"Symbols are what unite and divide people. Symbols give us our identity, our self-image,our way of explaining ourselves to others. Symbols in turn determine the kinds of stories we tell; and the stories we tell determine the kind of history we make and remake."
Mary Robinson, Inauguration speech as President of Ireland, December 3, 1990

Introduction

On the night of the 8 March 1966 a massive explosion was heard in the centre of Dublin and Nelson's Pillar came crashing to the ground in hundreds of tons of rubble. No one was hurt and a stump was all that could be seen of the 157 year old monument. It was not the first time that monuments had been attacked in Ireland and certainly not the last, at least figuratively, with a series of later monuments accruing many derogatory nicknames from the Dublin people.

The recent spate of attacks on monuments in the US and the Uk has opened up the debate on the cultural issues they provoke, ranging from those who can't believe the attacks hadn't happened sooner to those who see their destruction as mob vandalism.
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May 8th is the day of liberation for many of those suffering Nazi persecution. What is still missing today is denazification, coming to terms with the crimes, a culture of remembrance. read full story / add a comment

On Christmas Day next (Wednesday 25th December 2019) at 12 noon , the CABHAIR organisation will , for the 43rd successive year, hold a sponsored swim at the 3rd Lock of the Grand Canal , at Inchicore , Dublin (opposite Kelly's 'Blackhorse Inn' pub). read full story / add a comment

Sunday, June 23, 21019. Assemble 2.30pm at Sallins Village. read full story / add a comment

The Legacy of Peadar O’Donnell
Speaker: Dónal Donnelly. Also the launch of a new edition of There Will Be Another Day: The Inside Story of the 1920s Land Struggle (1963) by Peadar O’Donnell read full story / add a comment

Organised by Republican Movement Cork and Clonmult Martyrs relatives and friends Commemoration Committee. read full story / add a comment

The Donegal Woman based on the life of my grandmother. On publication and without an agent and self published was number two on best sellers list in the North. "We'll Take A Cup Of Kindness Yet" Memoir and Manifest of my self John Throne. From Donegal small farmer Orange Order family to international revolutionary socialist via the Bogside Uprising and other struggles. read full story / add a comment

Dublin and Wexford - jobs done! read full story / add a comment

“It is with deep sadness and regret that the Workers Party announces the death of Sean Garland, a life-long comrade, a member of the Party’s Central Executive Committee and one of the people who most influenced and shaped the Workers Party over many decades.

Party President Michael Donnelly has paid tribute to Mr Garland saying that he was “a unique and charismatic individual whose contribution to Irish political life cannot be overestimated”. read full story / add a comment

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Prague Spring when the rule of Stalinism in Czechoslovakia and in the entire “Eastern Bloc” was threatened. Solidarity TD and Socialist Party member Mick Barry looks at the lessons of these explosive events. read full story / add a comment

Grand Canal, 3rd Lock, Inchicore, Dublin - iced over or not! read full story / add a comment

The Heritage Bill completed its passage through the Oireachtas last night, despite widespread opposition from environmental groups, opposition parties, and concerned citizens and farmers working together with biodiversity.

The Heritage Bill will allow for a relaxation of the dates of the closed period for the burning of vegetation and ‘the cutting, grubbing, removal and otherwise destroying of hedgerows’ contained in Section 40 of the Wildlife Act (1976 and amended 2000)[Note 1] The legislation will allow burning of our upland and lowland hills in March, extending the open period for burning by one month, and for the cutting of roadside hedgerows in August [Note2]. read full story / add a comment

Cork Unity 1916 Rising Commemoration will take place in St. Finbarr's Cemetery, Sunday 1st April 2018. read full story / add a comment

O'Connell Street, Crumlin and Deansgrange. read full story / add a comment

Clonmult Martyrs Commemoration Committee, Cork Republican Movement, relatives and friends met recently in Midleton to organise the 97th Annual Clonmult Martyrs Commemoration for Sunday 18th February 2018 at Midleton. County Cork. read full story / add a comment

First CABHAIR Christmas day swim held in 1976 !
The annual sponsored swim to raise funds for the family and dependants of Irish republican prisoners will , as usual , be held on Christmas day next (Monday 25th December 2017). read full story / add a comment

My dear Irish friends,
Let me introduce the English version of my e-book The Stone Portals devoted to the study of prehistoric Stone artefacts, the first two Chapters (http://www.astrotheos.com/EPage_Portal_HOME.htm) of which I have just posted at my site www.astrotheos.com.
I appeal to you in connection with the fact that much of the material presented in Chapter 2 is devoted to the reconstruction of the prehistoric solar calendar of the Celts, the key days of which are reflected in the festivals (Samhain et al.), and in correlation with the astronomical alignments of the Passage Mounds, and before all – of the Mound of the Hostages, which I analyzed numerically for all the data that I had.
I would not be distracting your attention if the results obtained in relation to precise determining the exact days of these festivals on the alignments of the mounds would not coincide with the same values determined by the astronomical alignment of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, and a number of other stone artefacts as well.
From my point of view, the results obtained could contribute not only to a more complete disclosure of the properties of these passage mounds and the ancient culture of the Celts in general, but also to that that in scientific, administrative, and esoteric circles, much more attention was paid to preserving and study of these remarkable objects.

Good luck,
Prof. Sergey Smelyakov, Doctor of math, PhD
Kharkov
astrotheos@yahoo.com
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A NEW FLAW has been discovered in the Eoghan Harris / Gerry Gregg TV documentary An Tost Fada (The Long Silence)

A 1939 gravestone (& inscription) of a woman was presented as that of man killed in 1921 (who An Tost Fada said was killed in April 1922). See link to original story below.

Original Story of successful complaint:
RTE upholds complaint against Eoghan Harris programme on War of independence
http://indymedia.ie/article/102026
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From the Garden of Remembrance (Parnell Square) to the GPO (O'Connell Street). read full story / add a comment

The 101st Easter 1916 Commemoration will take place in St. Finbarr's Cemetery, Sunday 16th April 2017. read full story / add a comment