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RTÉ News
09-06-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Exhibition marks 400th anniversary of St Oliver Plunkett's birth
The official launch of an exhibition to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth of St Oliver Plunkett will take place in Drogheda, Co Louth today. The exhibition will include a number of artefacts and memorabilia associated with the iconic saint that have never previously been on public display. St Oliver Plunkett was born in Loughcrew in Co Meath on 1 November 1625 and was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1654, having studied at the Irish College in the city. He later became the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and maintained his duties in the face of the Penal Laws when the Catholic Church was being suppressed. St Oliver Plunkett was eventually arrested and tried for treason in London. He was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1 July 1681. His head was rescued by a group of his friends and eventually made its way to St Peter's Church in Drogheda, where it remains today in a specially made shrine. A series of events is taking place in the town this year to mark 400 years since St Oliver Plunkett's birth, and also the 50 years since his can canonisation in 1975, when he became the first newly-made Irish saint for almost 700 years. The official launch of the St Oliver 400 Commemorative Exhibition will take place at the Drogheda Civic Offices on Fair Street. The exhibition will include St Oliver's Crozier loaned from a private collection, the original ebony casing which housed the saint's head and an original coffin plate from the Monastery of St Catherine of Siena in Drogheda. Other items going on public display are three silver crucifixes attributed to the saint and vestments loaned from St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh and Mullingar Museum. The exhibition also includes a large collection of banners, books, coins and a written account of the then archbishop's trial in London in 1681. Co-chair of the Saint Oliver 400 Community Group, Tommy Burns said: "It is fitting that St Oliver who reformed the clergy, built schools, brought peace and hope to the people is still so fondly remembered in Ireland, and exemplified in this important exhibition in Drogheda, 400 years after his birth." Meanwhile, local historian Séamus Bellew, who specialises in heraldry and genealogy, said: "This exhibition brings together a rare collection of items, comprising books, brasses and the reliquary that housed St Oliver's head, all from the 17th century and much more besides...a must see." Thomas McEvoy, Deputy Chief Executive of Louth County Council, said it is important to commemorate the life of St Oliver as his story is one of "resilience and integrity during some of the most turbulent periods in our history." Mr McEvoy said: "His unwavering commitment to peace, reconciliation, and education serves as a timeless example for us all and the Saint Oliver 400 Exhibition brings this legacy to life in a new and powerful way. "On behalf of Louth County Council, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Saint Oliver 400 Community Group who have organised this exhibition here in our Civic Offices in the heart of Drogheda." The exhibition runs at 'The Exhibition Space' at Drogheda Civic Offices on weekdays until 4 July.
Irish Daily Mirror
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Charging Kneecap with terrorism offences brings out the inner republican in us
My inner republican rose up when I heard British police charged one of Kneecap with terrorism offences. The Brits: never not at it, I thought to myself. Yet another way to silence Irish voices and stifle Irish culture. My mind went back to Thatcherism and Nicky Kelly and even Bobby Sands. I finally reeled myself in when I got to the Penal Laws and 800 years of oppression. I'm not even a fan of Kneecap. I think they're sad panto nationalists, glorifying terrorism in tricolour balaclavas, from the safe position of not being directly affected by it. They do one thing on stage and say another off it, so to me, their authenticity is in question. They're the Wolfe Tones in tracksuits, as the punk poet Jinx Lennon said. But my defensive reaction to Kneecap's Liam Og O hAnnaidh being charged with terrorism offences for waving a Hezbollah flag was probably natural for someone who grew up in a republican house in the fraught 1980s and 1990s. I'm also a strong supporter of free speech and expression, even when I find that speech or expression deeply wrong - which I definitely do, in O hAnnaidh's case. Police said he's accused of displaying the flag 'in such a way or such circumstances to arouse reasonable suspicion he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation." Charging a young fella with serious terrorist offences in a situation like this is excessive heavy-handedness. Granted, there's a certain revolutionary cachet to it, for the rapper. But the reality is, he won't get into the USA if he has a terrorism conviction. That would be the end of Kneecap's American ambitions. However, that's their law, as anyone thinking of doing something like this in front of a crowd of thousands in Britain should know. Their courts will decide next month. Anyway, the whole case is an overall part of the culture battle around the Israel Gaza war that I find excruciating. It all seems petty palavar compared to the nightmarish realities of what's happening there on the ground. The tinfoil-hat theory that Israel rigged the Eurovision voting is more such nonsense. Some can't fathom how Israel came first in the public vote, so it must be a conspiracy. This is despite the fact the EBU says the voting system is one of the most advanced in the world, independently checked and verified by a huge team of people. RTE has requested a breakdown in voting numbers from the EBU and TD Paul Murphy urged the national broadcaster to review the votes. Why would Israel bother, and to what end? The more obvious explanation is voters liked Yuval Raphael's entry. She's a survivor of the October 7 attacks, who sounded like Celine Dion singing a Bond theme. The aim ultimately is to ban Israel from the contest over its military action in Gaza. It all seems so silly, but dark events this week put a new complexion on the cultural conversation around it. First of all, the world watched in horror as thousands in Gaza were brought to the brink of death by Israel's refusal to lift its 11-week blockade. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he only bowed to pressure to ease it as allies 'could not tolerate images of mass famine.' Then on Wednesday night, two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC were shot and killed while leaving an event at a Jewish museum. The victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were a couple in their 20s due to be married. They were leaving an event in the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect opened fire. He yelled: 'Free, free Palestine' when arrested. We're at a dangerous point in the world. The reality is we're all going to have to tread carefully when it comes to discussing this most contentious issue of our time. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
