On facebook and at home at www.finnegans.org Slainte, and well done! the first submarine! John Philip Holland (Seán Pilib Ó Maolchalann, 29th Feb 1840 – 2nd Aug 1914) was an emigrant Irish American who developed the first submarine. He emigrated to the US in 1873 having been born in Liscannor, County Clare, to his Irish speaking mother, Máire Ní Scannláin.
Hollands early intentions were never realised, however he does take the honour of subsequently developing the U.S. Navy’s first modern submarine and he become known as the father of the U.S. Submarine Service. The John Holland story tends to be ‘off the radar’ so we think he warrants a mention at diaspora.ie! You can find out more about the man on wikipedia here and here. … an Antarctic explorer. Tom Crean (20 July 1877 – 27 July 1938) was an Irish seaman from County Kerry who had a distinguished career as an explorer during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. Known for his tougnhess and his reliable nature he was a member of three major British expeditions to Antarctica, and after the Discovery Expedition he joined Captain Scott’s 1911–13 fated Terra Nova Expedition in the race to the South Pole.
Here’s a wiki link if you’d like to learn more, and if you’re in Ireland and want to catch a theatre show celebrating a great individual check out www.tomcrean.co.uk A modest man and a shining example of Kerry blood. Ordinary people making a difference, real heroes… If you’ve never heard of the Niall Mellon Township Trust you should take a moment to check it out. Started in 2002 by Niall Mellon they provide new housing for the poorer communities in the South Africa townships. They built 150 homes in their first year and over the six years that followed 11,000 homes were completed in total. The construction work is carried out by volunteers who travel as a group once a year to South Africa. Each individual raises revenue which helps to fund the travel and accomodation, and to purchase the materials required for the building work itself. It looks like good fun, lots of hard work, satisfaction, smiling faces, and houses to be proud of. Over 1300 volunteers from 13 different countries went out in the 2008 blitz and here’s a video of the Dublin party heading off (nice soundtrack and inspiring stuff), and here’s a link to the website (see what they do when they get there!) We think they’re fantastic, keep up the great work. |  Irish Abroad Voting Rights Join diaspora.ie and get your personal Certificate of Irish Heritage..  |
Copyright © 2012 www.diaspora.ie - All Rights Reserved - Privacy - Author: Mick Regan + : | |
He was active in the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), and in conjunction with the Fenians conceived a plan to develop a small submarine that could be sealifted on a merchant ship to an area near an unsuspecting British warship. The submarine would then be released from the bottom of the merchant vessel to launch an attack.
Scott and his party died in the race and Tom Crean became renowned (and was subsequently awarded an Albert medal) for his 35 mile solo walk across the Ross Ice Shelf to rescue and save one Edward Evans.