1681 – Despite witnesses against him being discredited, Oliver Plunkett is hanged, drawn and quartered in London.
1690 – Battle of the Boyne | the Jacobite forces (Irish, French, Germans and Walloons) are defeated by the Williamites 8Irish, English, Dutch, Germans and Danes). The Williamite victory, being seen as a defeat for Louis XIV, is welcomed by Pope Alexander VIII.
1701 – A public holiday is proclaimed for the inauguration of a statue of William III at College Green, Dublin.
1762 – Birth of Edmund Ignatius Rice in Callan, Co Kilkenny, Irish founder of the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers.
1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion | Rebels remain in camp at Kilcavan.
1814 – Birth of politician, Robert Torrens, in Co Cork. He was the third Premier of South Australia and a pioneer and author of a simplified system of transferring land.
1867 – Thomas Francis Meagher, born in Co Waterford, (“Meagher of the Sword”), Young Irelander leader, Irish nationalist and American politician, drowns.
1881 – The Royal Dublin Fusiliers is formally created by the amalgamation of two British Army regiments in India – the Royal Bombay Fusiliers and Royal Madras Fusiliers.
1888 – Renegade Irish Fenians from US invade Fort Erie, Ontario
1897 – Birth of Tom Barry, in Co Kerry, one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.
1899 – Birth of singer Cavan O’Connor.
1916 – World War I: On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 20,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded. The 36th (Ulster) Division suffers heavy casualties.
1921 – Seven man RIC patrol was ambushed by the IRA; the RIC had 4 casualties-2 RIC wounded and two RIC men were captured and later shot dead by IRA volunteers in Culleens, Co Sligo.
1922 – Free State troops take Republican outposts in the south of Dublin city and throw a cordon around their concentration on O’Connell street. Republican outposts at the Swan Hotel on Aungier street and at Harcourt Road and Adelaide Road are cleared by National Army troops equipped with armoured cars and artillery. About 400 Anti-Treaty prisoners are taken in the operation.
1922 – Anti-Treaty IRA in Co Sligo ambush National Army troops at Carrigarat.
1924 – The Irish Free State Aer Corps is established.
1937 – Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann), enacted by plebiscite.
1942 – Death of Peadar Toner Mac Fhionnlaoich, known as Cú Uladh (The Hound of Ulster). He was an Irish language writer during the Gaelic Revival. He wrote stories based on Irish folklore, some of the first Irish language plays, and regularly wrote articles in most of the Irish language newspapers such as An Claidheamh Soluis.
1969 – Birth of musician, Séamus Egan in Pennsylvania. Séamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish émigrés Mike and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to Co Mayo. He learned accordion from Martin Donaghue. He saw Matt Molloy and James Galway on television and suddenly decided to take up the Irish flute. Seamus won the all-Ireland championship on four different instruments by the time he was 14. He currently resides in the USA.
1970 – Home Secretary, Reginald Maudling, paid a visit to Northern Ireland. As he boarded the flight out of Northern Ireland again he was reported to have said: “For God’s sake bring me a large Scotch. What a bloody awful country!”
1970 – The Criminal Justice (Temporary Provisions) Act was passed by the Stormont government introducing a mandatory prison sentence of six months for rioting.
1973 – Secretary of State, William Whitelaw, travelled to Chequers for a meeting with at 8.00pm with British Prime Minster, Edward Heath.
1979 – The Boomtown Rats featuring Bob Geldof enter the British charts at no.13 with I Don’t Like Mondays, and eventually reach #1.
1982 – The Garda Síochána found a large cache of bombs at Castlefin, Co Donegal.
1989 – Birth of singer-songwriter and fashion student, Leah McFall in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim. She was a runner-up on the second series of the BBC talent show The Voice.
1990 – An estimated half a million people lined the streets of Dublin to welcome the Ireland football team home. They had just returned from Italy and taking part in their first ever World Cup Finals being defeated 0-1 by Italy in the quarter-finals.
1992 – The bodies of three IRA members (Gregory Burns, John Dignam and Aidan Starrs) were found in different parts of south Armagh. The three men were shot dead by the IRA which alleged that the men had acted as informers for the RUC and MI5.
1992 – In a significant shift in approach the Unionist parties agreed to talks with politicians from the Republic of Ireland under Strand Two of the political talks (later known as the Brooke/Mayhew talks).
1992 – The Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) came into being. The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and the Royal Irish Rangers. The UDR had been the subject of sustained criticism from Nationalists since its formation in 1970. The merger meant that the former UDR battalions, a total of approximately 6,000 soldiers, would continue to operate in Northern Ireland while the two former Rangers battalions would be reduced to a single general service battalion, approximately 900 soldiers, that would serve abroad as well as in Northern Ireland.
1993 – The annual report of the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights (SACHR) was published. SACHR called for a review of the legislation that covered the use of lethal force by the security forces. The report also supported the use of video recording of RUC interviews of people suspected of paramilitary related offences.
1997 – The offices of the Irish News were slightly damaged in an arson attack.
1997 – Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and his ministerial team held talks in Belfast with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, about the ‘marching season’. Ahern said that it would be a mistake to force the march along the Garvaghy Road. The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and the RUC said that they would only announce their decision on whether or not the march could proceed along the Garvaghy Road, two or three days in advance. This was in spite of a promise by Mowlam to reveal the decision at lease six days in advance.
1998 – Northern Ireland’s new Assembly meets for the first time amid the growing crisis over the Drumcree Orange Order parade in Portadown. A new era in power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland begins with David Trimble and Seamus Mallon elected First Minister and Deputy First Minister respectively to the new Assembly. Sinn Féin delegates abstain from the first-ever vote in the Assembly, while anti-Agreement unionists vote solidly against the two appointments.
1999 – Prime Minister, Tony Blair, British claimed that the Stormont talks had brought about a ‘seismic shift’ in the political landscape of Northern Ireland. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) continued to insist that the IRA should decommission its weapons and explosives in parallel with the creation of the Northern Ireland Executive.
1999 – William Whitelaw, who had been appointed as the first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland following the imposition of Direct Rule in 1972, died in London aged 81.
2000 – More than 1,000 Westlife fans besiege Sligo City Hall when their heroes are awarded the freedom of the city.
2001 – The resignation of David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), as First Minister took effect as of midnight. Trimble called on British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to suspend the Northern Ireland Assembly (NIA) and the other institutions established under the Good Friday agreement.
2001 – Ireland’s national minimum wage increases from £4.40 an hour to £4.70 an hour.
2006 – Commemoration in Dublin of the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
2015 – Death of singer, Val Doonican. Born in Co Waterford, Doonican sang traditional pop and swing music, but he was well-known for his novelty songs, including “Paddy McGinty’s Goat,” “Delaney’s Donkey” and “O’Rafferty’s Motor Car.” He served as host of The Val Doonican Show from 1965 to 1986.
Image | Clare Island (Oileán Chliara) | Hibernia Landscapes by Stephen Wallace
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