The goal of the rising was to attain political freedom and establish an Irish Republic. With the outbreak of World War I, the British Government suspended the Home Rule Bill. Several Irish groups including the Citizen Army, the Irish Volunteers, and the Sinn Fein, decided that they needed to take a stand.

Under leadership of Padhraic Pearse, they began planning their uprising for Easter Sunday. They arranged for a series of parades to run throughout the city as a signal to the other rebels. Their plans were discovered and the parades were canceled. They decided to hold off until the next day.

Around noon on Easter Monday April 24th, about 2000 men lead by Pearse seized control of the Dublin post office (which became their headquarters) and many other strategic points in the city. They hoisted one tricolor flag on one side of the post office and a green flag with the inscription “Irish Republic” on the other. Pearse then read the Proclamation of the Republic. By the next morning, they controlled a considerable part of Dublin. British reinforcements began to arrive on Tuesday and Martial law was proclaimed. There were numerous street fights.

On the morning of April 29th, the post office was under violent attack and Pearse sent out an unconditional surrender. The leaders of the uprising were court- martialed and executed by firing squad. Military casualties were 116 dead, 368 wounded, and 9 missing. As for policemen, 16 died and 29 were injured. It’s believed that of the Irish, 64 rebels and 254 civilians died, and 2217 were wounded. A total of 3430 men and 79 women were arrested, although many were later released.

The leaders of the Rising were buried in the old prison yard of Arbor Hill Prison. A memorial was placed there and the Proclamation is inscribed on the wall in Irish and English.
The uprising was the first of a series of events that culminated in the establishment of the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland).There are plans for centenary celebrations of the Easter Rising in 2016.

Despite this there are people willing to fight to save the language, in areas outside the Gaeltacht many parents send their children to Irish speaking schools, where all lessons and interaction are in the medium of Irish. This is undoubtedly the most effective way to learn Irish as the child becomes immersed in the language and it becomes second nature to them.

This brings me onto the method I would advise to anyone considering learning Irish or any language for that matter.Immersion is the way to go if you want to learn Irish to a level of fluency. I mentioned the Gaeltacht above, if you are serious about learning Irish then you can visit the Gaeltacht.There are several immersion weeks and weekends available in various location in the Gaeltacht,where you will eat, sleep and drink Irish!
Check out the internet search engines there are plenty of courses for beginners. If you are unable to get to Ireland, lets face it most of you will not be able to, there is another way and I think more long term solution.

It involves finding a fluent Irish speaker and persuading them to form a learning group where all interaction and learning is done purely in Irish. Hold on you cry! Where will I find these fluent Irish speakers? Well if you live in the USA, Canada or the UK they are all around you and you may even know someone who is fluent.
These countries along with Australia and New Zealand all have resident Irish speakers living there. It is simply a case of finding them, check on the internet search engines for fluent Irish speakers or place a wanted advert in various media, whatever way you chose to do it you will find someone if you are determined enough.

Once you have found a willing fluent Irish speaker, explain how you would like to learn Irish through total immersion. You might have to detail exactly what you want to achieve, but taking action to set up the immersion group is the first step. It might be trial and error at first, but stick with it because it is without doubt in my opinion the best way to learn Irish. You will be learning the language naturally, making mistakes, learning from your mistakes, you will learn the language just as you learned your own native tongue.

There are of course many tools and interactive learning aids that you can purchase to consolidate your Irish learning, however like anything else the best learning materials cost money. If you set up your Irish immersion group and use the traditional learning materials to consolidate what you have learned you will be amazed at how quickly you can pick up Irish. The immersion method concentrates on learning to speak and understand Irish first, before you try to read and write in Irish, again mimicking the way you learned your own language.Go on give it a go you will be surprised at your progress and will soon be speaking like a native!

Mick McCarthy was appointed manager of Ireland after Charlton narrowly missed out on guiding Ireland to the Euro 96 Finals in England. On an emotional night which would be Charlton’s final game in charge, the Irish succumbed to a two nil defeat at the hands of the Dutch in a playoff. The team was now in transition, an ageing team had to make way for youth, and a long ball game had to make way for the now worldwide pass and move philosophy.

It was McCarthy’s job to steady the ship and build on past successes. Unfortunately his immediate impact did not have a desired result. The Irish failed to qualify for the next two Tournaments, the World Cup in France 1998 and the Euros in Belgium and the Netherlands 2000. With some dismal performances in both qualifying campaigns although again narrowly missing out on both tournaments it was a disheartening period in Irish football until qualification for the World Cup in 2002.

In a qualification table including Portugal and Holland the Irish showed the fighting spirit of the previous era. With a mixture of some old stalwarts and youthful exuberance the team were not overawed. They finished the group in second place with the same points as winners Portugal and advanced to the World Cup Finals after a playoff with Iran. The qualification featured probably the greatest game ever played at Lansdowne Road not for flair or a flurry of goals but for drama. This game was against the Dutch, a nerve wracking nail biting match that no one who was there or who just watched in the pubs around the country will ever forget.

To set the scene, the Dutch needed to win the game in order to keep their hopes alive, the Irish could not afford to lose. The Dutch team was filled with the superstars of the day, the De Boer brothers, Van Der Sar, Kluivert, Stam, Davids, Van Nistelrooy, and Seedorf. The Irish were underdogs with a capital ‘U’. They had managed a 2-2 draw away from home against the Dutch, a remarkable result but could they really prevent the Dutch from reaching the World Cup Finals?

If the Irish did not believe they didn’t show it spurred on by the best midfielder in the world Roy Keane, he did not let the Dutch breathe never mind pass the ball, undoubtedly his greatest performance in a green jersey. It may have been this over exuberance that caused the only moment of silence at that game, the moment Gary Kelly received a red card. Marc Overmars had been running rings round Kelly in the first half leading the Irish man to be yellow carded, the second half began as the first and thirteen minutes in a reckless tackle on Overmars again, saw Kelly see his second yellow of the game followed by the dreaded red. The Irish fans were disheartened but not silenced, the team were holding on to a nil all draw although the Dutch had missed chance after chance, it seemed only a matter of time. Shay Given was lucky not to concede a penalty when he seemed to bundle over Van Nistelrooy who surely would have been left with a simple tap in.

However a moment came that few are privileged enough to see in a football match. In the 67th minute Ireland for the first time in the half broke forward in numbers, Roy Keane led the charge, was strong on the ball, fouled, the ball breaks to Duff, ref waves play on, he spreads the ball wide to Finnan, he attacks Cocu down the right, forced to check back onto his left, crosses to the far post, and somehow it breaks to an unmarked Jason McAteer who on the half volley slots the ball past an imposing Van Der Sar. What a moment and the Lansdowne roar was never heard so loudly. For 23 and a bit minutes Ireland defended for their lives, eventually seeing out a one nil win. When the final whistle blew the Irish fans broke into a chorus of ‘Ten Men and we beat the Dutch’, few wanted to leave that stadium that day, even the Dutch fans, who played their part in the remarkable atmosphere, applauded as they had witnessed something special.

The 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan got off to an auspices start. After a qualification campaign of mainly highs the World Cup before it even started brought a great low. The Irish team had shown great unity, determination and spirit which was characterised in the Dutch match, a training camp in Saipan brought disunity, and tore through the heart of the team literally. A training ground bust up involving Roy Keane and some of the coaching staff was blown out of all proportions. A critical article in an Irish newspaper from Keane and a team meeting which seems to have been a shambolic bit of man management from McCarthy resulted in the man considered to be the best midfielder in the world, Roy Keane being sent home. The world’s media attention was on the Ireland team now but for all the wrong reasons. Everyone had an opinion on this issue and the players, the media and the fans were split into two camps, those who believed McCarthy was right to send Keane home and those who supported Keane in his comments on the Irish set up. Keane had stated that the Irish lacked professionalism in every aspect of their preparation for the World Cup, obviously more heated exchanges occurred behind the scenes which led to Keane’s dismissal. Although politicians were even called in to resolve the issue Keane remained in his Manchester home and Ireland began the World Cup without their best player.

Whatever people may say about what happened in Saipan and many have and will continue to have their say it is evident that both men should have been able to resolve any personal differences they had for each other for the more important matter at hand.

The Irish faced Cameroon in the first match of the group stage. A strong physical team Cameroon imposed themselves on the game from the first whistle. Up front they had Samuel Etoo leading the line and his break down the right hand side of Ireland’s defence led to the opening goal. He skipped passed Staunton leaving him on his backside, entered the penalty area and squared the ball to Mboma who placed the ball into the gaping goal. Ireland managed to reorganise themselves and snatched an equaliser in the second half, a crisply struck shot from Matt Holland (Keane’s replacement) from outside the box nestled into the bottom right hand corner of the net. An opening draw in the campaign and some relief that the team had not capitulated under the undue pressure that had preceded the match.

Next up were the ever resilient Germans. The Germans although lacking the skills of previous teams could never be written off. In the 19th minute they took the lead with a Klose goal. However after they went one nil up Germany sat back and tried to sit on their lead. In a poor game, but another determined performance saw Ireland snatch an equaliser in the 92nd minute. A long ball up to Niall Quinn (reminiscent of the old days), headed into the box and latched on to by Robbie Keane who slots the ball into the corner of the net. Another memorable moment as Ireland now just needed to beat Saudi Arabia to qualify for the next round.

In the third match of the group they did just that. With a few nervous moments at the beginning of the game Ireland went on to win the match 3-0 with goals from Robbie Keane, Gary Breen and Damien Duff. They may not have been at their best against the Saudis but the result saw them progress to the Second Round.

The Second Round was a mouth watering tie with Spain. The Spaniards had started the Finals brightly with three wins from three and most were comfortable, 3-1 on two occasions. So when Fernando Morientes headed in after only eight minutes things looked bleak. However the Spanish began to sit back and the Irish threw everything they had at the Spanish defence. There were signs of the defence creaking under the pressure and it did just that in the 62nd minute, Damien Duff fouled in the area, penalty. Up stepped Ian Harte… Casillas saves. The luck of the Irish seemed to be running out until the unlikeliest of events transpired, in the ninety second minute Robbie Keane was brought down in the box, another penalty. This time up stepped Robbie Keane…GOAL!

The match ended 1-1 and extra time got under way. With further twists Spain ended that game with nine men on the pitch not through ill discipline but injury. Although Ireland looked the more likely they could not press home their two man advantage. This would be a fatal error as the penalty shootout resulted in a win for Spain. Yet again the Irish had given it their all and their supporters admired them for it.

Of course there were Irish catch wrestlers; Karl Gotch often tells me about Pops Charnock, a tough Irish Catch Wrestler often overshadowed by another tough wrestler of Irish decent, Billy Riley. Frank Holt is another catch wrestler with an Irish lineage (FYI, also check out Irish Faction Fighting; someone that has done excellent work in this area is John Hurley, check him out.

This year I am celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with the release of the new DVD REAL BKB: Fights of the Irish Travellers. These are championship matches among the Travellers, a group of people popularized and romanticized in the Brad Pitt feature film Snatch.
The last bare-knuckle championship fight to happen in America, was a 75 round marathon was between two tough Irish-Americans, John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain, on July 8th, 1889 in Richburg, Mississippi. Sullivan, who had dominated the bare-knuckle boxing heavyweight championship for a decade, won this grueling test. He is often considered America’s first true sports celebrity.

September 7, 1892 saw the end of the reign of Sullivan when Irish-American James J. Corbett, also known as “Gentleman Jim” defeated him for the Heavyweight Championship of the World in New Orleans. The fight was to be held under Queensbury Rules”, with gloves.

The modern era of boxing was born that day when Corbett showed that scientific boxing could defeat overwhelming brute strength when he knocked out the defending champion Sullivan in the twenty first round. Corbett successfully defended the title with a knockout win over Charley Mitchell in the third in 1894. However, three years later Irish-American challenger Bob Fitzsimmons would defeat Corbett in the 14th round to become the new Heavyweight Champion of the World (for more information, see my books The Classical Pugilism and Bare-Knuckle Boxing Companion, Vol 1 and also The Classical Pugilism and Bare-Knuckle Boxing Companion, Vol 2).
Jack Burke, Jim Corbett, Jake Kilrain, John L. Sullivan (here is a great piece by BKB scholar Elliot J. Gorn), Pops Charnock, Robert Fitzsimmons, Bartley Gorman, Jack Dempsey, Billy Conn, Jem Roche, Gerry Cooney, John C. Heenan, Paddy Ryan, John Morrisey, James J. Braddock, the list of boxers of Irish decent goes on and on… (for some biographical sketches of great Irish-American boxers click here).
Today is the day to head to the pub and tip back a beer (for some of you, root beer) or Irish whiskey and give a hearty ‘slainte’ (this is the equivalent of toasting ‘cheers’ in Irish Gaelic) to these tough men from the island of Ireland!

There were several concerns about the name Fighting Irish. Specifically, many asked the question why the university used the word Irish. Some were worried because it sounded exclusive to the Irish race. Although the name was very specific, the university welcomed athletes of different ancestries. Many also suspect that the school team is exclusive to the Catholics; however, they also welcome students who hold other religion.

The university never intended to make the school nor their athletic department to be race and religion exclusive. The name Notre Dame Fighting Irish came about to recognize the struggles of the Irish in the Colonial era. The name is suiting for the team because they fight as the Irish fought for their lives way back in time. The fruit of their labor is at hand. The team is surely proud to be the second winningest team in the college football history.
An important part of their history is their notable coaches. One is Coach Frank Leahy, inducted in College football Hall of Fame in 1970. He also played for the Notre Dame in 1928 to 1930. However, his mark as a coach supersedes the time he participated as a player. He coached the team in 1941 to 1943 and came back to coach in 1946 to 1953.

Before moving to Notre Dame, he coached the Boston College where they remained undefeated in 1940. During his time at Notre Dame, he led the Fighting Irish to four National Championships: 1949, 1947, 1946, and 1941.
Aside from the four National Championships, many remembered him as the coach of four of the seven Heisman trophy awardees of Notre Dame. He was also responsible for recruiting future Heisman trophy recipient, Paul Hornung. He left Notre Dame in 1954 with six undefeated seasons. Three years after his induction in the College Football Hall of Fame, he gave in to leukemia.
Another Hall of Famer coach is Knute Rockne. Rockne coached Leahy when he was still an athlete. He coached Notre Dame throughout his coaching career, from 1918 to 1930. During his time, he led the Fighting Irish to six national championships. It was in 1930, 1929, 1927, 1924, 1920, and in 1919. Like Leahy, Rockne left a legacy in Notre Dame. In addition to the six National Championships, he also had five undefeated seasons and to top it all, he has the highest winning percentage in Division 1-A at 0.881.
He was also a coach who knew the other business of football. He knew how to profit from it through establishing good relationship with the press. Aside from a great head coach, he also became successful in marketing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish merchandise. Although this caused them a chance to play in the 1926 National Championship, they rebounded hard and won the title in 1927.
The Fighting Irish is very interesting in terms of its name and notable coaches. No wonder they are one of the best all time college football teams.

There is not a fan of football who would not be interested in hearing words such as “Fighting Irish”. Becoming synonymous to college football the Notre Dame Football has a tradition considered hallowed as the flag is with America. Those who are new to college football will only recognize teams of schools such as the Crimson tide, the Buckeyes, the Trojans and the Gators, but of the schools mentioned none of them hold the record of being the most favored choice in the national titles, nor have they produced All-Americans as the school Notre Dame. The fame made by the Fighting Irish is the fact that they are the only school that is independent and regularly signs television contracts to broadcast their home games. But why is this team so special and how do the team draws the attention of their fans making the team a part of their lives?

A remarkable history
The teams Notre Dame Fighting Irish are actually winners in their own right, manifesting the qualities of a winner. Sports fans are fond of winners, even people who do not attend school those who did not have the opportunity, or those who don’t even know where it is located in the map, they would say that their team is the Irish. The team fought the Football field for not less than 120 seasons, and only lost 13 of the seasons. The percentage of their victory is more than 73 percent, making them only behind the Wolverines and Longhorns of Michigan and Texas respectively in terms of victory rating. In a country that highly regards winners, there is no doubt that the Irish are so well loved.

Further the program of the University is placing more All-Americans compared to other schools. There are 48 coaches and players that were introduced to the illustrious Hall of Fame of College Football, a number beyond compare to other programs. In addition, 450 Notre Dame Football players after their college career proceeded to the draft of NFL; another record among other active programs.

Brains also count
It is also important that the players of the football team of a school would have a good performance in their academics. Out of one hundred athletes Notre Dame managed to graduate nearly 99 of them in their list even if we take a look at the long history during the past half century. Notre Dame constantly displays that athletic achievement and education can be integrated to make better students and good school reputation. Many people who support higher standards for student athletes recommend Notre Dame to achieve such goal.

Being one of the two Catholic schools competing with the FBS, Notre Dame consistently wins the minds and hearts of Americans, and it will always remain that way. The standards that they have is universally appealing, and as the football teams and the school strive and take effort manifesting the ideals of the institution they will always be a source of inspiration.

Because of the great potato famine in Ireland in 1845-1849, a large number of Irish immigrants reluctantly descended on Pennsylvania coal regions for employment. They really never wanted to leave Ireland. These immigrants were mostly from the Irish counties of Mayo, Galway and Donegal, in north-west Ireland, where the famine hit the hardest. These Irish immigrants did not have skilled mining backgrounds and were mostly farmers and basic laborers, trying to escape starvation in Ireland. Coming to Pennsylvania was more a necessity than a privilege to them. They were financially destitute and did not even have much wealth to get started on. These two factors lead to these Irish immigrants ending up in the rough and poor areas of Pennsylvania. Needless to say, the north-west Irish, in the coal regions, did not get along with the south-central Irish of Kilkenny and Laois, who had already bonded with the Welsh and English years before.

Welsh and English minors had come from a background in England of organized labor practices. In Pennsylvania, attempts were made in the 1860′s to organize coal mine labor into unions. First attempts consisted of including all miners in unions, regardless of ethnicity. Since the Welsh and English were being treated better than the Irish, by management, these early attempts failed as arguing and fighting broke out between the Irish and other groups culminating in the “Molly McGuire” violent era around 1863-1867. During this period, the Kilkenny and Laois Irish generally sided with the English and Welsh immigrants. As well, the Molly McGuire Irish were Catholics, whereas many of the earlier Irish immigrants were Protestant. After a few years, some arrests and executions, this labor movement ended with tolerable agreements between the parties.

Anthracite Mining in Pennsylvania declined in the 1950′s, but the Irish culture is still very influential in the mining counties heavily populated by Irish descendants. Many old traditions still exist, as well as influential Irish groups and festivals; although this has slowly faded as Irish descendants mix with descendants of other cultures.

The Regiment received it’s own flag and an eagle, on one side of the flag was a large gold harp with the motto, L’Independence D’Irlande and on the other was the inscription Napoleon Empereur Des Francais A La Legion Irlandaise. Their original purpose was thwarted as plans for an invasion of Ireland were shelved after the British victory over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. With Russia and Austria preparing to renew the struggle in Central Europe, Napoleon turned his attention East. The Legion were involved in combat with English forces at Walcheren Island outside Antwerp in 1809.
From 1808-1813 they were involved in the Peninsular War in Spain and Portugal where they served with honour at the Siege of Astorga, the Siege of Almeida, the invasion of Portugal, the Battle of Busacco and the Battle of Fuentes de Onor. In 1812 they were drafted east to fight the Russians where they fought at the Battle of Bautzen under the direct order of Napoleon himself. During the course of this campaign the Legion were to suffer horrendous casualties with only 117 of the initial 2,000 men surviving the first eight months.
After the abdication of Napoleon in 1814, the Irish Regiment were re-organised by the Bourbon government, they lost their distinctive green uniforms which were replaced by sky blue uniforms. During the Hundred Days War, Louis XVIII requested the Regiment to join with him, they replied that they would gladly escort him to the frontier but that they would never fight against their adopted country of France. The Regiment was officially disbanded on 28 September 1815, the officers were discharged while the troops were sent to Toulon where a Royal Foreign Regiment was being formed.

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Preview
Fall camps are under way and the regular season will be here soon so that means getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview.

#1 – Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-3 SU; 7-5 ATS
Fargo’s Take When Notre Dame hired head coach Charlie Weis last year, many people were shaking their heads seeing that he had no head coaching experience with the exception of a high school gig back in 1989. The naysayers are pretty quiet now since he has brought his winning ways to South Bend, a program that was in dire need of spark. Since winning the National Championship back in 1988, Notre Dame is currently in its longest drought without a title since, well, ever. That could all change this season. Led by Heisman hopeful Brady Quinn, the Irish boast one of the most powerful offenses in the country. Defensively, the team needs to improve as there were simply too many big plays allowed last season. The good news is that nine starters are back on defense to go along with the seven coming back on offense. Even though the Irish won’t have the best defense in the country, it will greatly improve from last season based on experience alone. “Defense wins championships” is what the adage states but balance is the key and Notre Dame will have that in 2006. Getting through the brutal schedule is another story.
Returning Starters on Offense – 7 Quinn put up a record season at Notre Dame, throwing for 3,919 yards and 32 touchdowns while tossing just seven interceptions. He flourished under the new offense that Weis installed as Notre Dame ranked 10th in total offense and 8th in scoring offense compared to 81st and 72nd respectively in 2004. Most of the significant pieces around him are back as well so another high-octane season is within reach. Wide receiver Jeff Samardzija is back after leading the Irish with 78 receptions and 1,274 yards. The loss of Maurice Stovall will be hard to overcome but 2004 leading receiver Rhema McKnight is back after missing last season. The running game is in excellent shape with Darius Walker coming back after rushing for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore. The offensive line could have as many as five senior starters who have a combined 91 starts between them. Overall, nine of the 11 starters are seniors so this is the year that the offense must really shine.

Returning Starters on Defense – 9 As much optimism as there is surrounding the offense, the defense might actually have more. Nine starters are back along with nine seniors so the regression that took place from 2004 to 2005 should reverse this season. The passing defense was horrendous last year as it finished 103rd in the country, allowing 264.6 ypg. The secondary gave up over 300 yards on six different occasions last year including the final two games so momentum is not on its side. However all four starters, who are all seniors, are back which should ignite a huge turnaround. The entire two-deep is back led by strong safety Tom Zbikowski. The entire front four also returns and after finishing last season 34th against the run, better things are expected. The two starters that need to be replaced are at linebacker but the unit is deep and will benefit from the leadership of outside linebacker Maurice Crum Jr. The potential is there for a huge breakout season as there are no glaring weaknesses.

Schedule As usual, the Irish will be playing one of the toughest schedules in the country but the good news is that there are just four true road games on the slate. One of those is the opener at Georgia Tech, a game that Notre Dame cannot look past. Following that are four straight games against the Big Ten. Back-to-back home games against Penn St. and Michigan are truly tough tests followed by a revenge game at Michigan St. and then back home for a game against Purdue. Two more home contests follow against Pac Ten teams Stanford and UCLA. Up next is a trip to Baltimore to face Navy on a neutral field and then back home once again to take on North Carolina. Two of the final three games are on the road with the lone home game coming against Army. The season finale should be a classic as the Irish travel to the Coliseum to face the Trojans.
You can bet on… If Notre Dame can come out of its first three games with a 3-0 record, it should be undefeated heading to USC barring any upsets. Games against Michigan St., Purdue, Stanford and North Carolina were once easy but all four of these teams are going to be much better and all can beat the Irish if Notre Dame isn’t careful. The Irish were a perfect 5-0 on the road last season and are now 14-8 ATS on the road since 2002. This includes a 9-4 ATS mark as a road dog and we aren’t going to see that until the finale at USC. Notre Dame has dropped eight home games straight up and 11 against the number over the last three years so it obviously needs to get the moxie back at Notre Dame Stadium. Expect to see a rematch of Ohio St. and Notre Dame in the BCS Title Game on January 8th.