1170 – Richard de Clare (Strongbow) marries Aoife Ní MacMurrough and sets a precedent for Norman rule in Ireland.

1729 – Birth of David La Touche, banking magnate and MP.

1798 – Cornwallis reaches Tuam.

1803 – Samuel Neilson, one of the founder members of the Society of United Irishmen and the founder of its newspaper the Northern Star, dies.

1833 – The United Kingdom legislates the abolition of slavery in its empire.

1844 – Death of Edmund Ignatius Rice, founder of the Irish Christian Brothers Order.

1890 – The Science & Art Museum and The National Library of Ireland open.

1871 – Birth of Jack B. Yeats, painter and author, in London.

1906 – Death of Medal of Honor Winner, James Quinlan, from Co Tipperary. James J. Quinlan (September 13, 1833 – August 29, 1906) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War and a recipient of America’s highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions at the Battle of Savage’s Station. His citations states he “led his regiment on the enemy’s battery, silenced the guns, held the position against overwhelming numbers, and covered the retreat of the Second Army Corps.”

1922 – Six Free State soldiers are killed in three separate ambushes. Two in Tullamore, and one in Macroom, and two in an ambush and firefight between Kilrglin and Tralee in County Kerry. An attack is also made on Clonakilty in which one Free State officer is killed. Three Republican fighters are reported killed in fighting in Cork.

1922 – In Marybourogh Jail, where 600 Anti-Treaty prisoners are being held, the republicans riot and set fire to their cells.

1946 – George Bernard Shaw awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin. The Freedom of the City of Dublin is an award bestowed by the people of Dublin on a person nominated by the Lord Mayor.

1950 – Birth of Dick Spring, politician; Labour Party leader and Tánaiste, in Tralee, Co Kerry.

1951 – Bill Graham, rock journalist and author, is born in Belfast.

1975 – Death of Éamon de Valera.

1992 – U2 plays the first of two shows at Yankee Stadium in New York. They are only the second rock artist to play in this venue. Billy Joel was the first.

2000 – Irish Travellers are granted the same legal protection as other ethnic minority groups by a judge in London.

2002 – Sixteen soldiers are injured during sectarian street clashes in flashpoint east Belfast.

2002 – According to Transparency International’s annual corruption index, Ireland has slipped five places and is now perceived as the third most corrupt country in Europe.

Photo: Castlewellan Peace Maze, Co Down

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