On This Day 18th July in Irish History

1561-At the Battle of Red Sagums Shane O'Neill defeated the English.

1579-James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald landed with a force of troops in Dingle to lead an uprising against England. He was killed in battle with the Burke clan shortly after.

1916- 2nd Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers, part of the 1st Division, captured a German Trench called Munster Alley and part of the original German support trench, south of Pozieres in the Battle of the Somme.



1969- Ted Kennedy crashes his car into a pond on Chappaquiddick Island after a party. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne drowned.



Births



1874- Cathal Brugha, politician and revolutionary, was born in Dublin.



1978- Shane Horgan, Leinster and Ireland winger was born in Bellewstown, Co. Meath.

Cathal Brugha - anyone want to tell us any stories about him?

Auditor #9 wrote:

Cathal Brugha - anyone want to tell us any stories about him?

10 Facts About Cathal Brugha



1. His birth name was Charles William St. John Burgess.



2. Attended Belvedere College until the age of 16 when his father’s business went bust. Other alumni at different times were Kevin Barry, Joseph Mary Plunkett. Dev taught there.



3. He fought in the South Dublin Union during the Easter Rising as second in command to Eamonn Ceannt. He was severely wounded several times and was not expected to live.



4. He was Chief of Staff of the IRA from October 1917 to March 1919



5. Elected MP for Waterford in 1918.



6. He Presided over the first meeting of the Dáil in January 1919 in the absence of De Valera and Griffith. He was the government’s first Minister For Defence.



7. He resented the power wielded by Michael Collins whom he outranked in government.



8. Brugha voted against the treaty in January 1922 and left government to be replaced as Minister For Defence by Gen Richard Mulcahy.



9. He was shot by Free State troops in O’Connell St on July 5th 1922. The wounds severed an artery in his leg and he bled to death 2 days later. Ironically Portobello Barracks in Rathmines was renamed Cathal Brugha Barracks in 1952.



10. His wife Caitlín, son Ruairí and father in law Terence McSwiney all served as TDs.