In the Liturgical calendar it is the Feast Day of Mainchín mac Setnai, also anglicised to Munchin. He was allegedly the founder of the church of Luimnech, later Limerick, and a saint in Irish tradition, acquiring special eminence as patron of Limerick city. Both his origins and the date of his association with the city are debated.

1602 – The Spanish force under Aguila surrenders Kinsale to Mountjoy.

1793 – A Catholic Committee petition is presented to the king.

1880 – Parnell begins his tour of the United States on this date.

1902 – Birth of Dan Keating. He was a life-long Irish republican and patron of Republican Sinn Féin. At the time of death he was Ireland’s oldest man and the last surviving veteran of the Irish War of Independence.

1905 – First edition of the Irish Independent.

1910 – James Joyce and Eileen Joyce leave Dublin for Trieste, Italy.

1920 – IRA volunteers of the 1st Cork Brigade captured Carrigtwohill RIC barracks. They were commanded by Mick Leahy. This is reported as the first ‘official’ attack on an RIC barracks.

1920 – Recruitment begins for the ‘Black and Tans’, Britain’s unofficial auxiliary army.

1921 – East Cork was a hotbed of IRA activity during the War of Independence. Exactly one year after the IRA captured the Carrigtwohill RIC barracks British forces ransack and burn houses four miles away in Midleton, Co. Cork in reprisal for the deaths of three RIC officers on 29 December.

1921 – Two RIC men were shot dead by the IRA in a hotel in the centre of Belfast.

1921 – West Waterford Column under George Lennon ambushes enemy patrol at the v intersection outside Cappoquin on the Cappoquin to Mt. Mellary road.

1941 – German bombers drop F bombs in Dublin and other parts of the country.

1962 – Margaret Emmeline Conway Dobbs, Irish historian, language activist, and defender of Roger Casement, dies.

1998 – Troops are ordered back on to the streets of Belfast and police patrols are intensified in a bid to foil loyalist attacks on Catholics in Northern Ireland.

2000 – Patrick O’Brian, born Richard Patrick Russ, 85-year-old author of maritime novels dies in a Dublin hotel.

2000 – A bronze life-size statue of Fungi, the Dingle dolphin is unveiled in a special millennium ceremony.

2001 – Ireland’s third largest greyhound coursing meeting, Corn na Féile, is abandoned after saboteurs steal up to 30 hares.

2007 – Irish Becomes The 23rd Official Language Of the EU. It is accorded the status of a treaty language, which means it is regarded as an authentic text for treaties. As from 1 January, however, all key EU legislation are translated into Irish, with provisions put in place so that Irish can be spoken at council meetings. The move means the creation of 29 new posts in translation, revision and publication.

2008 – After 36 years in business, The Burlington Hotel in Dublin closes, with the loss of 400 jobs.

2009 – Death of Tony Gregory, 61, Independent TD sitting in Dáil Éireann.

2010 – Death of Eoin Neeson, 83; historian, author, journalist, former director of the Government Information Bureau.

2013 – Death of mountaineer, broadcaster, and motivational speaker, Ian McKeever. Born in Co Wicklow, he once held the world record for the fastest completion of the Seven Summits challenge, completing the Messner and Bass lists in a record 156 days. He was killed on this date by a lightning strike on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Photo: Dublin, credit: Photos of Dublin

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