Frangas non Flectes - You may break, but you shall not bend me.
The Cassidy Family hail from Co. Fermanagh and for a thousand years were one of the most powerful and prominent clans in the fields of Literature,
Medicine and Religion. They were physicians to the Chieftains of Fermanagh the Maguires. During the flight of the earls in 1611,
the Cassidy's were banished south and settled in Leitrim and Monaghan.
The relationship between this family and President Clinton's mother, Virginia Dell Cassidy, dates from here.
Indeed, President Clinton has Irish ancestry from both parents.
His Cassidy roots in America date back five generations to Levi Cassidy (c1790-c1850).
On his visit to Ireland in 1995,
we were honoured to be invited to meet with him in Cassidy's Bar where the late Noel Cassidy and present owner, Ann Cassidy met with him.
When hearing about our famous soda bread, Bill requested the receipe be sent to the White House. Subsequently, it's become a firm favourite not only on our own menu but also in the oval office. Drop in to us here in Cassidy's for an Irish welcome. And if Cousin Bill is in town, you may be lucky enough to join him for a pint.
Freeman's Journal
The Freeman's Journal was the oldest nationalist newspaper in Ireland. It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas.
The Journal, as it was widely known as, was the leading newspaper in Ireland throughout the nineteenth century.
Contemporary sources record it being read to the largely illiterate population by priests and local teachers gathering in homes.
It was mentioned in contemporary literature and was seen as symbolising Irish newspapers for most of its time.
By the 1880s it had become the primary media supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell and the Irish Parliamentary Party.
The collapse of the IPP in 1918, and the electoral success of Sinn Féin, saw a more radical nationalism appear that was out of step with the moderation of the Journal. It found itself overshadowed by the more aggressively marketed Irish Independent, the successor to the Daily Irish Independent.
Historically the paper is refaired to several times in James Joyce's Ulysses as is it's location Westmoreland st where Cassidy's bar is now located, this premises was one of the first buildings attacked during the 1916 rising and acted as a safe, house known for harboring leading figures of the rebellion.
The Freeman's Journal ceased publication in 1924, when it was merged with the Irish Independent. Until the 1990s, the Irish Independent included the words 'Incorporating the Freeman's Journal' in its mast-head over its editorials.
Currently the Freemans Journal premises is owned and operated by the Cassidy family - a well established publicans, the theme and history of the journal is still very much alive.