Irish Historical walks in london

03/05/2026

03/05/2026

🇮🇪 Remembering Arthur Agnew – A Liverpool Volunteer of 1916 🇮🇪

Born in Liverpool in 1890 to an Irish nationalist family, Arthur Agnew is one of the city’s forgotten heroes of the Easter Rising.
A proud member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Liverpool Irish Volunteers, Agnew travelled to Dublin in 1916 to take part in the fight for Irish freedom. He served inside the G.P.O during Easter Week—at the very heart of the rebellion.

After the Rising, he was imprisoned in Stafford Jail and later interned in Frongoch, before being released later that year. But his fight didn’t stop there—Agnew went on to play a key role in the War of Independence as a Brigade Quartermaster in the Antrim and East Down Brigade.

Arthur Agnew represents the deep connection between Liverpool and Ireland—a reminder that the story of 1916 isn’t just Dublin’s story… it’s Liverpool’s too.

We will remember them.

19/02/2026

The last British soldier to be executed for a war-time offence was James Daly, whose death came about due to his making a stand for Ireland.

Born in 1899 in Ballymoe, Co. Galway, Daly and his family later moved to the town of Tyrellspass, Co. Westmeath.

Daly enlisted in the Connaught Rangers regiment in 1919.

By June 1920, he was stationed at Solon in Punjab, India.

By this stage, the War of Independence was raging, something which the Irish soldiers were becoming increasingly aware of.

One of them, Joe Hawes of Co. Clare, was stationed at Jalandhar, a few miles from Solon.

He had been home in the previous weeks on leave and was aware of how desperate the situation in Ireland was.

On 27 June 1920, Hawes was speaking to four of his Irish colleagues in the army canteen.

He told them what he had seen in Ireland and stated:

'We are out here in India doing the very same as the British are doing in Ireland suppressing the Irish people. We are suppressing the Indian people.'

The four men agreed and after some discussion, decided to lock themselves into the barracks for the night.

Their plan was that the following morning they would walk to the guardroom and tell the officers that they refused to serve the British Army until such a time as the Black and Tans were removed from Ireland.

The colonel was horrified and met the men the following day.

In tears, he told them that their acts were disgracing the good name of the Connaught Rangers who had given loyal service to the British Army for decades.

Hawes stepped forward and said that this service had been done for Britain and not for Ireland and that they would no longer follow his instructions.

Thirty men joined him in his protest. Word was then send to Solon of the protest.

The Connaught Rangers here quickly joined in, and led by James Daly, they gave up their weapons, lowered the Union flag and raised a tricolour that they had asked a local tailor to sew.

Hawes later said that the aim was a peaceful protest. The men wore 'Sinn Fein' rosettes on their uniform and sang rebel songs.

Even The London Times reporting stated: 'The men appear to have been respectful and intimated that they will give up their arms to any British troops sent to relieve them.'

Several attempts were made to force the mutineers to obey their commanders and returned to their posts.

At Jalandhar, extra loyal troops were drafted in and violent tactics were used to end the stand off, causing many men to agree to give up their protest.

False rumours that several mutineers had been shot at Jalandhar reached the men at Solon. They quickly went to retrieve their rifles that they had earlier given up freely.

Armed only with bayonets, two Irish soldier, Private Patrick Smythe and Private Peter Sears, were shot dead in the ensuing confrontation.

Within days, the protestors were overpowered and all those found to have taken part were arrested.

Fourteen of those considered to be the leaders were sentenced to death.

All but one had their sentence commuted to terms of imprisonment.

21-year-old James Daly was considered a ringleader and it was decided that mercy would not be shown in his case.

He went before a firing squad in Dagshai Prison on 2 November 1920

In his last letter to his mother he had said 'it is all for Ireland and I am not afraid to die,’ but he gave some indication of regret also, stating ‘I wish to the Lord that I had not started on getting into this trouble at all.'

The Indian Mutiny was probably the biggest engagement of the War of Independence that did not take place on Irish soil and the men who took part paid dearly.

Several were imprisoned until 1923 and lost their army pensions, many returning to a newly-independent but impoverished Ireland with little more than the clothes on their back.

It was not until 1936 that the mutineers were recognised as having struck a blow for Irish freedom and were granted entitlements to Irish pensions.

In 1970, 50 years after the event, the remains of Patrick Smythe, Peter Seers and James Daly were returned to Ireland where they were re-interred in their family plots.

6,000 followed the hearse at Daly's funeral as it made its way through Tyrellspass before he was finally laid to rest in his native land.

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 pick up a signed copy at:
https://strangeirishhistory.etsy.com/listing/4446372429,

17/01/2026

Come along and hear Breda Corish give a talk on: 500 Years of Irish Women in Tower Hamlets

Hosted by Chadwell Heath Historical Society
7.30pm Tuesday 20 January
Chadwell Heath Baptist Church
74 High Road, Romford, RM6 6BU
£3 No need to book, just turn up!
https://ow.ly/CK8k50XY8NE

11/12/2025

No.72 in our series on forgotten Revolutionary Irishwomen
It wouldn't be correct to state that Countess Markievicz is a forgotten Revolutionary Irishwomen as she is probably the most famous of all our rebel women, however we still believe she deserves to be in our series.

Countess Constance Markievicz was one of the most uncompromising voices of Irish republicanism and socialism, a woman who not only challenged the British empire but also challenged Ireland to imagine a more equal, more just future. Rejecting the privilege into which she was born, she aligned herself with workers, the poor, the dispossessed, and all those denied political power. Her life was a declaration that national freedom is meaningless without social and economic liberation for all the people.

A revolutionary in every sense, Markievicz threw her energy into organising, educating, and agitating. With the Irish Citizen Army, she helped build a force rooted in working-class solidarity, proving that the struggle for independence must be led by those who labour. During the 1916 Easter Rising she fought as a committed combatant and leader, driven by her conviction that Ireland must be governed by its people, for its people.

Her election as the first woman MP was more than a symbolic victory, it was a challenge to the structures of empire and patriarchy alike. By refusing to take her seat in Westminster, she affirmed that Irish sovereignty would be won not in foreign parliaments but through the democratic will of the Irish people themselves. As Minister for Labour in the First Dáil, she pursued policies grounded in socialist principles, workers’ rights, fair conditions, and dignity for the poor, insisting that the Republic proclaimed in 1916 must uplift every class and community.

Countess Markievicz’s legacy is not simply one of rebellion but of radical hope, the belief that Ireland should be free, equal, and socially just. Her life endures as a rallying call to all who continue the struggle for a Socialist Republic.

04/08/2025

24/06/2025

On this day 22nd June 1922, Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson was shot and killed in London.

Wilson, from Co.Longford, was a Senior British military officer who had been a sub Chief of Staff on the British Expeditionary Force in 1914. He had also played a part in the Curragh Mutiny of 1914 when he encouraged British Army officers not to act against the Ulster Volunteers should violence flair as a result of Home Rule. After the war Wilson continued to offer advice regarding policing and military strategies in Ireland. He was a strong proponent of more militant action and was not happy with the discipline of the RIC and the Auxilliaries. He opposed the truce, the peace talks, and the treaty arguing that Britain should not negotiate with ‘murderers.’

Wilson took a seat in the Westminster Parliament and began advising the government of Northern Ireland. As such, his name became synonymous with the Ulster Special Constables, then behaving in a sectarian manner.

Wilson was shot on his own doorstep in broad daylight. His killers were the IRA operatives Reginald Dunne and Joseph O’Sullivan, one who had a limp and one with only one leg. Unsurprisingly, their getaway was unsuccessful and they were arrested and sentenced to death. They were hanged on 10th August 1922. Currygrane House, the house in which Wilson was born, was burned around the same time. It was just a few miles from Kitty Kiernan’s home in Granard.

Who ordered the assassination is subject of considerable debate. The assassination was initially blamed on the anti-Treaty IRA and further pressure was put on the Free State government to act against them as a result. Some claim Michael Collins had ordered it himself possibly before the Truce and forgot to rescind the order, while others say it was after the Truce that the order came. Others still claim it was a local London IRA or even an IRB led operation with Sam Maguire involved. While further theories suggest the two men acted alone. Regardless, among other events, it was key to the beginning of the Civil War just days later.

15/06/2025

14/01/2025

A touch of Irish magic amidst the winter wonderland at Grianan of Aileach ☘️
Someone creatively carved the perfect shamrock into the snow. Hoping for a swift thaw at the weekend and a goodbye to these wintry pics ❄️

28/12/2024

Michael Collins' Last Christmas

With the Dáil Treaty debates adjourned for the Christmas break Michael Collins returned home to West Cork for Christmas 1921.

After being on the run during the War of Independence and then participating in the Anglo Irish Treaty negotiations and the subsequent debates in the the Dáil, the Christmas break offered Collins a long overdue reprieve from his duties and an opportunity to return home and enjoy his Christmas. Of course, Collins family home at Woodfield had been burned in early 1921 so Christmas was spent at his cousin and neighbour, Annie Collins' house, along with his brother Johnny and his family.

On returning home Collins was somewhat fearful of what his republican minded brother would think of the Treaty. He found his brothers main concern on meeting was the moustache Collins had recently began sporting. He told Michael, ‘Next time you’re shaving, don’t forget your upper lip.’ The next time Collins is photographed in public, sure enough, he is clean shaven.

On Christmas day after mass and a ‘damn fine breakfast’ Michael and Johnny climbed the nearby Carraig a Radhairc. This rocky hilltop gives incredible views from Knockfeen across the West Cork countryside and all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. As they looked over this view they discussed the Treaty, Michael's plans and what he hoped to achieve with before deciding to return down the hill to spend time with friends, family and neighbours. Michael hung back a little commenting ‘I’ve seen more of my country this morning than I have ever seen in my whole life’.

Pictured is still from a video of Michael and Johnny Collins in the ruins of their former home. This film was released in January 1922 so is likely from Collins time in West Cork at Christmas 1921 (but also possibly could have been filmed later in 1922).

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year from all at Michael Collins House.