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Irish History: Strange but True, Clifden (2026)

07/02/2026

Place names in Ireland are not always without controversy.

The most prominent example is Derry/Londonderry, the former ancient name, coming from the Irish word ‘Doire’ meaning oak, being generally favoured by nationalists with unionists often using the latter name, which was given to the city by the British government in the 17th century after an influx of English planters, many from London.

In the years around Irish independence, several place names which had connections with Ireland's former colonial masters in Britain were changed to a more Irish sounding name.

Several of these were done before independence was even secured – prominent amongst them was Kingstown in Co. Dublin, which became Dún Laoghaire (pictured) and Queenstown in Cork, the foremost port in Ireland at the time, which became Cóbh.

Other examples were Queen’s County and King’s County, which reverted to their older names, Laois and Offaly respectively.

Maryborough, the county town of Laois, was renamed Portlaoise and Parsonstown and Phillipstown in Co Offaly became Birr and Daingean respectively.

In the latter case, Phillipstown was actually named after a Spanish king – this did not save its moniker, however, and it was given the more Irish-sounding name in 1922.

There are other examples all over the country: Kingwilliamstown in Co. Cork being renamed Ballydesmond is just one.

It was not just town and villages that received this treatment – many railway stations would come to be named after Irish patriots, particularly leaders of the 1916 Rising.

One of Ireland’s most important transport links, Kingsbridge Station, was renamed Heuston Station in 1966, the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, after Seán Heuston, an executed rebel and himself a former railway worker. Main streets in towns and cities all over the country were also regularly given a new moniker in honour of Irish heroes.

There are at least 13 Pearse Streets in Ireland for example, named after Patrick Pearse, while Ireland’s main thoroughfare, the grand Sackville Street through Dublin City Centre, became O’Connell Street in honour of the Liberator himself. A 40-ft statue of Daniel O’Connell now stands on the street.

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True (from the author of 'Little History of Galway.) In all good bookshops or at:
https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

06/02/2026

Ireland is home to hundreds of islands, most of them uninhabited.

Many of these have an important place in Irish history - Fastnet Rock off Co. Cork barely qualifies as an island but is Ireland’s southernmost point and is known as the ‘Teardrop of Ireland’ as it was the last part of the island many emigrants from the country would see before their departure, many never to return.

The island population in Ireland has decreased markedly over the last two centuries.

From over 200 populated islands before the Famine, there were just 61 in 1991, a number which has decreased further since that time. Barely ten offshore islands have populations exceeding 100 people today.

Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, has the highest population of any offshore island, numbering slightly over 800 people, down from over 2,500 before the Famine.

Other islands have suffered catastrophic drops in population in the same time frame – Bere Island in Co. Cork had over 2,100 inhabitants in 1841, a number that plummeted to a little over 180 today, well under 10% of its former population.

Many Irish islands have also been bridged, most at the latter end of the nineteenth century.

Ireland’s largest island, Achill in Co. Mayo, is one example. Dursey Island in Co. Cork is connected to the mainland by Ireland’s only cable car, although it has no year-round residents.

Many other Irish islands are tidal, such as Coney Island in Co. Sligo which some believe gave its name to the American island of the same name.

Many islands are hugely popular with tourists and each has a unique history and cultural life.

The now uninhabited Scattery Island in Co. Clare is famous for its well-preserved monastery, for example, while Tory Island off Donegal, the most remote inhabited place in Ireland, situated 9 miles off the coast, elects its own King to rule over its 120 residents.

Garinish Island, off Co. Cork, meanwhile is famous for its picturesque walled gardens and was also once a haven for famous writers, welcoming George Bernard Shaw, who came here in 1923 while writing his play, Saint Joan, and Agatha Christie, whose writings on Hercule Poirot were inspired by the island’s surroundings.

The Blasket Islands (pictured) surely have the greatest legacy in literature however.

In the decades before its depopulation in 1954, the isolated islands off the West Kerry coast, with a population of barely fifty people, produced no less than six authors of renown, most notably Peig Sayers, whose work would be studied by Irish leaving cert students for decades.

Arguably the furthest outpost of Ireland is Rockall, less an island than an uninhabitable rock over 200 miles off the coast of Donegal in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The rock is the only piece of land in a vast area which gives it strategic importance and there remains a relatively good-natured dispute between Ireland, Iceland and the United Kingdon as to which country has sovereignty over it.

Even Denmark has thrown its hat into the ring as the outcrop’s rightful owner.

The patriotic Irish folk band, The Wolfe Tones, even released a song in the 1970s called Rock on Rockall which announced its opposition to British claims over the remote and uninhabited rocky islet in the North Atlantic!

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True (from the author of 'Little History of Galway.) In all good bookshops or at:
https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

05/02/2026

Irish placenames generally come from the Irish language but most were replaced by a meaningless phonetic name to make them easier to pronounce in the English language.

Most counties follow this rule: Ciarraí, for example, means tribe of Ciar. It was anglicised as Kerry. Corcaigh probably comes from the Irish for ‘a marshy place.’ This became Cork.

In some cases, however, places have retained the translation the Vikings placed on them centuries ago.

Pictured is Cill Mhantáin, which translates as church of the toothless one. It became Wicklow in old Norse, the county retaining the latter name in its English language form to this day.

In a small number of cases, the name given to a town or village in English bore no relation at all to the Irish name which had preceded it by centuries.

Virginia, a town in Co. Cavan, is one example, its original name being Achadh an Iúir, meaning the field of the yew tree. Another example is Miltown Malbay in Co. Clare, the Irish language version of which is Sráid na Cathrach (street of the ringfort).

The longest place name in Ireland is ‘Muckanaghederdauhaulia,’ or ‘Muiceanach idir Dha Sahaile’ in Irish. It is near the village of Rosmuck in Co. Galway and translates as ‘pig-shaped ridge between two salt waters.’

The shortest placename is probably (Lough) Ta, all Irish lakes having lough before their name, giving this just a two-letter moniker.

Unusual place names in Ireland include Hackballscross, Co. Louth, Nobber, Co. Meath, Dung, Co. Cavan and Bastardstown, Co. Wexford. If the former two reverted to their original Irish names of Crois an Mhaoir and An Obair it may be preferable.

In the latter two cases, Dung has the same name in Irish as it does in English while Baile Bhastaird may not be much of an improvement.

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True (from the author of 'Little History of Galway.) In all good bookshops or at:
https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

04/02/2026

Ireland hasn't always spoken English.

Im fact, our linguistic history is very complicated.

We do not know for sure what language the earliest Irish people spoke, but we do know that the Celts brought a language which is a forerunner of the modern Irish language with them and that this may have fused somewhat with whatever language was there before.

When the Vikings arrived, they spoke Scandinavian languages for centuries while the early Normans invaders of Ireland spoke a form of French..

Ultimately, English was the administrative language favoured by the authorities and eventually came to be the lingua franca of the Pale, the area around Dublin, but would take far longer to spread across the country where Irish remained the mother tongue of most.

There were other dialects spoken locally, including Yola in Wexford, but Irish was the most commonly spoken tongue across the island.

In Co. Wicklow, it is believed that native Irish was extinct as early as 1830.

Conversely, the 1911 census still recorded Irish as being very strong in many western districts and there remained some Irish speakers in these areas who recorded that they had no grasp of English whatsoever.

The decline of the Irish language was a slow process which rapidly accelerated in the 19th century.

In 1800, for example, there were more Irish speakers worldwide than those of Swedish, Finnish, or Dutch. The causes of this rapid decline were numerous. First, the Great Famine hit the poorer, Irish-speaking western regions hardest.

Additionally, in a country where emigration was often the expected fate for young adults, English was viewed as essential, while Irish was seen as a hindrance.

There was also widespread negative sentiment towards the language amongst many clergy in the Catholic Church and politicians like Daniel O’Connell. Furthermore, most schools did not teach Irish at all during this time.

These factors collectively reinforced the view that English was a symbol of progress and modernity, while Irish was seen as outdated. Not everyone felt this way –

Thomas Davis (pictured), a contemporary of O’Connell in Famine-era Ireland, famously stated Tír gan Teanga, Tír gan Anam: A land without a language is a land without a soul.

It would take an awakening of interest in Irish culture at the end of the nineteenth century, and the founding of Conradh na Gaeilge in 1893, to spread this viewpoint far and wide.

Irish today can be broadly divided into Ulster, Connacht and Munster dialects and remains spoken as a community language in parts of seven counties – Galway, Mayo, Donegal, Kerry, Cork, Waterford and Meath.

Meath, the only county not situated on the south-west or west coast, is perhaps the most interesting of these.

One of the main aims of the new Irish state in 1922 had been the restoration of the Irish language nationwide, a tough challenge in a country which had been largely forced to adopt English as the spoken tongue in the century before independence.

The province of Leinster, for example, had no Irish-speaking areas at all by 1925, except for a tiny portion of North Louth.

Consequently, a transfer of people from Gaeltacht areas in the west to Co. Meath in the 1930s and 40s was inaugurated.

Meath had many large estates which were to be broken up after independence and it was decided that as many Irish speakers as practicable would be chosen, with the successful applicants being given a new land commission house, 22 acres of land, a horse, a cow, poultry and an allowance of 30s a week for one year.

Large families were encouraged. It proved a success and has left a thriving Irish language community based around the village of Rath Chairn, hundreds of miles from the other Gaeltachtaí.

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True (from the author of 'Little History of Galway.) In all good bookshops or at:
https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

03/02/2026

Many remarkable people have visited Ireland over the centuries.

Christopher Columbus arrived to Galway in 1477 during one of his many expeditions and some sources claim that a Galway man named William Harris accompanied him when he discovered the Americas in 1492.

The freed African-American slave and activist, Frederick Douglass, came here as the Great Famine took hold.

He was appalled by the conditions in Ireland but equally amazed by his ability to fraternise freely with white people, in a way that would have been unthinkable in America at that time. He also met Daniel O’Connell.

Another esteemed visitor was John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, who visited his ancestral homeland in June, 1963 during his ten-day trip to Europe.

He was greeted with enormous cheering crowds wherever he went. He would be assassinated within months.

Five months after his passing, Kennedy’s father sent a telegram to Eamon de Valera, stating that "One of the happiest and most memorable events in our son’s life was his visit to Ireland in 1963."

Although many other American presidents have since visited Ireland, including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, it is hard to find one held in the same regard as Kennedy, although Barack Obama does have a motorway plaza named in his honour in Co. Tipperary!

Pope John Paul II’s visit was also a massive occasion. Arriving on 29 September 1979, his three-day visit included trips to Dublin, Drogheda in Co. Louth, Galway, Limerick, and Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo.

It is believed that up to three million people came out to see the Pope on the visit where he famously told the assembled crowd: ‘Young people of Ireland, I love you.’

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True.' https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

Pictured is the Pope in Ireland in 1979.

02/02/2026

Ireland do not win Olympic gold medals with regularity – in fact, between 1960 and 1992, they won none at all.

This makes it even more remarkable that on Monday, 1 August 1932, the country won two gold medals in just over an hour at the Los Angeles games.

Ireland, in very poor economic circumstances, sent only four track and field athletes, all of whom had to endure a nearly two-week journey by various means of transport.

One of these athletes was Dr. Pat O'Callaghan, a native of Cork. O'Callaghan had previously been the youngest medical graduate in Ireland but was also highly regarded as an athlete, excelling in various sports.

In 1925, he became interested in hammer throwing. Unable to afford the expensive equipment at the time, it is said that O'Callaghan took an old cannonball from a nearby abandoned castle and attached a handle, training by throwing it in local fields.

His perseverance paid off, and he won several national competitions, astonishing seasoned throwers who had never heard of him.

Bob Tisdall was another unknown athlete at the time, born in Sri Lanka to Irish parents.

He moved to Tipperary at the age of five and developed into a talented athlete in various disciplines. In 1932, Tisdall applied for the Irish Olympic trial for the 400-metre hurdles, despite having never competed in the event before.

He trained by jumping over timbers he had borrowed from a local yard. Nevertheless, he earned a spot on Ireland's small Olympic team.

On 1 August, both men faced daunting challenges. Tisdall, in particular, was up against several well-known competitors, including the previous two Olympic champions.

However, against all odds, Tisdall led the race from start to finish, and despite striking the final hurdle with his foot, he managed to maintain his lead and finish in record time, much to the crowd’s astonishment.

Rather than basking in his victory, Tisdall rushed off the track, brushing aside eager journalists, to find his teammate Pat O'Callaghan, who had discovered that his only pair of spiked shoes had spikes that were too long, causing them to stick to the turf and affecting his throw.

Tisdall and O'Callaghan quickly used a hacksaw to trim down the spikes.

This adjustment worked, and O'Callaghan’s final throw went over 176 feet, securing him the gold medal. Unsurprisingly, the two men were celebrated as national heroes.

When they returned to Ireland, they were greeted by tens of thousands of cheering spectators and took part in a nine-mile parade through Dublin, with crowds cheering all the way.

Though both were reportedly offered Hollywood movie contracts, neither accepted.

The newly independent Irish Free State, still politically divided and struggling in its first decade, found great unity in the achievements of these two athletes, who, with little training and basic equipment, defeated the best athletes in the world.

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True.' https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

Pictured are Bob Tisdall and Pat O'Callaghan..

01/02/2026

After Cork woman Nellie Cashman emigrated to the United States, she made her way to gold rush boomtowns in Nevada, the Klondike and Alaska, occasionally mining herself but also setting up successful business to serve the miners’ needs.

In the winter of 1873, Nellie was in Victoria, Canada when she heard of an outbreak of scurvy and a severe shortage of food at the mining site in remote Cassiar.

She gathered a party which collected as much food and relief items as they could and then trudged through the snow for 77 days to reach the miners.

She became known as the "Angel of the Cassiar" for this act which probably saved many lives. She also later became the first woman to cast a vote in an Alaskan election and a philanthropist that helped to set up a hospital in Victoria.

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True (from the author of 'Little History of Galway.) In all good bookshops or at:
https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

01/02/2026

Ireland’s national broadcaster, Raidio Teilifís Éireann, was set up in 1961, although long before that date those living in the north of Ireland and on the east coast could get the BBC on their television sets.

Throughout the 1950s, there was a growing clamour for a dedicated Irish television service, although the conservative government of the day rejected the idea, labelling television as merely a 'luxury service' that was largely undesirable to the public.

A government committee in the mid-1950s criticised British programming as being overly frank about sexual matters and too deferential to the British Royal Family.

Nevertheless, thousands of Irish people owned television sets and watched such programming and, as the 1950s wore on, it became increasingly clear that television was here to stay.

This caused the government to reluctantly set in train the foundation of RTÉ, which finally opened to the public on New Years Eve 1961. On its opening night, in his opening address, president Éamonn de Valera (pictured) lamented:

'I must admit that sometimes when I think of television and radio and their immense power, I feel somewhat afraid. Like atomic energy, it can be used for incalculable good but it can also do irreparable harm. Never was there in the hands of men an instrument so powerful to influence the thoughts and actions of the multitude. It can lead through demoralisation to decadence and dissolution.'

The first programme, a countdown to the New Year, a gala show, featured several guests including the Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal D’Alton, who welcomed the new service but also warned parents not to allow their children to become television addicts.

The early days of television in Ireland featured a huge amount of religious programming but there were other more secular items, including The Late Late Show, today considered to be the longest running live talk show in the world, having been first broadcast in 1962.

Hosted by Gay Byrne, the chat show quickly gained popularity among viewers and did not shy from hosting discussions on controversial and taboo topics in Irish society.

There were several scandals which today seem quaint. One of the most prominent was a light-hearted quiz aired in a February, 1966 episode that ignited tensions between the Catholic hierarchy in Ireland and RTÉ.

This event, dubbed the ‘Bishop and the Nightie’ episode, involved Dublin couple Eileen and Richard, who were members of the audience that took part in a quiz for married couples. One of the questions asked Eileen and Richard about the colour of the nightie she wore on their honeymoon.

This segment sparked a strong reaction from Dr. Thomas Ryan, the Bishop of Clonfert, who condemned the quiz as ‘most objectionable.’ Gay Byrne, who also produced the show, later acknowledged that he realised the quiz had been ‘embarrassing to some viewers’ and expressed regret if that was the case.

Others were perplexed at the bishop’s over-reaction to a very mundane question.

Another scandal occurred in 1985 when Gay Byrne interviewed two le***an ex-nuns while a protest was waged outside the Montrose studios.

The two Americans, Nancy Manahan and Rosemary Curb, were in Ireland to promote their book 'Breaking Silence: Le***an Nuns on Convent Sexuality,’ and the episode was said to have had exceptionally high ratings, in spite, or perhaps because, of the controversy.

There have been some light-hearted moments on Irish television which have captured the nation’s attention in more recent years.

One moment which caused great merriment occurred on the Irish national news on 8 January 2010 when an RTE reporter was warning viewers of the treacherous state of the icy roads. As he did so, a passerby walking by slipped and fell spectacularly on the ice, a moment that was subject to spoof videos and much comment for some time afterwards.

Another example, also from the RTE news involved newsreader Aengus Mac Grianna, who was applying make-up as a news feature was ongoing. Unbeknownst to him, the cameras began to roll. He continued to apply make up for several seconds, to the horror of his colleagues before realising he was on air causing him to utter a single word ‘What?’

A third memorable moment was when Pat Kenny, the presenter of the Late Late Show, grew steadily more annoyed at an ungrateful woman who had just won the much-coveted tickets to the Late Late Toy Show. Kenny ripped the tickets up live on air.

In the streaming age, Ireland has managed to attract huge television programmes who can see the benefits of filming in the country.

Game of Thrones is probably the most famous example; the northern section of the country being considered ideal for the otherworldly feel which pervades the programme.

For more stories of the stranger side of Irish history, see my new book - Irish History: Strange but True.' https://historyofconnemara.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

31/01/2026

Mary Mallon, a cook from Co. Tyrone, gained international notoriety, through little fault of her own, and was given the unflattering moniker ‘Typhoid Mary.’

Born on September 23, 1869, in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, Mary Mallon, like many Irish citizens after the Famine, emigrated to the United States in 1884.

After settling in New York, she worked as a domestic servant, and with her talent for cooking and hard-working nature, she quickly became a personal chef for several upper-class families.

Unfortunately for Mary, typhoid was rampant in New York at the time and despite not becoming sick with the disease, she unknowingly carried and spread the fever while working as a cook in the various households.

Between 1900 and 1907, she worked in the homes of no less than seven families and in each one, people grew ill or died.

It wasn't until she took a position as a cook for an upper-class family on Long Island that it was discovered she was a healthy carrier of the bacteria and that several houses she had worked in had been overrun with the disease. She was therefore believed to be at the heart of a typhoid fever outbreak in New York, earning her the notorious title of "the most dangerous woman in America."

In 1907, with authorities increasingly desperate to contain the disease, Mary was exiled to an isolation facility outside New York where she was placed in a form of solitary confinement so she could not infect others.

Having committed no crime, Mary hired a lawyer to protest her incarceration and she was released but returned to working in kitchens under an assumed name.

Several other people died of typhoid in these houses too and when authorities tracked her down in 1915, she was put in isolation again, this time for good. She died there 23 years later.

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True.' https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

30/01/2026

Charles Byrne was 'The Irish Giant.'

Born in Co. Derry in 1762, Byrne reportedly stood at 7 feet 6 inches—a remarkable figure even today, let alone in the 18th century when the average height was approximately 5 feet 6 inches.

Some contemporary reports even claimed he surpassed 8 feet in height.

Despite both of his parents being of average stature, Byrne’s extraordinary growth was believed to have been caused by a tumour on his pituitary gland. Seeking opportunity, Byrne moved to Britain, where he toured the country as part of public exhibitions.

Audiences flocked to see the gentle giant, drawn both by his incredible stature and kind nature. He earned a significant sum of money, which he carried on his person.

Tragically, while in a public house, he was robbed of his entire savings, around £700. Devastated, he fell into a deep depression and turned to heavy drinking. Already in poor health due to his condition, Byrne died at just 22 years old.

His final wish was for a burial at sea beneath twenty fathoms of water so that his body could not be dissected.

Newspapers initially reported that local fishermen in Margate had honoured this request. However, just days later, it was revealed that famed anatomist John Hunter had paid £500 for Byrne’s body, which was then dissected. His skeleton was displayed at the Hunterian Museum in London for over 200 years.

After years of campaigning to respect Byrne’s final wishes, his remains were finally removed from public display in 2023.

Another towering figure was Patrick Cotter of Co. Cork, born around 1760. Cotter was almost eight feet and toured Britain as a spectacle after he was allegedly sold by his father to an English showman as a teen.

Initially underpaid and poorly treated, Cotter was at one point imprisoned for refusing to perform until better compensated.

Eventually, he gained more control over his career, adopting the stage name Patrick O’Brien and claiming descent from Brian Boru. He later earned up to £10 a day and lived a relatively long life for someone of his stature, dying aged 46 in 1806.

Wary of posthumous exploitation, Cotter had his body buried in three coffins, under concrete, and behind iron bars in a Bristol chapel.

A century later, during drainage works, his skeleton was rediscovered and officially measured - he stood just shy of 8 feet tall.

Ireland’s fascination with extraordinary height didn’t fade with time. In 1987, an episode of The Late Late Show featured three Irishmen, each around 6 feet 9 inches tall, and invited viewers to nominate anyone taller!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the shortest Irishman is believed to have been David Jones of Lisburn, Co. Antrim. Newspaper reports from March 1970 suggest he was around 2 feet 2 inches tall at the time of his death, though he may have been slightly taller.

Jones lived to be 68 and was a beloved figure in his community, known for delivering firewood with his horse and cart.

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - 'Irish History: Strange but True.' https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

Pictured is 'The Irish Giant,' Charles Byrne.

29/01/2026

Despite our neutrality in WW2, some Irish men and women played a role in the war.

Cork man James Murphy was one man who inadvertently helped the Allied cause. In March, 1939, he published the first unedited English translation of Hi**er’s Mein Kampf.

This version revealed to English speakers the Fuhrer’s intentions to invade Eastern Europe and briefly made Murphy a wanted man in Germany.

Emily Anderson also helped the British.

The suffragette and professor of languages at University of Galway was a fluent German speaker and worked in the intelligence division of the British Army.

She proved to be an adept codebreaker and was later honoured with an OBE for her contributions.

An Irish priest named Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty saved thousands of lives during World War II, hiding both Jews and Allied prisoners of war in Rome.

Another interesting Irish connection was Bridget Hi**er, née Dowling, a native of Dublin who married Alois Hi**er, the brother of the Fuhrer himself, although it is unlikely the Fuhrer ever set foot on Irish soil.

An Irishwoman named Violet Gibson could have changed the course of world history, and maybe even helped to prevent World War II, when she attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini.

The bullet grazed his nose and Il Duce lived to fight another day and to bring Italy into the most brutal conflict the world has ever known. The devoutly religious Gibson, who had lived in Italy for many years, never fully explained her motivation but was found guilty but insane and detained in an asylum until her death in 1956.

Ireland did not completely escape the violence of World War II and bombs were dropped on Irish soil on several occasions.

It is not surprising that the six counties of the North, which remained part of the United Kingdom were bombed regularly, particularly Belfast, and over 1,000 people were killed in these raids.

More surprising was the number of bombs dropped on the neutral Free State. On 26 August, 1940, Campile in Co. Wexford was bombed by a single Luftwaffe plane.

Three local women, including two sisters, were killed. Nearby Ballymurn in the same county was hit by a German bomb the following year but miraculously there were no lives lost.

The Shannon family near Kiltealy in Co. Carlow were not so lucky when a German bomber flying above released eight bombs which hit their house, destroying the building and killing three members of the family.

The North Strand Bombing in Dublin was the deadliest attack, however. 28 people were killed and hundreds of buildings damaged when, in May 1941, four high-powered bombs were dropped by the Germans.

They claimed it had been done accidentally, although it may have been a warning to the Irish who had been covertly helping the Allied cause by providing weather reports and other valuable intelligence.

The most prominent Irish ally to the N***s was probably ‘Lord Haw-Haw,’ whose real name was William Joyce.

Raised in Galway City, Joyce was known for his intelligence and arrogance. As a teenager, he became hostile to Irish nationalism and befriended British soldiers during the War of Independence.

This made him unpopular locally and he fled to England, joined the British Army, and later became involved in the British fascist movement. By 1939, as tensions rose between Germany and Britain, Joyce again fled, this time to Germany, where he worked as a radio announcer, gaining fame with his “Germany Calling” broadcasts.

His broadcasts, trumpeting German victories and mocking British leaders, were listened to by millions of Britons, his posh accent earning him the nickname ‘Lord Haw-Haw.’ After Hi**er's death in 1945, Joyce was captured near the German-Danish border, tried for treason by the British, and executed in 1946.

His remains were reburied in Galway in 1976.

In a famous episode deeply resented by the Allies, Taoiseach Éamonn de Valera visited the German ambassador to Ireland, Eduard Hempel on the death of Hi**er in 1945.

Although de Valera later said this had been a diplomatic courtesy and not out of respect for Hi**er, it enraged many in Britain.

For more stories of the lesser-known side of Irish history, see my new book - Irish History: Strange but True.' https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429

Pictured is the North Strand Bombing of 1941.

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