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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 80 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Irish
Easter Monday. It was deferred by MacNeil from Sunday.
| Oscar Traynor led a unique ambush during the War of Independence. Why was it unique? | Irish History
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First use of a Thompson gun in battle anywhere..
| Marie Antoinette planned to escape to what Irish town during the French revolution? | Irish History
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Sir Roger Casement. He was hanged in August 1916 for treason to the crown. Evidence suggests that the diaries were fakes.
| Who made the famous speech from the dock after being condemned to die by being hung ,drawn and quartered which ended in the lines 'Let not my epitaph be written until my country takes her place amongst the nations of the earth'? | Irish History
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Robert Emmet. Emmet's sentence was carried out outside St.Catherines Church in Dublin.
The worlds first modern submarine.. It was commisioned by the IRB to fight the English at the turn of the century.
| An uprising in 1916 is named after which religious festival? | Irish History
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| Which two cities became the capitals of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland respectively after partition? | Irish History
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| In which year did the Act of Union, which united Ireland and Britain, come into effect? | Irish History
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| After partition how many counties formed the State of Northern Ireland? | Irish History
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6. Although sometimes referred to as Ulster, Northern Ireland consists of only 6 out of 9 counties in Ulster - the others being Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal.
| The peace agreement signed in 1998 is sometimes referred to as what? | Irish History
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Good Friday Agreement. The Agreement was voted for by over 70 per cent of the population of Northern Ireland.
| In which decade of the 19th century did the Potato Famine occur in Ireland? | Irish History
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1840's. It is estimated that over 1 million died and a further million emigrated during this famine. Many say this famine could have been avoided if the wealthy British landowners had sold their grain and food to the less fortunate.
| Despite the entire island of Ireland being on the British side during WWI, what position did the newly formed Irish Free State take during WWII? | Irish History
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Neutral. In 1945, Eamon De Valera shocked the world by calling the German embassy in Dublin to express condolences at the death of Adolf Hitler.
| What was the exact date of Bloody Sunday in Derry in the 70's? | Irish History
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| Which city in Ireland has the nickname 'The Maiden City'? | Irish History
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| Who was appointed First Minister of the first new Northern Ireland Assembly? | Irish History
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8 million. The population was probably larger as people were slow to get involved with officials taking census returns. At 8 million, it is still double the 2001 population of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland combined.
West. The Atlantic seaboard, comprising parts of modern Munster, Ulster and all of Connacht were the most densely populated. The vast majority depended for their living on the land. They did not possess marketable skills, and most spoke only Gaelic.
Inheritance Law. This was one of the infamous "Penal Laws" of the previous century. It split up Catholic owned estates on a father's death between all his sons or daughters or next of kin. It had been designed to impoverish Catholics and 'prevent the spread of Popery'. It did just that by 1841, by when a staggering 44.9% of farms were under five acres.
2 million. In a survey of 1835, a shocking 2 million did not have regular employment. How did they live? Seasonal work on farms in Spring and Autumn and their little potato patches.
Lumpers. Lumpers are very long potatoes and will grow well in poor soil. Focusing on one variety proved a terrible mistake. A disaster was waiting to happen ...
All of these (Stench, Rotting stalks, Jellied potatoes). The fungus came on the crop very quickly, the stalks wilted before people's eyes, while the potatoes turned to mush in their hands and the stench was appalling.
Yes. Sir Robert Peel, the English PM, ordered that American corn/maize for import and sale at cost price to the starving. This was a remarkable effort in laissez-faire times. Few knew how to cook it and ate it half raw hence the name 'brimstone'. It was also called 'stir-about', as gradually people learned to make it palatable.
Quakers. All religious groups helped as much as they could. Ironically, the Quakers efforts back-fired in a very sad way. Wooden bowls were used for the soup, they were washed afterwards, but typhus passed on very easily from one user to the next.
Yes. Ireland is a rich agricultural country, and wheat, oats, beef cattle, sheep, meat etc. were all exported under armed guard while people starved. For every relief ship that came in six went out carrying food.
Mass evictions. At its worst, this meant getting rid of 'surplus population'. Some landlords paid fares if their tenants wanted to emigrate, some paid fares and forced their tenants to emigrate or starve in a ditch, and some just threw their tenants off the land and did not care.
Coffin ships. A single fare to either the USA or Canada was $4.50c. and anything that could float seemed to find its way into Irish ports to make money from the crisis. The worst ships were 'Naomi' and 'Virginius', every second person died, a death rate of 52%.
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