1272 – Henry III dies; his son Edward I, who has been Lord of Ireland since 1254, succeeds him.

1688 – Goodwife ‘Goody’ Ann Glover is hanged in Boston, Massachusetts, accused of witchcraft.

1745 – Death of James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG. He was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde. Like his grandfather the 1st Duke, he was raised as a Protestant, unlike his extended family who held to the old religion.

1753 – Birth of James McHenry in Co Antrim. He was an early American statesman and a signatory of the United States Constitution from Maryland and the namesake of Fort McHenry. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from Maryland, and the third United States Secretary of War (1796-1800), under the first and second presidents, George Washington,(administration: 1789-1797) and John Adams (administration: 1797-1801).

1754 – Birth in Verval, Co Wicklow of William Marsden, orientalist, Malayan scholar and numismatist.

1793 – Birth of landscape painter, Francis Danby, near Killinick, Co Wexford.

1814 – Michael Kelly Lawler is born in Monabiern, Co Kildare. He was an officer in the United States Army in both the Mexican War and the Civil War. In the latter conflict, as a brigadier general he commanded a brigade of infantry in the Western Theater and served in several battles.

1816 – Benjamin Woodward, architect, is born in Tullamore, Co Offaly.

1893 – Death of George A. Osborne, Irish composer, organist and director of the Royal Academy of Music.

1906 – Death of John Richardson Wigham in Blackrock, Dubin. He was one of the greatest figures in lighthouse engineering. He was born to a Quaker family in Newington, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1920 – Three IRA men were arrested by the Auxiliaires near Killaloe, Co Clare. They were beaten, interrogated and then shot dead.

1931 – Death of Olympic gold medalist Joshua (Jerry) Millner. Millner was born in Dublin in 1847 and represented Britain in 1908 in the free rifle event which he won at the age of 61.

1958 – Birth of singer and actress, Maura O’Connell, in Ennis, Co Clare. She is known for her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American country music.

1960 – In a lab deep in Trinity College, Dublin, in 1954, Dr Vincent Barry and his research team created a new drug, Clofazimine, in a bid to beat tuberculosis. It didn’t help TB, but on this date, it was trialled on leprosy patients, with miraculous results. The drug is now part of a treatment that has saved 15 million people from this horrible disease. Interestingly, St Stephen’s Green in Dublin was once a leper hospital, and the disease lives on in Irish place names such as Leopardstown (Town of the Lepers).

1965 – Death of William Thomas Cosgrave, first President of the Irish Free State.

1968 – The Derry Citizens Action Committee (DCAC) defied a ban on marches in Derry by marching to the Diamond area of the city. An estimated 15,000 people took part in the subsequent sit-down demonstration in the Diamond area of Derry.

1971 – The report of the Compton inquiry was published. Report of the enquiry into allegations against the security forces of physical brutality in Northern Ireland arising out of events on the 9th August, 1971. (November 1971; Cmnd. 4832). The report acknowledged that there had been ill-treatment of internees (what was termed ‘in-depth interrogation’) but rejected claims of systematic brutality or torture.

1972 – Released 1 January 2003: Letter, and annexes, about ‘Operation Folklore’ from Mr A.W. Stephens, Head of Defence Secretariat 10, to Mr V.H.S. Benham, an official at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) in London. The letter discussed the possibility of British soldiers being able to open fire in Northern Ireland without fear of legal penality.

1986 – Death of stage and screen actress, Siobhan McKenna, born Siobhán Giollamhuire Nic Cionnaith, in Belfast. She grew up in Galway City and Co Monaghan speaking fluent Irish. She was still in her teens when she became a member of an amateur Gaelic theatre group and made her stage debut at Galway’s Gaelic Theatre in 1940. She is also remembered for her English-language performances at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin where she would eventually star in what many consider her finest role in the George Bernard Shaw play, Saint Joan.

1990 – British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, visited Northern Ireland.

1992 – A meeting of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (AIIC) in Dublin reviewed the procedures used in the political talks (later known as the Brooke / Mayhew talks) and favoured bilateral talks.

1996 – Birth of singer, Brendan Murray, in Tuam, Co Galway. Former member of the Irish boyband Hometown. He represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song “Dying to Try” but failed to qualify to the final.

1997 – Colin Duffy, a prominent Republican based in Lurgan, was charged with assault following a fracas involving RUC officers in the town. There were riots in Lurgan and Armagh on 18 November 1997 following his arrest.

1999 – In Lismore, Co Waterford, a tradition stretching back almost 130 years passes away as the last remaining Christian Brother, Patrick Ryan, turns the key on the front door of the monastery for the final time; the order has had an uninterrupted presence in the town since 1871.

1999 – President of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams, spoke of working with, not against, Unionists in the future. The other main political parties in Northern Ireland all issued statements endorsing the Good Friday Agreement.

2000 – Furious taxi drivers have to be restrained from protesting outside Leinster House following reports that the Government is poised to completely deregulate the industry.

2000 – In the largest class of graduates since the BSN degree was introduced in 1997, more than 50 nurses are presented their diplomas at the Royal College of Surgeons.

2000 – Dr Therese Kinsella, a senior lecturer at University College Dublin becomes the first woman to receive the prestigious Royal Irish Academy Medal in Biochemistry.

2001 – American ambassador Richard Egan is presented with a book of condolences compiled from IrishExaminer.com since the 11 September attack on the World Trade Center in NYC.

2002 – Niall Quinn is chosen as Man of the Year at the 28th annual People of the Year awards. A special one-off award to mark the 75th anniversary of the ESB is made to Dr TK Whitaker who is named Greatest Living Irish Person for his role in transforming the Irish economy in the 1950s.

2015 – Death of Soviet Song. She was a racehorse bred and owned by Elite Racing Club. She was foaled on 18 February 2000, sired by Marju (IRE) out of Kalinka (IRE) (Soviet Star). She raced in England, Ireland and France during her career and she was the highest rated older filly in the World in 2004 and 2005.

Image | Dusk In The Village Of Fore, Co Westmeath | Willie Forde Photography

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