The Irish brigade led by John MacBride, flying a flag sent by Maud Gonne for those fighting the British Empire during the Second Boer War which he kept. Before his execution following the Easter Rising, some of John MacBride's last words were 'mind the flag'.

'There can be no peace between the right and wrong, between the truth and falsehood, between justice and oppression, between freedom and tyranny. Between them it is eternal war until the wrong is righted, until the true thing is established, until freedom is won.' - P.H. Pearse

John MacBride who led Irish volunteers in the Second Boer War to "strike a blow at England’s power abroad when we could not, unfortunately, do so at home.” pictured with part of a British cannon captured at the Battle of Colenso. He was executed for his role in the Easter Rising.

Irish Citizen Army with its plans for an independent self governing Irish state sends a message to London and across Europe that they serve neither King nor Kaiser, but Ireland alone.
Éirí Amach

'The British Government has no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland, and never can have any right in Ireland..'

..the presence, in any one generation of Irishmen, of even a respectable minority, ready to die to affirm that truth, makes that Government for ever a usurpation and a crime against human progress.'

For World Mental Health Day that was just a few days ago: the Welsh phrase "dod yn ôl at fy nghoed" - meaning "to return to a balanced state of mind" - translates literally as "to return to my trees". In other words, to find one's root.

This day 17 years ago – 14 October 2001 – state funerals were given to the Forgotten Ten – ten rebels hanged in the 1920s, including Kevin Barry.

Barry, an 18-year-old student when he was executed, had taken part in an ambush in which a 15-year-old British soldier was shot dead.

October 16th is the feast of Saint Gall: Irish monk, disciple of St. Columbanus, missionary to Francia, hermit, preacher, and exorcist—who died in what is now Switzerland, circa A.D. 646.

'We solemnly declare foreign government in Ireland to be an invasion of our national right which we will never tolerate, and we demand the evacuation of our country by the English Garrison.'

Irish Declaration of Independence

On October 23rd, 1641, Irish Catholics led by Sir Felim O'Neill launched a rebellion against Protestant rule, leading to the founding of the Confederation of Kilkenny and the beginning of the Eleven Years’ War.

Island Men Returning - Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957)

The brother of poet William Butler Yeats, most of Jack B's scenes were inspired by a childhood spent in the west of Ireland. He said later in life that 'every painting had in it somewhere a thought of Sligo'.

A Fair Day, Mayo - Jack B. Yeats

Painted in 1925, it was lent by the artist to Eamon de Valera, who hung it in his office when he was leader of the newly formed Fianna Fáil.

The 'National Flag of the Sacred Green' proclaimed by the United Irishmen. It symbolises our Gaelic antiquity & national, cultural identity.

In 1541, Henry VIII adopted the harp as symbol of Ireland on coinage - Later on the harp appeared on a blue field as the national emblem.