Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Formerly, in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following 14 September were observed as one of the four sets of Ember days. In the Irish calendar they were known as Quarter tense).

919 – Death of Niall Glúndub mac Áedo, a 10th-century king of the Cenél nEógain and High King of Ireland. Many Irish kin groups were members of the Uí Néill and traced their descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages. It has previously been thought that the O’Neill dynasty took its name from Niall Glúndub rather than the earlier Niall, however this has proven to be incorrect. His mother was Máel Muire, daughter of Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots.

1647 – Lord Inchiquin, a royalist turned Parliamentarian, sacks the Irish Catholic Confederate garrison at the Rock of Cashel.

1752 – The Gregorian calendar is adopted in Ireland and Britain, 170 years after mainland Europe: 2 September is followed by 14 September. There are protests and riots by people who are convinced that they have lost 12 days out of their lives.

1814 – The poem Defence of Fort McHenry is written by Francis Scott Key. The poem is later used as the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner. Fort McHenry, as it happens, was named after Irishman (of Scots Irish descent), the Ballymena born James McHenry, Secretary for War to President Washington.

1824 – Sir Frederick Falkiner, impoverished former MP for Athy, Co Dublin and Co Carlow commits suicide in Naples.

1852 – Death of Arthur Wellesley, alias the Duke of Wellington. The Dublin born soldier served as MP for Meath before eventually becoming Prime Minister of Britain.

1901 – Eight days after being shot by anarchist Leon Czolgozc, President William McKinkley dies of his wounds. McKinley was of Scotch-Irish descent. His great-great-grandfather James McKinley had emigrated from Conagher, Ballymoney around 1743.

1907 – Edel Quinn, promoter of Legion of Mary in Africa, is born near Kanturk, Co Cork.

1920 – Three IRA men (Lt. Michael Glavey, Vol Pat Glynn, Vol Michael Keane) killed by Crown forces ambush in Ballinlough, Co Roscommon.

1921 – The Dáil votes to appoint plenipotentiaries to negotiate with Britain regarding Ireland’s independence.

1922 – Republicans under Michael Kilroy ambush a Free State convoy near Belderg, Co Mayo, killing 4 National Army soldiers and taking 16 prisoners. Another ambush in the Ox Mountains kills up to 15 National Army soldiers, including Brigadier Joe Ring. Republican losses are reported in the press as 10 killed and more wounded, but this may be an overstatement.

1922 – Drumshambo barracks in Co Leitrim is seized by Republicans after successful ambush of National Army troops.

1922 – A skirmish takes place at Donoughmore, Co Cork. Two Anti-Treaty IRA men are killed.

1922 – Press reports say that a total of six Anti-Treaty and six pro-treaty troops are killed in an ambushes at Blarney.

1922 – Republican fighters open fire on Free State troops landing by sea at CourtmacSherry in Cork. Three Anti-Treaty fighters and one Free State soldier are killed.

1922 – In Killarney, Free State troops break into the houses of six women republicans and paint their bodies green.

1942 – Birth of fiction writer, Bernard MacLaverty, in Belfast. His novels include Lamb, Cal, Grace Notes and The Anatomy School. He has written five books of short stories. MacLaverty’s Lamb is a novel about faith, relationships and ultimately, love; Cal is an examination of love in the midst of Irish violence. He wrote a screenplay for Cal in 1984; Helen Mirren and John Lynch starred and Mark Knopfler composed the film soundtrack. He also adapted Lamb for the screen; Liam Neeson and Hugh O’Connor starred and Van Morrison composed the soundtrack.

1947 – Birth of actor, Sam Neill in Omagh, Co Tyrone. He first achieved leading roles in films such as Omen III: The Final Conflict and Dead Calm and on television in Reilly, Ace of Spies. He won a broad international audience in 1993 for his roles as Alisdair Stewart in The Piano and Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, a role he reprised in 2001’s Jurassic Park III. Neill also had notable roles in Merlin, The Hunt for Red October and The Tudors. In 2016, he starred in Hunt for the Wilderpeople alongside Julian Dennison, to great acclaim. He holds New Zealand, British and Irish nationality, but identifies primarily as a New Zealander.

1947 – All-Ireland Football Final played at the Polo Grounds, New York.

1951 – Birth of Joe McDonnell. He was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), who died in the 1981 Irish hunger strike. McDonnell was born on Slate Street in the lower Falls Road of Belfast, and was one of 10 children. He went to a Roman Catholic school which was nearby. In 1970, he married Goretti, and moved into her sister’s house in Lenadoon. There were only two Catholic houses in this predominantly Protestant housing estate, and the house was attacked on numerous occasions.

1955 – Dr. Kathleen Lynn, Irish Citizen Army officer, dies.

1971 – Ian Paisley founds the Democratic Unionist Party.

1971 – Two British soldiers, Martin Carroll (23) and John Rudman (21) were killed in separate shooting incidents in Derry and Edendork, near Coalisland, Co Tyrone. Another soldier was seriously injured during the incident in Derry which took place at the Army base in the old Essex factory.

1981 – Gerard Hodgkins, an IRA prisoner, joined the hunger strike.

1982 – Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, dies in a car crash.

1994 – At a London auction, Bono pays $53,400 for Charlie Chaplin’s costume from The Great Dictator.

1998 – Sinn Féin is warned by First Minister, David Trimble, that it could not take up seats in the new Northern Ireland Assembly’s ruling executive until the IRA’s vast armoury of weapons are decommissioned.

1999 – Clonfert Cathedral which ranks in importance with the Great Pyramids and dates back to the 12th century, joins the millennium list of the 100 Most Endangered Monuments. The list is compiled by The New York Times and in the past has included such famous landmarks as the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru and the Aztec site of Teotihuacan in Mexico City.

1999 – Johnny Adair became the 293rd prisoner to be freed under the Good Friday Agreement’s early release scheme. He was one of Northern Ireland’s most notorious Loyalist paramilitaries and had been sentenced in 1995 to 16 years imprisonment for directing terrorism.

1999 – The Pro-Agreement parties resume talks with former US Senator George Mitchell during the second week of his review of the Good Friday Agreement.

1999 – Taoiseach Bertie Ahern begins his official visit to Russia.

2000 – Roy Keane, Pauline McLynn and Samantha Mumba are among the stars who are honoured at the Millennium Irish Post Awards held at the Millennium Brittania Hotel in Grosvenor Square.

2001 – Following the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, as many as 15,000 Irish people are stranded in the US and Canada awaiting flights to Ireland.

2001 – The Irish government declares a national day of mourning; schools, businesses and shops are shut down in an unprecedented gesture of sympathy following Tuesday’s attack on the World Trade Center.

Photo: Glengesh Pass, Ardara, Glencolmcille, Co Donegal, Gareth Wray Photography

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