 100,000 to 200,000 young men between 18-25 that would have repatriated somewhere else.’

#Ireland #History

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Surgeon Major James H Reynolds from Dun Laoghaire awarded Victoria Cross for his actions at Rorke’s Drift 1879

January 23, 2020 theirishatwar

#OnThisDay 1879 Surgeon-Major James Henry Reynolds from Dun Laoghaire, Dublin took care of the wounded & carried ammo in the battle at Rorke’s Drift despite being under constant enemy fire. For his actions, Reynolds was awarded the Victoria Cross. #Ireland #History

Irish born John Dempsey awarded Medal of Honor for saving fellow sailor’s life 1875

January 23, 2020 theirishatwar

#OnThisDay 1875 Irish born John Dempsey ‘jumped overboard from the USS Kearsarge and rescued from drowning one of the crew of that vessel’. Dempsey had joined the US Navy in Massachusetts & this incident was when they were stationed in Shanghai, China. #Ireland #History

@USNavy