O’Hanrahans GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) Club is located in Carlow town, Ireland. The club was founded in 1919. It is named in commemoration of Michael O’Hanrahan who was executed for his part in the Easter Rising of 1916. The club has consistently been one of the top teams in County Carlow.

Michael O’Hanrahan was born in New Ross Co Wexford in 1877. When Michael was young his family moved to Carlow where his father established a cork making business on Tullow Street. Michael was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Carlow. He later worked in his father’s business.

In 1899 O’Hanrahan founded a branch of the Gaelic League in Carlow. He was also a founding member of Carlow Workman’s Club. The Club was established as a non-sectarian and non-political organisation. O’Hanrahan attempted to use the club to promote the use of the Irish language. However his proposal to have information to club members circulated in Irish and English failed to succeed. O’Hanrahan resigned from the club when his proposal to refuse membership of the club to a Mr Hopkins was defeated. Mr Hopkins was a serving member of the British Army.

O’Hanrahan moved to Dublin in 1903 where he worked in the printing business. He also began to write for various nationalist publications. In 1914 his first novel ‘A Swordsman of the Brigade’ was published. His novel ‘When the Norman Came’ was published posthumously in 1918.

In 1913 O’Hanrahan joined the Irish Volunteers. He eventually became Quartermaster General of the 2nd Battalion of the Volunteers. During the Easter Rising of 1916 O’Hanahan was second in command under Commandant Thomas MacDonagh at the garrison in Jacob’s Biscuit Factory. The Factory was located on Bishop Street on the south side of Dublin City. The garrison saw little fighting.

When the Rising ended the garrison at Jacob’s was ordered to surrender on April 30th. Following the surrender Michael O’Hanrahan was found guilty at his court martial and sentenced to death. He was executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin on May 4^th 1916. He was 39 years old.

Michael O’Hanrahan (Micheál Ó hAnnrachain), who was executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol for his part in the Easter Rising of 1916 was born in the year 1877 On This Day.

Michael O’Hanrahan

Photo by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

John Butler Yeats was an artist who was a native of Ireland. His categories of art include portraiture, sketching and oil painting. He was the father of the poet William Butler Yeats and the artist Jack Butler Yeats. Several portraits by Yeats can be seen in the Yeats museum in the National Gallery of Ireland. These include a portrait of his son William and of the Abbey actress Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh, whose father Mathew Walker ran a printing business in Carlow town.

John Butler Yeats was born in Lawrencetown near Banbridge, Co Down in 1839. He studied at Trinity College Dublin and graduated in 1862. Yeats then trained as a barrister at King’s Inn and was called to the Irish bar in 1866. The following year he decided to pursue a career as an artist. He moved to London where he trained at Heatherleys Art School.

Having established himself as a portrait painter Yeats moved back to Ireland. During the following years he moved several times between England and Ireland. In 1901 he was commissioned by Hugh Lane to paint portraits of prominent Irishmen including John O’Leary, George Moore and John Redmond. In 1908 he moved to New York City where he lived for the rest of his life. He died there on February 3^rd 1922.

John Butler Yeats, artist, father of the poet William Butler Yeats and the artist Jack Butler Yeats was born in Co Down in the year 1839 On This Day.

John Butler Yeats by Alice Boughton

Library of Congress‘s Prints and Photographs division

An escalator is motor-driven moving staircase. It is used to convey people from one floor to another. The first working escalator was installed as an amusement park ride at Coney Island, New York in 1896. It was invented and built by Jesse Wilford Reno who was an engineer.

The first escalator was designed by Nathan Ames from Massachusetts in 1859. However it was never built. The escalator installed by Reno at Coney Island was just over two metres long and was inclined at an angle of 25 degrees. He later built escalators for the subway systems in various American cities and for the London Underground.

Jesse Wilford Reno was granted a patent for the first working escalator in the year 1892 On This Day.

Photo by Internet Archive Book Images

Reno Escalator

Image from page 772 of “The street railway review”

Liam Cosgrave was an Irish statesman who served as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland from 1973 to 1977. He was the son of W T Cosgrave who served as first President of the Executive Council (Taoiseach) of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932.

Liam Cosgrave was born William Michael Cosgrave in Dublin in 1920. Having qualified as a barrister he decided to enter politics. He was elected to Dáil Éireann in the general election of 1943 and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) until 1981. He served in various cabinet positions during his career. As Minister for External Affairs he oversaw Ireland’s successful entry into the United Nations.

During his time as Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave was the primary negotiator of the Sunningdale agreement. The agreement established the Belfast power-sharing executive in 1974. It was the forerunner of the Anglo-Irish agreement and paved the way for the Belfast agreement in 1998. . Cosgrave’s time in Government coincided with the world energy crisis and a period of great economic difficulty in Ireland.

Liam Cosgrave was elected Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland in the year 1973 On This Day.

Liam Cosgrave 17th March 1976

White House Photographic Office