1642 – The first regularly constituted presbytery in Ireland constituted by Scottish army chaplains meets at Carrickfergus.

1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: Rebels capture Maynooth in Leinster and Bangor in Ulster.

1834 – Alfred Webb, writer and traveller, is born in Dublin.

1842 – The first number of James MacKnight’s “Banner of Ulster”, the newspaper of the Presbyterian Church, is published in Ulster.

1854 – Birth of feminist writer, Sarah Grand, born Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke in Donaghdee, Co Down, where her father was stationed as a naval lieutenant. In 1888, she privately and anonymously published her first novel, Ideala. One of her most noted fans was George Bernard Shaw.

1868 – The first recorded meeting of the Laytown races were run on the beach in conjunction with the Boyne Regatta. The Laytown races occupies a unique position in the Irish racing calendar as it is the only race event run on a beach under the Rules of Racing. Many generations of people from the Meath area and the bordering counties have fond memories of their visit to the strand at Laytown and of the colour and the excitement of race day. Laytown strand races have been in existence for one hundred and fifty years. It is assumed that the rowing competition took place on the high tide and the racing when the tide receded. Initially the races were a side-show to the regatta and were only organised when the combination of high and low tides allowed the racing on the beach at the conclusion of the rowing events. Charles Stuart Parnell, the great Home Rule leader, was one of the first stewards of the strand races.

1904 – James Joyce meets the love of his life, Nora Barnacle.

1912 – Birth of Mary Josephine Lavin, a noted Irish short story writer and novelist. She is regarded as a pioneering female author in the traditionally male-dominated world of Irish letters.

1919 – Birth of athlete, Kevin Patrick O’Flanagan, in Dublin. He is also referred to as Dr. Kevin O’Flanagan, being a sportsman, physician and sports administrator. An outstanding all-rounder, he represented his country at both soccer and rugby union.

1921 – Seven Waterford IRA men were captured when a party of Marines, having crossed from Youghal by boat to Ferrypoint by night, surprised them near Piltown, Co Kilkenny.

1944 – Death of politician, journalist, intelligence agent and paramilitary activist, Frank Ryan. Born in Limerick, he was the organiser and leader of the 200 Irishmen who went to Spain to fight against Franco and fascism in 1936.

1953 – Birth of theatre director, Garry Hynes, in Ballaghadereen, Co Roscommon. She holds the distinction of being the first female to win the prestigious Tony Award for direction of a play. She is a co-founder of the Druid Theatre Company with Mick Lally and Marie Mullen in 1975 after meeting through the drama society of NUI Galway where they studied. She was Druid’s artistic director from 1975 to 1991, and again from 1995 to date. Hynes directed for the Abbey Theatre from 1984 and was its artistic director from 1991 to 1994, and also the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Exchange, Manchester, the Kennedy Center and the Royal Court Theatre, London.

1955 – Birth of designer, Bob Crowley, in Co Cork.

1967 – Birth of Sinn Féin politician, Paul John Maskey. He served as a Sinn Féin member (MLA) of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast West from 2007 to 2012. He is currently Member of Parliament (MP) for the Westminster constituency of Belfast West, but in line with Sinn Féin’s policy of abstentionism he has not taken his seat there.

1969 – Birth Breandán de Gallaí, AKA Brendan de Gallaí or Brendan Galway in Gweedore, Co Donegal. He is a former professional Irish dancer who is most famous for his lead role in Riverdance and as a TV personality on TG4. He is currently a dance director for Riverdance and an artistic director for the Ériu Dance Company.

1981 – Eight IRA prisoners on remand escaped form the Crumlin Road Prison in Belfast. The prisoners used three handguns, which had been smuggled into the prison, to hold prison officers hostage before taking their uniforms and shooting their way out of the prison.

1983 – Following the election of Vice-President of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams, as Member of Parliament (MP) for west Belfast, British Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, lifted the ban on him entering Britain.

1986 – Belfast-born Patrick Joseph Magee, is found guilty of planting the Brighton bomb which killed five people and nearly wiped out most of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet.

1986 – Birth of singer and songwriter, Keith Harkin, in Co Derry. Harkin is part of Celtic Thunder, performing in the United States, Canada and Australia. Celtic Thunder has had two #1 selling DVDs and three #1 selling albums on the World Billboard charts. He plays the guitar and piano and wrote “Lauren and I” for Celtic Thunder. Harkin has now recorded more original songs apart from Celtic Thunder; some titles include: “How I Wish”, “Daisy Fields”, “Vanity”, “September Sessions”, and “All Day Long”.

1986 – Bob Geldof and John Paul Getty II, are made honorary knights by Queen Elizabeth II.

1988 – A branch of the Conservative Party was established in Bangor, Co Down. The ‘Model Conservative Association’ was part of an attempt to introduce British political parties into Northern Ireland.

1993 – It was confirmed that Jean Kennedy Smith, sister of the late President John F. Kennedy, would be the next American Ambassador to Ireland.

1994 – Two thousand workers from the Harland and Wolff shipyard stopped work for a period in protest at the killing at the shipyard on 9 June 1994.

1996 – All-party negotiations (hereafter referred to as the ‘Stormont talks’) began in Stormont, Belfast. The talks began with opposition from the unionist parties to the extent of the role to be played by the chair George Mitchell. British Prime Minister, John Major, and Taoiseach, John Bruton, gave a joint press conference and indicated their support for George Mitchell. Sinn Féin (SF) were refused entry to the talks and the two governments issued a joint statement on the decision to exclude SF.

1997 – Jimmy Kennedy, composer of many popular songs including ‘The Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ and ‘Did Your Mother Come from Ireland’, is inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

1998 – To mark the acquisition of the Leonard L. Milberg ’53 Collection of Irish Poetry, which comprises more than 1,100 printed works by 50 poets from the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, an exhibit of materials from the collection goes on display in the Firestone Library at Princeton University.

1998 – Shannon Regional Fisheries Board investigate the mystery cause of a major fish kill on Loch Gara, one of the best-known coarse angling lakes on the Sligo and Roscommon border.

1999 – RTÉ’s ‘Prime Time’ programme claimed that both RUC officers and Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers were involved in a gun and bomb attack on 19 December 1975 at the Silverbridge Inn, Co Armagh, in which three people were killed. At the time the attack was claimed by the Red Hand Commando (RHC).

2000 – World-famous Irish tenor, Frank Patterson, dies suddenly at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. Mr Patterson makes his first public appearance as a boy soprano in his hometown of Clonmel and attracts the attention of critics when he wins all the major Feis Ceoil vocal awards. In his lifetime, Mr. Patterson records more than 35 albums which feature a broad range of songs.

2003 – More than 1,000 taxi drivers protest in Dublin City Centre over the Government’s failure to appoint a permanent regulator for the industry.

2011 – Death of Brian Joseph Lenihan, an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He had been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency since 1996. He served as Minister for Finance from 2008-11, and as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform from 2007-08.

2015 – Death of Fr. Ray Reidy. He had most served as a curate in Ss Peter and Paul’s parish in Clonmel and the huge congregation of over 1,000 people (including 60 priests). A Remembrance Mass in Ss Peter and Paul’s church was testament to his popularity. Fr. Ray was also well-known as a stylish hurling wing back, winning a senior All-Ireland medal with Tipperary.

2015 – Death of Soccer star Johnny Fullam (born in Dublin). Full will be recalled in sporting history as the man who abandoned a potentially brilliant career in England to establish himself as one of the most successful players of his generation in the League of Ireland.

2016 – Death of John Horgan. Born in Co Cork, he was a hurling manager and player who enjoyed a successful career as a left corner-back with the Cork senior team.

Image | Sunset at Glen Head, Co Donegal | Fiachra Mangan Photography

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