#OnThisDay 1906 Mary Edith Coleman passed away in Blackrock, Dublin. Mary was a Red Cross nurse that cared for both sides during the Franco-Prussian War. For her services, Kaiser Wilhelm I awarded her the Iron Cross, which is one of the highest orders a soldier can be awarded. It is exceptionally rare for civilians to get one.
#OnThisDay 1586 At the Battle of Ardnaree (now in Mayo but at the time was in Sligo), an Irish-Scottish army was defeated by Sir Richard Bingham, the English Governor of Connacht. Bingham’s men had marched 50 km and surprised the Irish-Scottish redshanks while they were not ready. Between 1000-2000 Irish-Scottish were killed.
#OnThisDay 1920 Mid-Clare IRA, led by Ignatius O’Neill (ex Irish Guards) ambushed an RIC patrol at Rineen killing six (including one Black and Tan). As the Clare men gathered up the several guns and thousand rounds of ammunition, they were surprised by the appearance of three lorries of British soldiers and thirty more on bicycles. The guns and ammo was quickly distributed and they then fought a running battle with British soldiers for hours, who at one point deployed a Lewis machine gun on top of a hill but still the IRA made good their escape. Several homes in the area (O’Neill’s father and brother in law included) and the town of Miltown Malbay was burnt in a British reprisal.
#OnThisDay 1821 Brig. Gen. Patrick T. Moore was born in Galway. Moore moved to the States in 1835 & joined the militia soon rising to the rank of Captain. By 1860 Moore was living in RIchmond and along with his family he owned five female slaves. Moore wasn’t the only Irish man who owned slaves. Damian Shiels has done great work highlighting several Irish Confederate officers who owned or had close familial links to slavery.
During the Civil War, Moore was wounded in the head three days before First Battle of Bull Run which removed him from field duty. He then served as A.D.C. for the Confederate Generals Joseph E. Johnston & James Longstreet. He survived the war and lived out his days in Richmond, VIrginia until he passed away in 1883.
#OnThisDay 1881 Éamonn Ceannt, signatory of the Proclamation of Independence was born in Galway. During the Easter Rising, Ceannt held the South Dublin Union till ordered to surrender. Before his death he wrote to his wife Áine;
“I shall die, like a man for Ireland’s sake.”
The Irish at War 