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.

The Green harp flag was first used by Owen Roe O'Neill in the Irish Confederate Wars in 1642. The green stands for nationhood & rebellion.

The earliest depictions of the Celtic harp are found on 8th c. stone relics in Scotland, suggesting the harp was a Pictish innovation.

The Brian Boru Harp on display in Trinity College, Dublin.

An Irish national icon, it's one of only three surviving medieval Gaelic harps.

The triangular harp does not appear in Ireland until the 10th century on the St. Máedóc shrine - A harpist is depicted in song.