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| Approaching Inishmore on the morning of December 27, 1991 on the ferry from Rossaveal, County Galway. |
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| Dún Aonghasa is the most famous of several prehistoric forts on the Aran Islands. Dún Aonghasa is an important archaeological site that also offers spectacular view. It is not known when it was built, though it is now thought to date from the Iron Age. T. F. O'Rahilly surmised that it was built in the 2nd century BC by the Builg following the Laginian conquest of Connacht. It has been called "the most magnificent barbaric monument in Europe." The Proto-Celtic name, meaning "Fort of Aonghas," refers to the pre-Christian god of the same name described in Irish mythology, or the mythical king, Aonghus mac Umhor. (All photos on this page were taken on December 27, 1991.) |
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| Sean, Katie, and Sarah at the entrance. |
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| The entrance from the inside. |
December 2 - The Kildare Place Society is formed to maintain nondenominational schools (1811).
December 3 - Novelist Kate O'Brien, best known for her novels Land of Spices and That Lady, is born in Limerick (1897).
December 4 - John Curran, Dublin magistrate, opens a special inquiry into the Phoenix Park murders, in which Parnell is falsely implicated (1882).
December 5 - A rally of twelve to fifteen thousand Peace People from both north and south takes place at the new bridge over the Boyne at Drogheda (1976).
December 6 - Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, accused of intigating the Irish Popish Plot, is arrested, later to be hanged, drawn, and quartered (1679).
December 7 - The special position of the Roman Catholic Church is removed from the constitution by referendum (1972).
December 8 - John Banville, novelist, is born (1945).
December 9 - The Irish Management Institute has its inaugural meeting (1952).
December 10 - Martial law is imposed in Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary (1920).
December 11 - Following Edward VIII's abdication, the Amending Act removes references to the Crown and the governor-general from the constitution (1936).
December 12 - The IRA begins a violent four-year campaign in Northern Ireland (1957).
December 13 - An explosion at Clerkenwell jail, intended to aid the escape of two Fenians, causes several deaths and injuries (1867).
December 14 - The Republic of Ireland becomes a member of the United Nations (1955).
December 15 - Edna O'Brien, novelist and short story-writer, is born (1930).
December 16 - Cromwell becomes Lord Protector (1653).
December 17 - The results of newspaper reports of Gladstone's conversion to Home Rule, following the general election, gives Parnellites the balance of power (1885).
December 18 - Sean O'Faolain's autobiography Vive moi! is published (1964).
December 19 - The Supreme Court in Dublin, hearing a case brought by Mary McGee, decides by a majority of four to one that a ban on the importation of contraceptives is unconstitutional (1973).
December 20 - The first cinematographic theatre in Ireland, the Volta, is opened by Joyce, with the help of four local businessmen (1909).
December 21 - Violet Martin (Martin Ross), novelist, dies, although Edith Somerville still lists her as coauthor (1915).
December 22 - The Succession Act secures to widows a third of the estate (half, if they have no children) and empowers the court to make provisions for children (1965).
December 23 - The Government of Ireland Act enforces the secession of the six Northern Irish counties from the rest of Ireland (1920).
December 24 - Captain William O'Shea files for divorce, citing Parnell as his wife Kitty's lover, thus causing moral outrage and the subsequent loss of Parnell's political power (1889).
December 25 - Harry Kernoff, an artist in oils and woodcuts, dies (1974).
December 26 - James Stephens, writer, dies (1950).
December 27 - The Abbey Theatre opens with productions of Yeats's On Baile's Strand and Cathleen ni Houlihan and Lady Gregory's Spreading the News (1904).
December 28 - Countess Markievicz is declared to be the first woman elected to the House of Commons (1918).
December 29 - The Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language is formed in Dublin (1876).
December 30 - Mark Clinton, the minister for agriculture, notifies Trinity College, Dublin, that all future state funds for veterinary medicine will be allocated to University College, Dublin (1975).
December 31 - The Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act established the right to equal pay for equal or like work and provides a system whereby this right may be attained and enforced (1974). Also, Katherine Anne Joyce was born in Kenton, Ohio.
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| 100 meters to the ocean. |
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| Another view of the escarpment.
May the rain - the sweet, soft rain - fall upon you so that little flowers may spring up to shed their sweetness in the air.
May the earth - the good, rich earth - be with you.
May the earth be soft under you when you rest up it, tired at the end of the day.
May earth rest easy over you when at the last you lie under it.
(This is the last installment of The Irish Book of Days.)
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