Search Results for 'army'

When the smoke cleared at the Sabine Pass on September 8 1863, a narrow channel on the border between Texas and Louisiana, two Union ships, the USS Clifton and the USS Sachem, had their steam engines blown out. They had beached on the shallows, and had signalled their surrender. The remaining invasion fleet, and its 5,000 troops, had made a hasty retreat, giving an incredible victory to the 43 Irishmen at Fort Griffin.

1. Why are you running?

Athlone’s art gallery - the Luan - has won a coveted Civic Trust award at a ceremony at the iconic Winter Garden in Blackpool, England.

The destruction of the Four Courts at the start of the Irish Civil War will be the subject of a public lecture in Galway next week.

At this stage in my life, another factory visit does not exactly cause any excitement. However, I admit that I was very curious about the massive Nissan plant near Sunderland in the north-east of England.

One of the stalwarts of retailing in Athlone will call it a day in his 50th year of business when Noel Ryan of Mardyke Street closes the doors to his drapers today (January 31).

Over the last few weeks we have been writing about the building on Earl’s Island which began life as a bleach and flax mill in the 1850s. It was then converted into a jute factory, became a bonded warehouse, a factory for making cannon shells during World War I, and was occupied by the 6th Dragoon Guards and the 17th Lancers during the War of Independence. After the British army left, it was vacant for a while before being converted into a factory known as IMI, or Irish Metal Industries.

The 22nd annual Samaritan Christmas Concert takes place on Thursday December 12 in the Franciscan Friary, Athlone at 8pm. It has become one of the traditions of Christmas in Athlone and remains a very popular event.

Gardaí are following a definite line of enquiry after a suspicious package found in Monksland on Monday was declared a hoax.

When World War I finished and the National Shell Factory on Earl’s Island closed down, the buildings were taken over by the 6th Dragoon Guards who had a reputation for wanton brutality. This was unusual in that most well armed British army units, with few having a role in the intelligence conflict, were rarely attacked during the War of Independence in the west of Ireland. While individual RIC men became defined as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it was army regiments, rather than individual soldiers, that became so defined.