5 Feb: #WilliamDrennan, physician, patriot and poet, died in Belfast, in 1820.

He was the first to call Ireland "the Emerald Isle" (in the poem "Erin"), the first president of the #UnitedIrishmen, the founder of the Belfast Academical Institution (‘Inst.’) in 1810.

#dib bio: https://www.dib.ie/biography/drennan-william-a2765

His aims in 1791 "A benevolent conspiracy—A Plot for the People [...] the right of Man and the greatest happiness of the greatest numbers its End."
https://www.irishphilosophy.com/2015/02/05/benevolent-conspiracy/

#IrishPhilosophyOTD

25 Dec: Thomas Drennan was born in Belfast #OTD 1696. His son, #WilliamDrennan, said of him: "He was the friend and associate of good, I may say, great men; of Abernethy, of Bruce, of Duchal, and of Hucheson; and his character of mild and tender benevolence is still remembered by many in the North of Ireland, and by not a few in this city."

He assisted in the Dublin school of #FrancisHutcheson and was a non-subscribing Presbyterian minister.
https://www.irishphilosophy.com/2016/12/25/teacher-thomas-drennan/

#IrishPhilosophyOTD