07/09/2026
A wee history lesson 🤌📚
Ever wondered what the no.9 is about🤔
In 1853, O’Donovan Rossa established his grocery and hardware business at No. 1 Bridge Street. This shop became a cover for something much bigger.In 1856, right inside the building, he founded the Phoenix National and Literary Society. On the surface, it looked like a harmless local club for young men to debate literature and play sports. In reality, it was a secret revolutionary organization dedicated to the liberation of Ireland by force.In 1858, James Stephens (the founder of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or IRB) visited Skibbereen and met with Rossa. The Phoenix Society merged with the IRB, laying the groundwork for the Fenian Brotherhood, a global network fighting for Irish independence.The British authorities quickly caught wind of his activities, and he was arrested at the shop on Bridge Street in December 1858, though later released. After being released Jeremiah tried going back to his grocery store to realise it had been publicly ruined and sabotaged which forced him to sell the building and move on.
Interesting aye ? To think we’re making coffees and your drinking them in such a special place ☺️
