Latest news with #Volunteers'
Sunday World
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Aisling Bea stunned to find family links to 1916 rebellion on her dad's side
can't bea-lieve it | 'To discover my great grandfather was a leader in the Easter Rising has blown my mind' Aisling (41), who grew up in Co Kildare and is now an award-winning actor, screenwriter and comedian, traces her family's roots for the popular British TV show and zones in on both the paternal and maternal sides of her family. Now living in London with her producer husband Jack Freeman and their nine-month-old daughter, Aisling returned while heavily pregnant to Ireland to get help from her mother and aunt to trace her family tree. She reveals her real name is Aisling O'Sullivan and says she gets her stage name 'Bea' from her father called Brian, who tragically died when she was just three years old. 'For my dad's side of the family. I know a lot of anecdotes and things swirling around the sort of War of Independence and the Irish fight for freedom and self-determination, so I'd love to know more about that time in history and their place in it,' she says. Aisling dug out old photos for her episode of the show Aisling remembers going on family trips to her dad's home area of Ballyferriter in Co Kerry. It was there she learns that her paternal great grandfather Pádraic Ó Briain and his wife Ellen, had three young children, Sean, Maureen and Aisling's grandmother Eileen. Pádraic, who also used the name Paddy O'Brien, was a schoolteacher, but it also emerges he was the Secretary of the Irish Volunteers in Ballyferriter at the time of the outbreak of World War I. At the time of the Easter Rising in Kerry in 1916, 300 men would gather at the Volunteers' headquarters in Tralee to take part in the rebellion, including what has been documented as 'men from Ballyferriter and Dingle, led by Paddy O'Brien, a national school teacher'. Historian Dr Daithí Ó Corráin has more information for Aisling. 'They expected to take part in an armed rebellion against British rule in Ireland and Pádraic is right at the heart of what is the most pivotal moment in 20th century Irish history,' he explains. Aisling was pregnant at the time the show was made News in 90 Seconds - May 18th 'Pádraic and his men march through the night in terrible weather conditions 40 miles over a mountain pass [Conor Pass] to be on time on Easter Sunday, awaiting instructions.' Aisling is flabbergasted. 'I can't even imagine what it must have been like for those men marching all the way to Tralee, 40 miles at night, getting ready to stage a revolution against one of the biggest powers in the world at the time. 'There were probably so many thoughts in my great grandfather's head, but a deep belief in what he was going to be potentially fighting for. 'I'd be someone I suppose that would try and stand by what I believe in and that's very important to me, but this is a lot more life or death. It brings chills without a doubt,' she says. The Kerry Volunteers had been waiting for a German ship, the Aud, to offload 20,000 rifles and one million rounds of ammunition. But miscommunication led to the ship's discovery by the British. The guns and ammunition were meant to arm volunteers from not only Kerry, but also Limerick, Clare and Galway, leading to the abandonment of the Easter Rising in that region, with just Dublin staging the rebellion the following Monday. Aisling discovered that Pádraic's wife, Ellen, her great granny, died of TB at the age of 33 in 1920, leaving her great granddad to bring up three small children. She also finds out that Pádraic was a member of the Gaelic League, which promoted Irish language and culture, and was a passionate Gaelgeoir right until he died at the age of 78 in 1965. It also emerges that Ellen's mother, Aine O'Donoghue, was the first teacher on the Blasket Islands, when at the age of 19 she travelled there in 1864 to teach English. 'When I was at school and I used to study the 1916 Rising, you think of it as a massive part of our Irish history, and that eventually everyone was involved,' she reflects. Read more 'But really a very small amount of people were involved. Most people weren't revolutionary, most people weren't about to give up their lives for the cause, but there were also a small amount of people like my great grandfather, who were absolutely willing to take up arms and fight for what they believed in and lost their lives for what they believed in. He was part of the Easter Rising, even if they didn't make it to that Monday. 'And it does make me really proud that he was part of that small group of people. 'I wish I could go back in time and tell him that your great granddaughter is not only going to love the language but is going to come back to where he is from with a British crew for a British TV show to study his life and his influence while she's pregnant with a little girl, whom I'm calling Saoirse, which is the Irish for freedom, in our language, and the idea of that genetic line has blown my mind a lot.' The comedian also tracks down her maternal side. Her mother Helen's maiden name is Moloney. 'My mother's side of the family are this big gang of very vocal alpha females, and that's probably the bit of my upbringing I've probably brought into every part of my work and life,' she says. 'On my mother's side, everything revolved around my grandmother, in particular. My grandmother was this sort of formidable pillar. "I remember Mammy being like 'oh she was one of the first women in the town to wear trousers', and then my mother was one of the first female professional flat-race jockeys of her era, and those small moments of like shunning the idea of what people think you should do — I'd love to know going back where did that come from.' She travels to Co Limerick, and traces her maternal lineage back to pre-Famine times, where she discovers that her great, great granddad James Sheehy was married to Martha Fitzgerald. Local historian Dr Richard McMahon reveals that in February 1841 the family home was broken into by a gang, who looted the house for guns and seriously injured James, leading to his death from the wounds inflicted on him. Martha was left to bring up five kids on the family farm of 40 acres, which they rented at the time. 'Martha has a fight on her hands now, she has lost her husband, she has five children, most farm holders are male, most farmers are male, so if you're a widow it's a very difficult situation,' stresses Dr McMahon. When the Famine started in 1845 not only did a million people starve and a million emigrate, but tenants were thrown off their farms as they could not pay rent. Aisling is taken aback to learn Martha's farm holding increased to 115 acres. 'That is hard to hear, I'll be honest, because having spent all of our childhood learning about the Irish famine in our history classes, you feel like anyone who, for many terrible situations, profited... It does make me feel a little bit shameful to be honest,' she admits. But Dr McMahon is more reassuring. 'It's a difficult one. There's elements of Martha which I think are very admirable, like her husband has been killed, she herself has gone through traumatic experience, so there's that sense of her as a fighter,' he tells her.
Reuters
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
QB Nico Iamaleava commits to UCLA after Tennessee exit
April 20 - Nico Iamaleava is officially headed to UCLA, one week after the quarterback's messy, NIL-driven departure from Tennessee. Iamaleava's representation went to Tennessee seeking to renegotiate the former five-star prospect's name, image and likeness deal, On3 first reported last week. The deal Iamaleava originally signed with Tennessee's collective out of high school paid him $2.4 million per year; Iamaleava's camp was seeking $4 million annually. When Iamaleava skipped practice and team meetings April 11, the day before the Volunteers' spring game, it prompted coach Josh Heupel to part ways with the QB. Iamaleava entered the transfer portal when it opened for the spring window this week. UCLA was long considered a potential destination, partly because he is from Long Beach, Calif., and his younger brother Madden was once committed to the Bruins before reneging and choosing Arkansas. "My journey at UT has come to an end," Iamaleava wrote in an Instagram post Sunday. "This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon. But I trust God's timing, and I believe He's leading me where I need to be. "Even though this chapter is ending, a new chapter has begun and I am committed to UCLA!" The details of Iamaleava's NIL agreement at UCLA were not yet known, but he is presumed to be the Bruins' new No. 1 quarterback entering the 2025 season.
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Houston vs. Tennessee Elite Eight: Game Time, TV Channel and More
Houston vs. Tennessee Elite Eight: Game Time, TV Channel and More Matchup information for the NCAA Tournament Elite 8 game between the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars (33-4) and the No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers (30-7) has been announced. The contest will start at 2:20 p.m. ET on Sunday. In the Sweet 16, Houston defeated Purdue 62-60 on Friday, March 28. Milos Uzan scored a team-high 22 points (and contributed six assists and three rebounds). Tennessee heads into the Elite 8 matchup following a 78-65 win over Kentucky on Friday, March 28 in the Sweet 16. Their leading scorer was Zakai Zeigler with 18 points. Check out: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll What Time and TV Channel is the Houston vs. Tennessee Game on? Game Day: Sunday, March 30, 2025 Sunday, March 30, 2025 Game Time: 2:20 p.m. ET 2:20 p.m. ET Location: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana TV Channel: CBS CBS Live Stream: Fubo (Watch Now! - Regional restrictions may apply) Fubo (Watch Now! - Regional restrictions may apply) Live Stream: Paramount+ - Watch Now! Watch the NCAA Tournament on Sling! Houston Players to Watch Uzan paces the Cougars at 4.4 assists per game, while also posting 3.0 rebounds and 11.8 points. LJ Cryer leads his squad in both points (15.3) and assists (2.0) per contest, and also puts up 2.1 rebounds. At the other end, he delivers 0.9 steals and 0.1 blocked shots. J'wan Roberts leads his squad in rebounds per contest (6.4), and also averages 10.7 points and 1.8 assists. At the other end, he posts 1.0 steal and 0.6 blocked shots. Joseph Tugler puts up 5.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, shooting 52.5% from the field. Emanuel Sharp averages 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists per contest. Defensively, he posts 1.4 steals and 0.0 blocked shots. Tennessee Players to Watch Zeigler is the Volunteers' top assist man (7.5 per game), and he averages 13.9 points and 2.9 rebounds. His assist average ranks him fourth in the country. Chaz Lanier is posting a team-best 18.0 points per game. And he is contributing 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists, making 43.8% of his shots from the field and 40.5% from 3-point range, with 3.3 treys per contest (eighth in college basketball). Igor Milicic Jr. is the Volunteers' top rebounder (6.7 per game), and he averages 9.6 points and 1.9 assists. The Volunteers get 11.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game from Jordan Gainey. The Volunteers receive 7.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game from Felix Okpara. Houston vs. Tennessee Betting Info Spread: Houston -2.5 Houston -2.5 Moneyline Favorite: Houston -160 Houston -160 Moneyline Underdog: Tennessee +135 Tennessee +135 Total: 123.5 Follow the latest college sports coverage at College Sports Wire.
USA Today
13-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Small-school 2025 NFL Draft prospects going big at recent pro days
Small-school 2025 NFL Draft prospects going big at recent pro days Spotlighting several small-school NFL Draft prospects who impressed at recent pro days The NFL Draft cycle has spun forward into the Pro Day circuit for colleges across the country. NFL personnel evaluators fan out and take in as many workouts as they can to build the information database on the players and their athletic testing, plus chances to spend a little time with prospects to get to know them better. For prospects who toiled out of the national spotlight in the smaller college divisions, the pro days are the best chance to make a bigger name for themselves. A few such prospects from the FCS, D-II and D-III levels have done just that in some recent pro day workouts. One of the more interesting aspects of the college pro day circuit is when bigger schools allow prospects from nearby small schools to showcase themselves in the larger setting. That happened at Wisconsin, where invitee Dylan Brown from Wisconsin-River Falls had himself a day. Brown, a big defensive back from the D-III level, proved he's got NFL athleticism and size: Another player taking advantage of the bigger stage is Austin Peay cornerback Jesse Johnson. The nephew of longtime NFL CB Antonio Cromartie, Johnson showed off his quickness and explosiveness at Tennessee's pro day. He met with several teams at the Volunteers' pro day, including the Falcons, Titans, Colts and Lions. Wideout Efton Chism from Eastern Washington proved himself in both the Hula Bowl and then the Shrine Bowl. The nifty slot receiver posted some impressive numbers at his pro day, too. Those three-cone (3C) and short shuttle (SS) times are very good for an inside WR, more important than the slow 40-time: East Texas A&M has itself a prospect in cornerback Kendall Paul, who blazed a hand-timed 4.27 40-yard dash. He's an undersized (measured 5-9/161) outside CB who isn't afraid to hit, even though his speed and quickness (4.02 short shuttle) are his calling cards. Finally, safety Ian Kennelly from D-II powerhouse Grand Valley State had a great workout at the Lakers pro day. He's a rangy safety with good ball skills and no problem crashing the box to make a tackle, and his size and athleticism check NFL boxes: Having a great pro day is just one piece of the puzzle for these small-school talents. It's an important one, however; the strong performances increase their chances of getting into an NFL rookie minicamp or signed as an undrafted free agent.
