Cultural and historical facts that amaze you

WesternZulu · 07-10-2015 07:29AM

That Connacht became a republic for little over a week in 1798.

I always thought that was pretty cool.

Capt'n Midnight · 07-10-2015 07:34AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Think Swindon Town is the only English football club with that mackerel claim too.

And they've a magic roundabout.

Real culture shock stuff for some tourists.

I can remember when the Walkinstown Roundabout used to terrorise visitors from the country.

mattP · 07-10-2015 07:42AM

kneemos wrote:

What else breaks when it falls?

Maybe Humpty was just a guy with brittle bones :P

melissak · 07-10-2015 08:38AM

WesternZulu wrote: »

That Connacht became a republic for little over a week in 1798.

I always thought that was pretty cool.

Really. Cool. How did that come about.? Presumably to do with the Wexford rebellion because of the year?

Peregrinus · 07-10-2015 09:01AM

melissak wrote: »

Really. Cool. How did that come about.? Presumably to do with the Wexford rebellion because of the year?

The French landed a force of about 1,000 soldiers at Kilcummin, Co Mayo in August 1798. This was about two months after the rebellion in Wexford had been crushed, and at the other end of the country, so it wasn't a terribly well-thought-out strategy. They joined up with local rebels and marched to Castlebar, where they decisively beat a small British force. This inspired them to declare a republic on 31 August 1789, often referred to as the "Republic of Connacht", though in fact the proclamation spoke of an "Irish Republic".

The republic, whatever its name, never controlled more than a small area between Ballina and Castlebar. It only ever appointed one official, John Moore, who was to be President of the Government of the Province of Connacht (and this is probably why it gets called the "Connacht Republic"). His job was to raise an army in support of the French, but he never got very far with it.

The British started to assemble a large force to counter-attach against the French. Knowing that he was hopelessly outnumbered until reinforcements could arrive from France, which was not expected for some weeks, the French general moved north, in the hope of connecting up with United Irish elements in Ulster and attracting support from them. The British cut him off at Ballinamuck, Co. Longford on 9 September where, after a brief battle, the French surrendered. Moore was captured, tried and sentenced to be transported, but died before actually taking ship.

whisky_galore · 07-10-2015 09:07AM

Colonel Thomas Blood attempted to steal the Crown Jewels, mashed a crown flat to make it easier to carry. Another accomplice filed the Sceptre in two to fit in a bag.

Got caught red handed, but was pardoned and not only that, was given land in Ireland and made regular appearances in King Charles' Court!

LordSutch · 07-10-2015 10:22AM

garrixfan wrote: »

Do we even know for certain that the first inhabitants sailed from what is now Britain to here? It wans't really a neighboring Ireland back then either was it? Wasn't the east of the south UK joined to what is now Holland 6,000 years ago?
Also when was the last time Ireland was part of continental Europe?

But holy hell I didn't realize the first humans came to Europe so long ago, its pretty crazy that ourselves and Iceland weren't only inhabited in the last 10,000 years ago.

Well firstly lets park any talk of "the UK", and lets stick with geographical terms. What I find amazing is the fact that for 90.000 years Great Britain was inhabited by modern day humans, while Ireland was "human free".

As regards the geography of the the islands, as far as I know they were in the same location as today.

Just wondering about those people on the west coast of Britain looking across the sea and wondering, for 90.000 years... till fill finally one day, somebody thought, "go on then" lets set sail and head over there to that island on the horizon

It's the discrepancy of 90.000 years that amazes me.

Peregrinus · 07-10-2015 10:55AM

LordSutch wrote: »

Well firstly lets park any talk of "the UK", and lets stick with geographical terms. What I find amazing is the fact that for 90.000 years Great Britain was inhabited by modern day humans, while Ireland was "human free".

As regards the geography of the the islands, as far as I know they were in the same location as today.

Just wondering about those people on the west coast of Britain looking across the sea and wondering, for 90.000 years... till fill finally one day, somebody thought, "go on then" lets set sail and head over there to that island on the horizon

It's the discrepancy of 90.000 years that amazes me.

Basically, they walked from (what is now) the Low Countries to (what is now) Britain at a time when sea levels were lower. But the Irish sea is wider and deeper; they couldn't get from Britain to Ireland until they were technologically sufficiently advanced to construct and operate vessels capable of making the journey.

As already pointed out in this thread, it is possible that they came earlier than we know them to have come, but that all archaeological traces of this were destroyed by glacial action at the last ice age.

Wibbs · 07-10-2015 01:11PM

Peregrinus wrote: »

Basically, they walked from (what is now) the Low Countries to (what is now) Britain at a time when sea levels were lower. But the Irish sea is wider and deeper; they couldn't get from Britain to Ireland until they were technologically sufficiently advanced to construct and operate vessels capable of making the journey.

Far earlier pre modern humans(Neandertals) made it to Crete which is a sea journey well over the horizon. The "Hobbits" of Flores in Indonesia, who would have originally been Homo Erectus made it many hundreds of thousands of years ago across one of the most treacherous straits on earth. It seems some sort of seafaring sufficient to migrate a viable breeding population of individuals started early enough, which considering the size of the Erectus brain is bloody amazing. Modern humans were doing the oul seafaring lark early enough in our time too. They got to Australia 60,000 years back and when they marched through promptly went over to Tasmania while they were at it.

Ireland was a difficult one. For a start with every ice age it was fully icebound, whereas Britain was not. So folks could move back and forth with the edge of the Ice sheets. In warm intervals in the last 50,000 years I have little doubt modern peoples came here, but quickly retreated when the ice started to move again. As indeed they did in Britain. Indeed the "current" human populations of these islands last arrived at not far off the same time. Oh and by the by best current evidence has modern humans in Britain for the last 40 odd 1000 years not 90.

Ireland and the UK were joined by land up to 20,000 years ago(sea levels dropped with ice ages). It seems it was too harsh for much to travel it mind you. Our original native Irish flora and fauna is less diverse than the UK's. Even there it gets odd. Our extinct cave bears are related to Spanish ones, not British ones.

Other human migratory oddities are out there. New Zealand was only colonised by the Maori in the 10/11th century. Madagascar can be seen from the African mainland but ancient Africans for some reason didn't bother with it, yet they were large scale explorers otherwise.

Tzardine · 07-10-2015 01:19PM

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Strange cultural fact - Most Rwandan women are squirters. Not just by some sexy accident of genetics or whatever but through the carefull teaching of certain techiques from mother to daughter down through the generations:eek:

That's so messed up.

Squirting lessons with your ma after dinner.

/shudder

fleet_admiral · 07-10-2015 01:56PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

And they've a magic roundabout.

Real culture shock stuff for some tourists.

I can remember when the Walkinstown Roundabout used to terrorise visitors from the country.

It terrorises me and im a local!

UpCork · 07-10-2015 02:19PM

Excellent thread. I really love all this kind of stuff.

LordSutch · 07-10-2015 02:47PM

So far The UK has gone through three incarnations!

One/ The United Kingdom of England/Wales & Scotland (1707).
Two/ The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland (1800).
Three/ The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (1922).
Four/ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

We'll have to wait and see. Maybe Scotland will leave? Maybe NI will leave? Maybe both will leave? Maybe the whole concept of a 'UK' will be resigned to the political history books?

DarkyHughes · 07-10-2015 03:45PM

The Jesus - Titus Flavius typology is pretty amazing.

DarkyHughes · 07-10-2015 04:24PM

WesternZulu wrote: »

That Connacht became a republic for little over a week in 1798.

I always thought that was pretty cool.

Also Limerick became a Soviet for a few weeks in 1919 as well. Had the their own type of currency & all.

DarkyHughes · 07-10-2015 04:27PM

Peregrinus wrote: »

The French landed a force of about 1,000 soldiers at Kilcummin, Co Mayo in August 1798. This was about two months after the rebellion in Wexford had been crushed, and at the other end of the country, so it wasn't a terribly well-thought-out strategy. They joined up with local rebels and marched to Castlebar, where they decisively beat a small British force. This inspired them to declare a republic on 31 August 1789, often referred to as the "Republic of Connacht", though in fact the proclamation spoke of an "Irish Republic".

The republic, whatever its name, never controlled more than a small area between Ballina and Castlebar. It only ever appointed one official, John Moore, who was to be President of the Government of the Province of Connacht (and this is probably why it gets called the "Connacht Republic"). His job was to raise an army in support of the French, but he never got very far with it.

The British started to assemble a large force to counter-attach against the French. Knowing that he was hopelessly outnumbered until reinforcements could arrive from France, which was not expected for some weeks, the French general moved north, in the hope of connecting up with United Irish elements in Ulster and attracting support from them. The British cut him off at Ballinamuck, Co. Longford on 9 September where, after a brief battle, the French surrendered. Moore was captured, tried and sentenced to be transported, but died before actually taking ship.

So an Irish Republic has be proclaimed or declared in Ireland 5 different times in the space of about 150 years.

Donkey Oaty · 07-10-2015 04:29PM

Just to add to the interesting stuff Wibbs and Peregrinus have been saying about land masses, check out Doggerland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland

Good colour map here from National Geographic:

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/maps/doggerland/

DarkyHughes · 07-10-2015 04:32PM

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

Just to add to the interesting stuff Wibbs and Peregrinus have been saying about land masses, check out Doggerland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland

Good colour map here from National Geographic:

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/maps/doggerland/

Ah so that's were Atlantis went to.

I also didn't know the Russian Empire use to extend to Alaska or that Russia used to connected to North America via the Bering land bridge about 11,000 years ago.

podgemonster · 07-10-2015 04:59PM

The coastal West Cork village of Baltimore in West Cork was sacked by Algerian pirates (captained by a Dutchman) in June, 1631. It is the largest attack by Barbary pirates on the British Isles.

As it was post the Battle of Kinsale, the town at the time consisted of English settlers. When a local Catholic fisherman was captured he directed to the pirates to the town in exchange for his life also knowing that no-one outside the community would help.

They captured 108 English settlers who were then taken in chains to be sold into slavery in North Africa. The Fisherman was hanged for conspiracy. The remaining English settlers deserted the town and moved inland, the village remained uninhabited for generations.

There is a pub in the village named after the event and in 2015 while the Band The Darkness were on Valentia Island they heard of the story and wrote the song "Roaring Water" that featured on their latest album.

DarkyHughes · 07-10-2015 05:04PM

Ireland was a fully independent state for about 6 or 7 years during the Catholic Confederacy until the arrival or Cromwell, that was the last time Ireland was a fully united independent state.

Badly Drunk Boy · 07-10-2015 05:08PM

DarkyHughes wrote: »

I also didn't know the Russian Empire use to extend to Alaska or that Russia used to connected to North America via the Bering land bridge about 11,000 years ago.

The US only bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867.

melissak · 07-10-2015 05:17PM

[Maybe there were people but they left no traces. Maybe they lived in in treehouses or were nomadic and had biodegradable camps
quote="LordSutch;97290899"]Well firstly lets park any talk of "the UK", and lets stick with geographical terms. What I find amazing is the fact that for 90.000 years Great Britain was inhabited by modern day humans, while Ireland was "human free".

As regards the geography of the the islands, as far as I know they were in the same location as today.

Just wondering about those people on the west coast of Britain looking across the sea and wondering, for 90.000 years... till fill finally one day, somebody thought, "go on then" lets set sail and head over there to that island on the horizon

It's the discrepancy of 90.000 years that amazes me.[/quote]

melissak · 07-10-2015 05:19PM

[Maybe there were people but they left no traces. Maybe they lived in in treehouses or were nomadic and had biodegradable camps
quote="LordSutch;97290899"]Well firstly lets park any talk of "the UK", and lets stick with geographical terms. What I find amazing is the fact that for 90.000 years Great Britain was inhabited by modern day humans, while Ireland was "human free".

As regards the geography of the the islands, as far as I know they were in the same location as today.

Just wondering about those people on the west coast of Britain looking across the sea and wondering, for 90.000 years... till fill finally one day, somebody thought, "go on then" lets set sail and head over there to that island on the horizon

It's the discrepancy of 90.000 years that amazes me.[/quote]

check_six · 07-10-2015 05:25PM

We all know that the Incas never developed their use of the wheel. They had wheeled toys for children, but never bothered trying to use it to transport anything. This was probably due to it mountainous terrain in the Andes making them not practical to use.

However, did you know that Aboriginal tribes in Tasmania never bothered developing a way of making fire? They had been isolated for so long that a lot of developments just passed them by. These were mainly hunting tools and weapons like boomerangs and fish hooks. Apparently, the amount of food available to them locally was so plentiful that they never had to bother making anything too complicated to catch it. Any fires they had were just kept going the whole time as they had no way of restarting them.

These guys had been isolated from the rest of the world for the guts of 10,000 years and they were happy enough just doing their thing. Then the Europeans landed and they were all gone within a century.

Capt'n Midnight · 07-10-2015 05:28PM

DarkyHughes wrote: »

Ah so that's were Atlantis went to.

I also didn't know the Russian Empire use to extend to Alaska or that Russia used to connected to North America via the Bering land bridge about 11,000 years ago.

Russia sold Alaska to the USA back in 1867.

If they hadn't it would have made the Cold War interesting.

justchecked · 07-10-2015 05:33PM

the lives lost in separate marches on Moscow by hitler and napolean.

Many of whom froze/died on route.

And the millions who died as a result of mao or stalin.

cant remember the exact numbers for all these events but remember them being absolutely staggering.

Whitewinged · 07-10-2015 05:41PM

Stonehenge is really interesting. It dates back to 3000 - 2000bc. How did they move those massives stones for miles and construct and allign it!

I watched a documentary on it and i can barely remember the details but they were coming up with theories on how the stone was moved. One was by boat on a canal but i remember watching at the time and thinking it was too far fetched and seemed impossible.

AnLonDubh · 07-10-2015 06:04PM

Wibbs wrote: »

One female ruler(whose name escapes) who reigned after her pharaoh husband died young took to wearing a false beard a few years later. Her name became masculinised in writing too. Seems she was very well liked by her people so they saw no reason to stick a bloke on the thrown.

That was Hatshepsut. Rather than masculinising her name, she took traditionally masculine titles and femininised them grammatically (i.e. added the feminine -t- found in Afro-Asiatic languages).

Capt'n Midnight · 07-10-2015 11:04PM

justchecked wrote: »

the lives lost in separate marches on Moscow by hitler and napolean.

Many of whom froze/died on route.

And the millions who died as a result of mao or stalin.

cant remember the exact numbers for all these events but remember them being absolutely staggering.

Try Stalingrad. Roughly 300,000 German surrounded.

90,000 survived to surrender. Many died soon afterwards from disease and starvation others perished in the gulags.
Less than 6,000 made it back to Germany

The Hiwi's had it worse. They were the non-German volunteers.
Typically Russian POWs were lined up and asked to volunteer into the Germany Army one by one. Anyone who said no was shot.

For mass killing the rate at which the three million Russian POW's died during the first few months of the German invasion by mistreatment and neglect by the regular Germany Army was not seen during the Holocaust. Probably only the genocide in Rwanda came close.

Cambodia was unreal. Pretty much every person on boards.ie would have been killed. Stuff like wearing glasses or understanding a bit of French. IIRC there were THREE doctors left in the country.

Roll back to the 19th century and the War of the Triple Alliance where pretty much every able bodied male in Paraguay was killed and WWII could have been so much worse.

Capt'n Midnight · 07-10-2015 11:06PM

We've found traces of flowers in Neanderthal graves.

Cultural and historical facts that amaze you

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