1171 – Henry II (1133-1189) King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, arrives in Ireland from France with an army and declares himself “Lord of Ireland”. Henry’s involvement was partly at the request of some dissident Irish chieftains and lords who feared losing their own lands. Three years previously Dermot MacMurrough “represented the malice of his neighbours, and the treachery of his pretended friends, and the rebellion of his subjects, in proper and lively expressions; he suggested that kings were then most like gods when they exercised themselves in succouring the distressed, and that the fame of King Henry’s magnificence and generosity had induced him to that address for his Majesty’s protection and assistance.”
1382 – Death of James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond. He was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland and Lord Justice of Ireland in 1359, 1364, and 1376.
1718 – Birth in Dublin of actress, Peg Woffington.
1791 – First public meeting of the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast.
1845 – The Illustrated London News reported on the early stages of An Gorta Mór that was to decimate Ireland in the coming years.
1881 – A “no rents manifesto” is issued by the Land League under the guidance of Charles Stewart Parnell.
1900 – Birth of Irish traditional singer, Sarah Makem, in Keady, Co Armagh. She was the wife of fiddler Peter Makem, mother of musicians Tommy Makem and Jack Makem, and grandmother of musicians Shane Makem, Conor Makem and Rory Makem.
1922 – Four National Army troops are killed by a land-mine explosion in an ambush by Anti-Treaty forces at Ferrycarrig, Co Wexford.
1913 – Victoria Cross winner David Lord is born in Cork. Lord was killed at Arnhem, Holland and posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in piloting a Dakota during resupply operations.
1939 – Birth of folk singer and guitarist, Paddy Reilly, in Dublin. He is one of Ireland’s most famous balladeers and is best known for his renditions of “The Fields of Athenry”, “Rose of Allendale” and “The Town I Loved So Well”. Reilly released his version of “The Fields of Athenry” as a single in 1983; it was the most successful version of this song, remaining in the Irish charts for 72 weeks.
1970 – Death of Máirtin Ó Cadhain, Irish language writer and author of Cré na Cilles. Born in An Spidéal, Connemara, he became a schoolteacher but was dismissed due to his IRA membership. In the 1930s he served as an IRA recruiting officer, enlisting fellow writer Brendan Behan. In the 1930s, he participated in the land campaign of the native speakers, which led to the establishment of the Ráth Cairn neo-Gaeltacht in Co Meath. Subsequently, he was arrested and interned during The Emergency years on the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare, due to his continued involvement in activities of the Irish Republican Army.
1977 – William Craig, a Member of Parliament (MP) and a member of the Council of Europe, was appointed by the council to report on the updating of the European Convention on Human Rights. This appointment was criticised by some of those associated with the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland.
1996 – David Trimble, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), met with Loyalist prisoners in Long Kesh Prison.
1997 – All-Ireland champions Kerry play Cavan at Downing Stadium, Randall’s Island, NY in a 50th anniversary celebration of the only time the All-Ireland took place abroad. At the Polo Grounds in New York in 1947, Cavan beat Kerry: surviving members of both teams attend.
1999 – Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, issued a statement on his party’s commitment to the Good Friday Agreement.
1999 – The Equality Act outlawing discrimination in the workplace was signed into law at the official opening of the building designed to house the new Equality Authority and the Director of Equality Investigations. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, stressed the commitment of the State to eliminating discrimination.
1999 – John O’Donoghue, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, proposed regulations which would allow asylum-seekers to be deported to the European Union country first entered. Included in the proposals were mechanisms to house asylum-seekers outside Dublin plus the introduction of food, clothing and housing support rather than social welfare payments.
1999 – The funeral of Derry-born singer, Josef Locke, took place in Clane parish church, Co Kildare.
2000 – More than 20,000 passengers are stranded as Aer Lingus grounds planes in the worst strike to hit the airline in 20 years.
2001 – There was a pipe-bomb attack on a public house in Newtownards, Co Down, at approximately 12.15am. The explosion caused minor damage to the pub. Loyalist paramilitaries were believed to be responsible.
2001 – David Trimble, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), held a meeting at Stormont with President of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams. The meeting discussed the possibility of the decommissioning of IRA weapons and what political steps would be likely to follow. It appears that this meeting failed to resolve outstanding issues.
2001 – The five-star Aghadoe Heights Hotel in Killarney named AA Hotel of the Year.
2017 – Eamonn Campbell of The Dubliners passed away at the age of 70. Campbell, who was originally from Drogheda, Co Louth, officially joined the Dubliners in the 1980s.
Image | Poulnabrone Dolmen, The Burren, Co Clare | Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland
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