John Phillip Holland was born on February 24, 1841 in small coastal town of Liscannor. His mother was a native Irish speaker and young John himself would not learn English until he attended school. Holland’s father was a coastal patrolman for the British Coastguard Service and instilled in the young Holland a love of the sea. With aspirations to go to sea, young Holland walked … [Read more...] about John Phillip Holland, Father of the Modern Submarine

In his poem 1916, Y.B. Yates wrote describing the Easter Rebellion "All changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born" to describe that watershed moment in Irish history. Yates, and most of us, attribute that pivotal moment to MacDonagh, MacBride, Connolly and Pearse. Yates, however, could not anticipate, and many of us do not remember the change that would be brought … [Read more...] about Thomas Ashe

With the passing of years and in a growing climate of "political correctness", the shock and horror of Pearl Harbor, the day "which will live in infamy", appears to be forgotten. Movies like "Letters from Iwo Jima" depict the forces of Imperial Japan as sympathetic victims forgetting that on December 7th, 1941 the Japanese Navy without a declaration of war launched a deadly … [Read more...] about John William Finn, Medal of Honor

When we think of courage, our mind naturally drifts to people who brought their lives in harms way for the sake of others. Less often do we think of courage in the moral sense, to do what is right irrespective of the personal consequences. Both forms or courage are rare, and even rarer is the person who embodies both of them. Such a person was Michael Corcoran. Corcoran was … [Read more...] about Michael Corcoran

It is somewhat strange that the media, which loves to tell stories of injustice, shies away from Ireland and its troubled history though there is plenty of material to choose from. One story in particular from Ireland’s past stands out as having all the elements that would make for a Hollywood Oscar winner, a story of a good man condemned by a government conspiracy using … [Read more...] about The Saint and the Scoundrel