31 May-Bombing of Dublin in World War II

The North Strand area of Dublin City, Ireland was bombed by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. The bombing resulted in the deaths of twenty eight people. It was one of many bombing incidents carried out by the Germans in several parts of Ireland during the war. In all thirty four people were killed and many more were injured in Ireland by German bombs during World War II.

On the night of the bombing in Dublin, four high-explosive bombs were dropped by German aircraft. Three of the bombs damaged property, injured many but caused no loss of life. The fourth bomb killed 28 people and injured 90. It destroyed 17 houses and severely damaged a large number of others. Over 400 people were left homeless.

In the aftermath of the bombing Hitler’s NAZI (National Socialist Party) Government accepted responsibility for the bombing and promised compensation. However it was not until 1958 that compensation was paid by the Government of West Germany. In 2001, on the 60th anniversary of the bombing a plaque was unveiled at Charleville Public Library to commemorate the victims.

The terror, death and destruction of the Second World came to the North Strand area of Dublin City in the year 1941 On This Day.

North Strand Bombing photo

MEMORIAL WW2 BOMBING OF DUBLIN’S NORTH STRAND {31 May 1941]

Photo by infomatique

28 March-Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf was an author who was a native of England. She was a modernist novelist and is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Woolf is best known as the author of books such as ‘To the Lighthouse’ and ‘A Room of One’s Own’.

Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen in Kensington, London on January 25th 1882. She was home taught and began writing as a young girl. Her family lived in London but spent the summer in St Ives, Cornwall. Her novel, ‘To the Lighthouse’ was influenced by her memories of Cornwall.

During her career Woolf published a large volume of work including nine novels. She suffered from mental illness during her lifetime. At the age of 59 she took her own life by drowning in the River Ouse near her home in Sussex.

Virginia Woolf died in the year 1941 On This Day.

Virginia Woolf

 

 

 

13 January-James Joyce

James Joyce was an Irish modernist novelist who is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He is noted for his experimental use of language and ground breaking writing style. Ulysses, a modern version of Homer’s Odyssey, is his most famous novel.

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born in Rathgar, Dublin on February 2nd 1882. The eldest of ten children, he was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare and Belvedere College, Dublin. Joyce went on to attend University College Dublin (then the Royal University) from where he graduated with a BA degree in modern languages in 1902. He then moved to Paris to study medicine but returned to Dublin a short time later when his mother became ill. His mother died in 1903.

Joyce stayed in Dublin following the death of his mother. He had his first date with his wife-to-be Nora Barnacle on June 16th 1904. The date is now celebrated as Bloomsday which derives its name from Leopold Bloom the principle character in Ulysses. Shortly after they met they left Ireland and moved to Zurich, Switzerland. At the time Nora Barnacle was 20 years old and Joyce was 22.

The teaching post Joyce had been promised in Zurich did not materialise and he and Nora eventually moved the city of Trieste where he secured a teaching post. During their time in Trieste their children Giorgio and Lucia were born. Georgio in 1905 and Lucia in 1907. Whilst teaching Joyce was also writing. His first book ‘Dubliners’, a collection of short stories, was published in 1914. This was followed by ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ in 1916. Joyce visited Ireland on several occasions during the following years making his last visit in 1912. Joyce and his family moved to Zurich shortly after the outbreak of World War 1. He had already begun working on Ulysses and it was eventually published in Paris in 1922.

Almost ten years after the publication of Ulysses James Joyce and Nora Barnacle were married at the Kensington registry in London on July 4th 1931. They had been living together for almost 27 years when they married, as Joyce put it, for ‘testamentary reasons’. Joyce was by now internationally known. Though it was attempted to keep the event as secret as possible, the wedding attracted considerable attention.

Following the Nazi occupation of France the Joyce family moved back to Zurich in late 1940. Joyce underwent an operation for a perforated ulcer on January 11th 1941 at the Schwesternhause von Roten Kreuz Hospital in Zurich. He died two days later and is buried in Fluntern cemetery in Zurich.

James Joyce, Irish novelist and poet, died at the age 59 in the year 1941 On This Day.

James Joyce statue

James Joyce

 

02 January-Carlow Bombing1941

The village of Knockroe on the slopes of Mount Leinster in Co Carlow, Ireland was bombed by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. The Carlow bombing resulted in the deaths of three people. It was one of many bombing incidents carried out by the Germans in several parts of Ireland during the war. In all thirty four people were killed and many more were injured in Ireland by German bombs.

On the night of the bombing in Carlow, the Shannon family were sleeping in their house when the disaster occurred at about 6.45am. Eight bombs were dropped near the village of Knockroe a short distance from the town of Borris in south Co Carlow. The bombs appear to have been dropped in a straight line along the slopes of Mount Leinster. The third bomb directly hit the residence of the Shannon family. It completely destroyed their home.

James Shannon, his son Raymond together with his brother Patrick and Patrick’s sons James and Michael were asleep in the East end of the house. Mary Ellen, John’s wife, their daughter Kathleen and Bridget Shannon were sleeping in the West end of the house. Mary Ellen, Kathleen and Bridget were killed in the bombing. James and Michael were seriously injured.

The excuse given by Hitler’s government for the bombing, as for other bombings in Ireland, was that the pilot mistook the area for the west coast of Britain. However is it generally accepted that the pilot simply wished to offload the bombs in order to make a safe return to base.

The deceased members of the Shannon family were buried two days later in the churchyard of the nearby St Fortchern’s Church, Rathanna. Collections were held in local churches of all denominations, to help provide accommodation for the surviving members of the family. Hitler’s government later provided some compensation to help rebuild the house.

Three members of the Shannon family lost their lives when a German bomb made a direct hit on their home in Knockroe, South Carlow in the year 1941 On This Day.

Headstone on Shannon family grave in Rathanna churchyard.

Photo: Joseph Rattigan

Mount Leinster photo

Snowbound Mount Leinster by stephenhanafin on 2009-02-07 16:35:28

 

14 October-Eddie Keher

Eddie Keher from Inistioge, County Kilkenny, Ireland is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game of hurling. During his career he has won multiple county, provincial and all-Ireland titles. He has also been the recipient of several awards including being chosen as a member of Hurling Team of the Millennium in 2000. In 2006 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science from the University of Limerick

Edward Peter Keher was born in the picturesque village of Inistioge in South East Kilkenny in 1941. From an early age Eddie Keher showed exceptional talent at the game of hurling. He developed his skills at the local national school and playing with his friends in the square in his local village. Keher first came to prominence as an eight-year-old playing in an under-14 hurling final. Even at that early stage a report of the match described his exceptional talent and his amazing ability at free-taking.

Keher received his second level education St. Kieran’s College in Kilkenny City which is famed as a hurling school. At the age of fifteen he played on the college hurling team that won the Leinster colleges’ title in 1957. The team subsequently defeated St. Flannan’s College of Ennis in the 1957 All-Ireland senior colleges’ final.

Keher began hurling with the Rower-Inistioge club in his late teens. His performances with the club brought him to the attention of the Kilkenny minor selectors and he joined the team in 1957. He progressed onto the Kilkenny senior hurling team in 1959. Over the next eighteen years Keher played in 50 championship games and established himself as the most prolific scorer the game had ever seen. He won six All-Ireland titles, ten Leinster titles and three National Hurling League titles before his retirement from the inter-county game in 1977.

Selected as the Texaco Hurler of the Year in 1972, Keher subsequently succeeded Christy Ring as the all-time top championship scorer. His tally of 36 goals and 307 points was a record which stood for over thirty years until it was surpassed by his fellow county man Henry Shefflin. However his scoring average of 8.8 still exceeds that of Henry Shefflin.

Eddie Keher was born in the year 1941 On This Day.

Inistioge photo

Inistioge, Co Kilkenny

Photo by Bernie Goldbach

inistioge_13 by jaybergesen on 2004-12-25 06:44:55