Feast Day of Saint Tola is the name of a seventh-century Irish Roman Catholic saint also referred to as “a good soldier of Christ”. Tola, the reputed son of Donchad is also referred to as Thola or Tolanus. He died between 733 and 737.

1493 – Kildare, who has been suspected of supporting Perkin Warbeck, is given a general pardon.

1603 – After a long battle against English rule, Hugh O’Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, submits to Lord Mountjoy at Mellifont. O’Neill is pardoned; the Treaty of Mellifont ends the Nine Years War.

1798 – Privy Council proclaims Ireland in state of rebellion and imposes martial law.

1824 – Thomas Devin Reilly, journalist and editor, is born in Co Monaghan.

1851 – A census shows the population of Ireland to be 6,552,385: it declined by one-fifth since 1845. The number of Irish in England and Wales increased by 79% in the past decade. Nearly a quarter of Liverpool is now ‘Irish’. Over 18% of the people of Glasgow and Dundee are Irish-born – 6.7% of Scotland as a whole.

1873 – Richard Church, of Co Cork, soldier and “liberator of Greece,” dies in Athens.

1880 – Birth of playwright Sean O’Casey in Dublin.

1880 – Birth of Sean Hales. He was a political activist and member of Dáil Eireann in the early 20th century. Hales was born in Ballinadee, Co Cork, where he and his brothers Tom, Donal and Robert, were involved in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. On 6 December 1922, Hales was killed by anti-Treaty IRA men as he left the Dáil. Another TD, Pádraic Ó Máille, was also shot and badly wounded in the incident. His killing was in reprisal for the Free State’s execution of anti-treaty prisoners. In revenge for Hales’ killing, four republican leaders, whom the Free State held in custody, were executed on 8 December.

1896 – An Irishman wins an Olympic gold medal for the first time, when John Pius Boland triumphs in tennis.

1920 – Jack White, journalist and author, is born in Cork.

1921 – Two RIC men are killed in an ambush in Ballyfermot, Co Dublin.

1922 – Craig-Collins Pact is signed in London. Irish Free State formally recognises Northern Ireland government.

1923 – Four Anti-Treaty IRA fighters are killed in an action at Kyle in Co Wexford, between Wexford town and Enniscorthy. A party of National Army troops was travelling from Wexford to Enniscorthy, heavy machine-gun fire was opened on them, when reinforcements arrived from Wexford Military barracks the fighting had ceased but the reinforcements pursued the attackers, it was during this pursuit that the four men were killed.

1923 – The body of an Anti Treaty soldier was found on Upper Rathmines Road near Tranquilla Convent, Dublin. The body of the deceased had 22 bullet wounds. The jury at the inquest found that Thomas O’Leary had been murdered and that the military authorities were uncooperative. Thomas O’Leary, 22 years old from 17 Armstrong Street Harold’s Cross, Dublin.

1926 – Actor Ray McAnally is born in Buncrana, Co Donegal.

1930 – David Staple becomes joint president of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland.

1947 – Birth of Dick Roche in Co Wexford. He is a former Fianna Fáil politician and cabinet minister. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency, and also served in Seanad Éireann from 1992 to 1997. On 15 December 2008 he was held hostage during a robbery at the Druids Glen Marriott Hotel and Country Club in County Wicklow.

1948 – Birth of Edmund Patrick “Eddie” Jordan, also known as EJ, in Dublin. He is a former motorsport team boss, businessman, entrepreneur, musician and mentor. He was the founder and owner of Jordan Grand Prix, a Formula One constructor which operated from 1991 to 2005. He was the lead analyst for Formula One coverage on the BBC from 2009 to 2015.

1972 – The Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act comes into force decreeing direct rule from London. Brian Faulkner, prime minister of Northern Ireland, resigns.

1976 – Birth of musician, Mark Peter McClelland in Belfast. Best known as the former bass guitarist with the band Snow Patrol. McClelland is a recipient of the Ivor Novello Award for his work on the album, Final Straw. He is now the bassist for alternative act Little Doses.

1979 – Airey Neave, shadow Northern Ireland Secretary and opposition Conservative spokesman on Northern Ireland, dies when a bomb explodes in his car as he is driving out of the House of Commons car park. Two groups, the Provisional IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army, claim responsibility.

1979 – Ireland announces ending of one-for-one parity with sterling.

1995 – Death of John Lighton Synge, an Irish mathematician and physicist.

1998 – According to a major report published on this date, almost 9,000 jobs will be lost with the abolition of duty-free next year; it also indicates that travel costs from Ireland to Britain will increase by £16·70 while travel into Ireland will increase £14·30.

1998 – The chairman of the Northern peace talks, Senator George Mitchell, praises the commitment of the political parties as representatives continue negotiations into the night.

1999 – Talks led by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to break the decommissioning logjam end in deadlock.

2001 – Former Taoiseach Charles Haughey returns to his Kinsealy home after spending nearly two weeks in hospital.

2001 – Taoiseach Bertie Ahern visits Co Louth to see at first hand the devastation wrought by the first outbreak of the disease in the Republic; he warns that tough restrictions will remain in place for months. The photo shows Mr. Ahern using the foot dip before meeting officials of the Department of Agriculture.

2001 – Aer Lingus workers stage a one-day strike over pay at Dublin Airport. The 3,000 striking staff, members of the SIPTU trade union, are protesting against their rates of pay in comparison with other Aer Lingus workers.

2003 – Thousands of anti-war protesters join a peace march through Dublin city centre, in the latest of a series of demonstrations calling for an end to the military action against Iraq. Irish public support for US foreign policy has dropped sharply since the days after the September 11 attacks, an opinion poll shows. Three out of four adults are unhappy with President George W Bush’s handling of the Iraq situation, according to the Milward Brown poll.

2006 – Death of Irish author John McGahern, although maybe not as well-known as other Irish authors, the Guardian newspaper suggested in his obituary that McGahern was arguably the most important Irish novelist since Samuel Beckett.

Photo: Saul Abbey is one mile from Downpatrick, Co Down

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