June 3, 2022
OTD: John Flanagan (9 Jan 1873 - 3 Jun 1938)
John Flanagan, the three-time Olympic Hammer champion athlete, was born on 9 January 1873 at Kilbreedy, Limerick. He emigrated to America in 1896 where he joined the New York City Police Department.
While in New York he rose to fame in athletic circles as a hammer thrower. He represented the United States in the Olympic Games and is best remembered for winning three consecutive Gold medals (1900, 1904, 1908), a feat still unequaled.
In 1911 he returned to Limerick to work the family farm . He continued his involvement in athletics as both a competitor and a coach. He passed on the 3rd of June 1938) One of Ireland's most famous Irish Whales.
OTD: Frank Pantridge - Pioneering Cardiologist (1916 - 2024)
Frank Pantridge was born to a farming family near Hillsborough, County Down, on October 3rd, 1916. In 1934, he was accepted to the medicine program at Queens University Belfast (QUB). Graduating in 1939, he volunteered for WWII service the day after…
Outbreak of the Economic War: June 30, 1932
Irish Independent, July 1, 1932, with headline story on Anglo-Irish economic tensions
Background to the Anglo-Irish Trade WarWhile the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 granted Ireland a measure of independence, many in the newly formed Saorstát &E…
