In the Liturgical calendar, today is the Feast Day of Saint Peter and Paul.

1315 – The Irish annals state that Edward de Brus “took the hostages and lordship of the whole province of Ulster without opposition and they consented to him being proclaimed King of Ireland and all the Gaels of Ireland agreed to grant him lordship and they called him King of Ireland.”

1646 – Death of Laughlin Ó Cellaigh. Ó Cellaigh was a descendant of the Kings of Uí Maine, and cousin of the last attested king, Feardorcha Ó Cellaigh, (1593 – after 1611). He was the chief of his branch of the dynasty, owning the castles of Mullaghmore, Garbally, Moylough and Castleblakeney in north Co Galway. Laughlin is said to have been the last Ó Cellaigh inhabitant and owner of Moylough Castle. He was regarded as a chivalrous man and was kindly remembered in local folklore into the 20th century.

1771 – Birth of Edward Newell, United Irishman and informer, in Downpatrick, Co Down.

1820 – The Dublin Society becomes the Royal Dublin Society.

1820 – Robert Jocelyn, 2nd Earl Roden, former MP for Dundalk and a leader of the Orange Order, is alleged to have led an attack on Catholic homes in Dundalk. He is struck off the Commission of the Peace and ordered to be brought to trial, but flees to Edinburgh, where he dies suddenly on this date.

1848 – Paul Boyton was born in Rathangan, Co Kildare. Best known as the Fearless Frogman, he was a showman and adventurer some credit as having spurred worldwide interest in water sports as a hobby, particularly open-water swimming, water stunts that captivated the world, including crossing the English Channel in a novel rubber suit that functioned similarly to a kayak.

1848 – A gunfight takes place between Young Ireland Rebels and police at Widow McCormack’s house in Ballingarry, Co Tipperary.

1915 – Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Fenian leader, dies in the United States. His body was returned to Ireland at the insistence of the Irish nationalists and a state funeral was held. He was a Fenian leader and prominent member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. His life as a Fenian is well documented but he is perhaps known best in death for the graveside oration given at his funeral by Pádraig Pearse.

1916 – Sir Roger Casement, Irish Nationalist and British diplomat is sentenced to death for his part in the Easter Rising.

1919 – Éamon de Valera makes his first major presentation in the United States at Boston’s Fenway Park to a huge audience.

1920 – An IRA ambush in Ballina, north Co Mayo left One RIC man killed and one wounded.

1920 – In response to Anglo-Irish anxiety concerning their role in a future Ireland, the Dáil Éireann issues a resolution endeavoring to stem land-grabbing and to shift focus to clearing out the foreign invader.

1922 – British give Michael Collins two more 18 pounders to increase the bombardment of the Four Courts. Free State troops storm the eastern buildings of the complex, losing 3 dead and 14 wounded.

1922 – Oscar Traynor leads Anti-Treaty members of the IRA’s 1st Dublin Brigade to occupy O’Connell Street in order to help the Four Courts garrison. His men also take up positions in York Street, South Circular Road, Capel Street, Parnell Square and Dolphin’s Barn.

1922 – Skirmish in Listowel, Co Kerry, Free State troops surrender their arms to Republicans.

1922 – Free State troops surround republican fighters at Finner’s camp, Donegal. After a two-hour gun battle, two anti-Treatyites are killed and 50 surrender. Elsewhere in Donegal another 200 republicans are taken prisoner

1924 – Joss Lynam, mountaineer, hillwalker, orienteer, writer and sports administrator is born in London. He wrote and edited many guide books to walking and climbing in Ireland. He also helped create and was editor of The Mountain Log (the journal of Mountaineering Ireland).

1935 – Death of American athlete, Jack O’Neill. Born in Tawnaleen, near Maum, in Co Galway, O’Neill was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1902–03), Chicago Cubs (1904–05) and Boston Beaneaters (1906). He batted and threw right-handed.

1944 – Birth of Fianna Fáil politician, Seán Doherty, in Co Roscommon.

1967 – Birth of cinematographer and director, Seamus McGarvey, in Co Armagh.

1969 – Ireland enacts exemption from income tax for creators of works of ‘cultural or artistic merit’.

1977 – Two members of the British Army were shot dead by IRA snipers at the entrance to North Howard Street Army base, Belfast.

1981 – Laurence McKeown, an IRA prisoner, joined the hunger strike.

1985 – Patrick Magee was charged in a London court with the murder of those killed in the Brighton bombing on 12 October 1984. Magee was found guilty of conspiring to cause explosions in Britain on 11 June 1986 and received eight life sentences.

1985 – Death of Irish language singer, Máire Ni Scolai.

1985 – U2 play Croke Park for the first time as part of their Unforgettable Fire tour. Support bands included REM.

1988 – The Northern Ireland Police Authority (NIPA) decided, by one vote, not to recommend action against Chief Constable of the RUC, John Hermon, and two other senior officers.

1991 – Cecil McKnight, an Ulster Democratic Party member and a former senior member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was shot dead by the IRA at his home in Derry. The IRA claimed that McKnight had been involved in the planning of the killing of Eddie Fullerton on 25 May 1991. An alleged informer was shot dead by the INLA in Belfast.

1991 – The Queen paid a visit to Northern Ireland and presented ‘colours’ to four Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) battalions. On 23 July 1991 it was announced that the UDR would be merged with the Royal Irish Rangers (RIR).

1991 – The RUC rerouted an Orange Order parade that was seeking to pass through the Nationalist lower Ormeau Road area in Belfast.

1998 – Northern Ireland braces braced violent conflict after pirate Orangemen vow not to recognise a Parades Commission order banning them from marching along the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown. The Parades Commission is a quasi-judicial non-departmental public body responsible for placing restrictions on or banning outright any parades in Northern Ireland it deems contentious or offensive.

1998 – The Secretary of State published a ‘Decommissioning Scheme‘  which made provision for the decommissioning of weapons by paramilitary groups.

1999 – After 30 days of searching, Garda Síochána uncovered the remains of two of the ‘disappeared’ believed to be those of John McClory (17) and Brian McKinney (22) in a bog in Co Monaghan. Both of the men had been abducted on 25 May 1978 and were shot some time later by the IRA for allegedly stealing weapons.

1999 – The political parties in the North inch their way towards a deadlock-breaking peace deal to rescue the Good Friday Agreement based on Sinn Féin’s acceptance of a timetable for arms decommissioning.

2000 – The Western Health Board launches a campaign to reduce smoking in pubs.

2001 – The Loyalist blockade of the road to the Catholic Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School in Ardoyne, north Belfast, continued on the last day of the school term. RUC officers again prevented children and parents from attempting to enter the school through the front gate. The Loyalist blockade of the school had begun on 19 June 2001 and resumed when the school opened for the new term on Monday 3 September 2001.

2013 – Death of footballer, Peter Fitzgerald. A centre forward Fitzgerald was one of the famous six Waterford brothers who played for the Blues. Tommy, Jack, Ned, Denny and Paul were the others. Along with Alfie Hale he made a scoring League of Ireland debut at Kilcohan Park on St Patrick’s Day 1957 in a 3-1 win over Bohemians. His brother Jack setting up his goal which Peter finished with a grand header. He also played five times for the Republic of Ireland national football team, scoring twice in his second appearance, against Norway. His brother Jack scored 130 League of Ireland goals and his father Michael was Chairman of Waterford.

2014 – Death of novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer, Dermot Healy. A member of Aosdána, Healy was also part of its governing body, the Toscaireacht. Born in Finea, Co Westmeath, he lived in Co Sligo, and was described variously as a “master”, a “Celtic Hemingway” and as “Ireland’s finest living novelist”

Image | Hill of Tara, Co Meath

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