1689 – William and Mary, daughter of James II, are proclaimed king and queen jointly.

1820 – Death of lawyer and English informer, Leonard McNally.

1850 – Michael Kelly, fourth Roman Catholic archbishop of Sydney is born in Waterford. Kelly was a leading figure in the foundation in 1901 of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, the primary temperance organisation in Ireland.

1871 – Birth of nationalist, Joseph Devlin, in Belfast.

1864 – Birth of writer and nationalist, Stephen Lucius Gwynn, in Dublin.

1898 – Birth of revolutionary and politician, Frank Aiken, in Co Armagh.

1921 – Attack on Crown forces at Merrion Square, Dublin by Volunteers of the 3rd Battalion Dublin Brigade.

1922 –  A bomb was flung into a crowd of Catholic children playing in Weaver Street, Belfast, killing six and injuring twenty. The Special Constabulary and police are both implicated in colluding with the bombers, forensic evidence was misrepresented and not properly secured, witness statements were not collected, the police refused to take witness statements in some instances, the police failed to identify individuals of significance to the investigation, disinformation was put out by the media, misleading evidence was given to the inquest and when an official inquiry was requested, the request was ignored.

1923 – Two Anti-Treaty men are killed in a raid on their dug out at Currahane Strands, Co Kerry.

1938 – Birth of country singer, Larry Cunningham, in Granard, Co Longford.

1956 – Birth of former soccer international, Liam Brady, in Dublin.

1967 – ‘I’m a Believer’ by The Monkees tops the Irish singles chart.

1968 – Birth of singer, Niamh Kavanagh, in Finglas, Co Dublin. Kavanagh sang the winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993, held in Millstreet, Co Cork. She sang ‘In Your Eyes’ to clinch a second consecutive win for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest. The singer represented Ireland again in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo, with the song ‘It’s for You’. She performed at the semi-final on 27 May 2010, finishing 9th in a field of 17 contestants, thus qualifying for the Grand Final on 29 May 2010. In the final, she finished 23rd in a field of 25 contestants, having received 25 points.

1974 – Death of Róisín Madigan O’Reilly in Dingle, Co Kerry. At age 13, she became the youngest member of Cumann na mBann.

1976 – There were riots in Belfast and Derry following the news of the death of the IRA hunger-striker, Frank Stagg, in a prison in England on 12 February 1976.

1988 – Representatives of Sinn Féin endorsed the talks between John Hume, leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin.

1996 – British Prime Minister, John Major, met Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, for talks at Downing Street, London.

1998 – It is announced that Irish Embassy staff in Riyadh and Tel Aviv, the Saudi and Israeli capitals, are being kitted out with special suits to protect them against nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

1998 – Ireland’s electricity industry, one of the last bastions of the closed market, takes a historic step towards open competition when Enterprise Minister Mary O’Rourke inspects the site of a Finnish-owned peat-fuelled generating station in Offaly.

1998 – Death of actor, John Cowley. He was one of the most recognised actors in Ireland in the 60s and 70s due to his role in the RTÉ drama The Riordans, best known for his role as, Tom Riordan. Cowley played minor roles in numerous other productions including The Field and The Avengers.

1999 – The RUC released figures on the number of paramilitary ‘punishment’ attacks carried out by Republicans. There had been eighteen attacks from 1 January 1999 to 2 February 1999 but no attacks since that date.

2001 – British Army technical experts have made safe a pipe-bomb in Belfast that had been picked up by a 4-year-old girl and carried into her home. The target of the attack was a Catholic family living on the Springfield Rd in the west of the city. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

2001 – Kosovar refugees living in Tralee and Waterford celebrate their right to become Irish citizens, almost two years after they first arrived in Ireland. A total of 140 Kosovar refugees, displaced as a result of an ethnic war in their homeland, are to be allowed live in Ireland permanently on humanitarian grounds.

2002 – It is announced that John Rocha is to become the first Irish designer to receive a CBE award for his long-standing contribution to the fashion industry.

2002 – Security Minister, Jane Kennedy, announced in the House of Commons extra funding of £16 million for the PSNI. The additional funding takes the total figure to £656 million. Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said the extra funding was not enough for policing needs. British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, called on Sinn Féin to take note of the plight of ‘exiles’ – people who had been forced to leave Northern Ireland by paramilitaries. He said that a resolution of the issue was an important part of the peace process. The issue was debated in the House of Commons on 14 February 2002.

2003 – Nearly 10,000 people are forced to find an alternative way of getting to work in Dublin when Dart services are disrupted by a major overhead line fault.

2003 – Vincent O’Brien from Churchtown, Co Cork is voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the Racing Post.

2004 – The first Euromillions lottery draw was held in Paris. Initially, only the UK, Northern Ireland, France and Spain participated, with the Austrian, Belgian, Irish, Luxembourgish, Portuguese and Swiss lotteries joining for the 8 October 2004 drawing.

2011 – Actor, TP McKenna, well-known for his stage, film and television work, dies in London following a long illness. The 81-year-old, who was born in Mullagh, Co Cavan, had established himself as one of the finest and most versatile actors of his generation, on stage, television and in film, in a career spanning half a century. Following several years on the stage he began appearing in television dramas from the 1960s including ‘Dangerman’, ‘Adam Adamant’, ‘The Avengers’, ‘The Saint’, ‘Jason King’, ‘The Sweeney’, ‘Blakes 7’, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Minder’.

Image | Virgin Rock, Nuns Strand, Ballybunion, Co Kerry | Hartney Photographics 

#irishhistory #ireland #irelandinspires