A statue in Bantry town centre of Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the 1798 Irish Rebellion.
The people of Bantry erected the statue looking out to sea… it’s to be taken as symbolic of the hope for French help, rather than a literal portrayal of where Tone was at any precise moment.
(Wolfe Tone was on a French flotilla with thousands of French soldiers out at sea in 1796 looking in on Bantry Bay but it was too stormy to land, when 1798 rebellion broke out).
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Daniel Joseph Daly (he had Irish ancestry) was a US Marine who was one of only 19 men to twice be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was 5’6″, 135lb and was fearless, he was very well respected by his colleagues. He had an American destroyer DD-519 named in his honour – the USS Daly. The Daly had 27 months of service in World War II.
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On 11 September 2000, the charming town of Kenmare became the first town in Ireland to win both Ireland’s Tidiest Town and Ireland’s Best Kept Town.
However it’s bad news for the cyclists leaving Kenmare – all roads out of Kenmare are uphill!
The Transport Workers Union of America was founded by Irishman Mike Quill who emigrated from Co Kerry.
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Thomas ‘Tommy’ Shaw was the last living Irish veteran of the Great War. He died in 2002 aged 102 and was buried with full military honours in Bangor, Co Down. The Last Post was sounded by a bugler from the Royal Irish Regiment.
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Central Park in New York was modelled on Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green.
People used to hammer coins into a holy tree on the Tyrone shore of Lough Neagh for good luck. Sadly, after several years, the tree died of metal poisoning.
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‘Cure’ or Curse’ stones sit in a bullaun (Irish; bullán meaning ‘bowl’). Folklore says that the rainwater that collects in the bullaun has magical or healing properties. People would turn these stones over in their hands while praying, or ill-willing someone. Be careful though – if the curse was unfair, it would return to the person who spoke the curse!
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