JANUARY 21

My readers know what July 4th in the United States is all about.  It's Independence Day - a celebration of our declared independence from Great Britain in 1776.  We were on our own and a new country was born.

On this date, 100 years ago today, the Irish Republic declared it's independence from Great Britain.  A proclamation to that effect had been issued three years prior.  Sporadic fighting was the norm. 

The declaration did not end the fighting - it went on about eighty years longer (1998) even though a treaty had been signed in 1924.  It did not end in what the Irish had hoped - a single country, governed by the Irish.  The Republic of Ireland stands united today except for six counties in the north which are part of the United Kingdom.  It was not what the Irish wanted and not what many still desire but at least the fighting has stopped.