Her name was Lola and she was a showgirl….except that her name wasn’t Lola and her show wasn’t any good. Her real name was Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert—which was quite the mouthful for a stage name—so Lola Montez it became. She invented the role of a mysterious Spanish entertainer and played it for much of her life but everything about her persona was a lie. She was actually Irish, born in Grange, County Sligo, and by the time she passed away on this day in 1861, she had lived a full, dangerous, and notorious life.
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Gratitude
Today marks over 100 posts in this wee little dream of a blog. It gives me great pleasure and I’m so happy to keep being inspired enough by my travels and my love of history to keep churning these entries out. I’m also humbled and grateful for those who read them, and who by doing so, keep me on my toes and learning. This blog has grown from a mere place for all my ramblings to a constant cycle of learning, reading, writing, and sharing and I can’t ever seem to find flowery enough words of appreciation for it.
Fatima, Lourdes or just plain Pagan?
There’s a war on in Ireland that doesn’t have a thing to do with water, language, Sectarian violence, or the long history of the Troubles. While all those other battles dominate the press, there is one that slips through the cracks, silently waging on throughout the years and it begs the question, whose rock is it anyway?
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Thomas Ashe
Thomas Ashe was a teacher, a piper, an Irish language enthusiast, a soldier, a devout man of faith and one of the pioneers of the modern Republican Hunger Strike. His life began on this day in 1885.
Thomas Ashe, 1917
Sinead De Valera
De Valera. Just the name usually conjures up strong feelings in anyone that knows anything about Irish History, and they are always linked to Eamon. However, today is all about the woman behind the man and her name was Sinead. Her sacrifices and determination were often the only things that kept their family alive and like him or no, she helped make him the man he was.
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Merry Women’s Christmas!!
Gather the women!!
Jan. 6th marks Nollaig na mBan, also known as little Christmas or Women’s Christmas in Ireland. It’s an old Irish tradition that evolved from celebrating the Epiphany but these days it’s become less about religion and more about fun and frivolity. Traditionally, Irish women were not only responsible for the Christmas time entertaining and feasts but they also had to deal with all the holiday clean up, and every day chores and household duties too for that matter. Except on January 6th, that is. That’s the day they finally got a break. On Women’s Christmas, (12th Night, little Christmas or whatever you want to call January 6th) the men took over the chores and the households so that the women could gather and drink, tell stories, kick off their shoes and relax for a moment.
It was a real treat back in the day – so much so that it continues now, even though women’s roles have changed all around the world. In modern times, it’s a day for women to gather and treat themselves to a night out at a bar with friends, a trip to the favorite day spa or salon, or head out for a fancy meal. Nollaig na mBan is the day to play hooky from work (or from the house and kids) to enjoy a day with your ladies, create your own little henhouse, tell stories, catch up, or have a cocktail and relax. No matter what women normally work too hard on, Jan. 6th is the time to take a day off, even if it’s only a mental one. It’s well deserved.
Jennie Wyse Power
It’s rare that a woman can juggle an immense amount of political power, a restaurant of her own and a family of four children. But Jennie Wyse Power did all this and more, at a time when most women weren’t even getting an education. She was an Irish superwoman and an unapologetic suffragist who passed away on this day in 1941.
A new look!
It’s time to strip the old away and make way for the new in 2015, so this blog has a whole new look. After a few readers gave me some input about the black background being harder to read, I opted to change it a little. Hopefully this makes things easier and brighter for everyone.
That goes for next year too. I think we all need easier and brighter happenings in 2015 – and I wish you all an even better year, full of excitement, learning, and joy. Thank you for making this new blog a constant source of merriment for me in its first year – and now on to the second!!
Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh!
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,100 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 35 trips to carry that many people.
Farewell to 2014
I can’t say I’m sorry to see 2014 go, or that I am naive enough to think that just because it is a new year, things will suddenly be better – but I can say, I’m glad this year is over. Before Auld Lang Sine there was another song that was a popular New Year’s Eve anthem and this year, I will send 2014 off right with a traditional song by one of my favorite non-traditional singers.
Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhaoibh.
May the best days of 2014 be the worst of 2015 for us all. Sláinte!
The great Maud Gonne
Edith Maud Gonne has been hailed as one of the greatest activists and fighters of her time. Her beauty has been recorded and immortalized by one of Ireland’s greatest poets. History has compared her to Joan of Arc and she’s one of the best known women in the books, in no small part due to her own inflated memoirs and creative storytelling. She is largely considered to be an Irish hero—which is a great feat for a woman—particularly one who wasn’t Irish born and who grew up as a member of a wealthy, loyal, British family. So was she a true revolutionary, or a fraud in it for the fame and her own idea of who she wanted to be? Either way, she did enough to leave her mark on Irish history and one thing is undisputed – Maud Gonne chose the green and was most certainly not born to it.
Choosing the Green 
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