Irish History - Oct. 23 - 29
October 23
1662 - The Irish parliament orders the annual observance of this date as a day of thanksgiving for deliverance from the 1641 rising; for over a century, church services on this day will remind Protestants of Catholic disloyalty
1766 - Birth of John Claudius Beresford, banker, MP, and controversial figure in 1798 rebellion, during which he was alleged to have flogged suspects at his riding house in Marlborough Street, Dublin; the slogan 'Mangling done here gratis by Beresford and Co.' was daubed on it
1771 - Benjamin Franklin ends his visit to Ireland
1931 - The IRA and other organizations are declared illegal in the Free State and the Catholic Church excommunicates members of all of them, including Saor Eire, which soon dissolves
1948 - Gerry Robinson, (UK businessman, is born in Co. Donegal
1969 - Samuel Beckett wins Nobel Prize for Literature. He was born in Foxrock, Dublin on Good Friday,13 April 1906. (Although his birth certificate says it was a month later). "Waiting for Godot"
is generally regarded as his best-known play
1970 - Charles Haughey, former Minister for Finance, is acquitted of charges that he and Neil Blaney, former Minister for Agriculture, imported arms for the IRA
1999 - The Guinness Jazz Festival in Co. Cork receives a spiritual blessing with the surprise appearance of an infamous cleric. Mother Bernadette Marie O’Connor, or the artist (formerly) known as Sinéad O’Connor, performs in Ireland for the first time in five years
2001 - Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble welcomes official confirmation that the IRA has put a quantity of guns and explosives beyond use
2001 - The Government announces it will sell off one-third of Aer Lingus at a knock-down price in order to fund a drastic rescue plan for the airline.
2001 - Former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam is presented with the International Woman of the Year Award at a ceremony in Dublin. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson's wins the Overall Award at the Irish Tatler Women of the Year Awards
2002 - Thornton’s in Stephen’s Green, Dublin, is awarded the Jameson Restaurant of the Year. It is among the national award winners announced to coincide with the launch of Georgina Campbell’s Jameson Guide Ireland 2003.
October 24
1642 - Irish Confederate rebels establish government at Kilkenny
1789 - Work begins on the construction of the Royal Canal
1854 - Birth of Sir Horace Plunkett, agricultural reformer and politician
1880 - Fanny Parnell launches the Ladies' Land League in New York. Known as the Patriot Poet, Fanny Parnell is the leading spokeswoman throughout the United States for the organization
1942 - Birth of Frank Delaney, writer and broadcaster, in Tipperary town
1990 - The IRA kills 6 soldiers and a civilian in bomb attacks at Derry and Newry
1998 - New British proposals for a European defence force which could undermine Irish neutrality are outlined at a key summit of EU heads of government in Austria
1999 - The first state funeral ever held in Co. Cork takes place for former taoiseach Jack Lynch at St Mary and Anne’s Cathedral in Cork
1999 - Westlife become the first boy band to score number ones with their first three singles; and, as their song Flying Without Wings hits the top, they beome only the third act ever to see all of their first three releases go straight into the charts at number one
2000 - Hallowe'en firework displays are dampened after gardaí seize rockets and bangers worth close to £1 million in a warehouse north of Omeath, Co. Louth
2002 - President Mary McAleese is named the Irish Tatler Woman of the Year. Northern Ireland Woman of the Year is awarded to blind world water-skier champion Janet Gray
2003 - A smoking ban in all enclosed workplaces except private dwellings is signed into law. Prisons will be excluded to prevent security and conduct problems. The law will go into effect on January 26, 2004. Hoteliers and publicans consider legal action.
October 25
1212 - John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, dies and is buried in Christ Church Cathedral
1784 - A radical reform congress commences in William Street, Dublin
1818 - Birth of opera singer Catherine Hayes in Limerick
1899 - Birth of Micheál Mac Liammóir, actor and writer
1909 - The Engineering and Scientific Association of Ireland assures the population that flying machines will never be of any practical use
1920 - Terence MacSwiney, the Mayor of Cork, dies in a London prison after 73 days on hunger strike. His last words to a priest by his side were, "I want you to bear witness that I die as a soldier of the Irish Republic."
1922 - The Dáil approves the Constitution of the Irish Free State
1960 - Death of Harry George Ferguson, environmental pioneer, aircraft designer, inventor of the Ferguson tractor and revolutioniser of mechanised farming. He was from Dromore, Co. Down
1985 - First commercial flight from Knock Airport (Horan International Airport) in Co. Mayo
1999 - Inter-party talks resume at Stormont as the Northern Ireland peace process enters its final and most crucial phase
2000 - The Provisional IRA throws beleaguered Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble a lifeline after it agrees to allow a number of its arms dumps to be re-examined by international inspectors
2002 - Limerick-born movie star, Richard Harris, loses his battle to cancer.
October 26
1601 - A Spanish army under Don Juan del Aguila, which had landed at Kinsale on 21 September, is besieged by Lord Mountjoy on this date
1771 - John (Juan) MacKenna, who would rise to fame in South America, was born in Clogher, Co. Tyrone
1791 - Founding of the United Irishmen movement
1831 - Birth of painter Nathaniel Hone in Dublin
1837 - James Lawlor Kiernan, Union general in America's Civil War, was born in Mount Bellew, County Galway
1932 - Margaret "The Unsinkable Molly" Brown, daughter of Irish immigrants, dies in New York
1943 - Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, the coordinating body for Irish-language organizations, is formed
1997 - The country's first women soldiers hold their passing out parade
1998 - A price war rages over the video of Oscar-winning Titanic, which is set to become Ireland's biggest selling video of all time.
1999 - A major opinion poll reveals that a majority of people in Northern Ireland would vote ‘yes’ in a new referendum on the Good Friday Agreement
1999 - A line of tractors backs up for miles as a cavalcade of farmers make their way to the annual Great Maam Cross Fair - the last great fair of the millennium
2000 - The new Manchester United Superstore is officially opened in Dublin
2000 - The country’s 350,000 secondary school students are asked by the Department of Defence to propose a name for a new £20m naval patrol boat.
October 27
1651 - Surrender of Limerick
1673 - A proclamation declares the banishment of Catholic bishops and priest and the closure of religious houses and schools under Charles II's reign
1878 - Between October 24 and this date, Fenians propose a 'New Departure': an alliance with the Parnellites
1905 - Birth in Dublin of Bryan Guinness, 2nd Lord Moyne; brewer and writer
1980 - Beginning of the Hunger Strike by seven Republican prisoners in the 'H' Blocks at Long Kesh. They are later joined by three female prisoners at Armagh Prison
1998 - 200 delegates of the 24,000-strong INO (nurse's union) vote unanimously to reactivate industrial action if their claims are not met
1999 - Fifty bar workers are to sue their bosses in the first smoking related personal injury claim in the history of the State
1999 - NUI Galway marks its 150th anniversary
2000 -The IRA says that the re-examination of a number of its arms dumps by the international inspectors has already taken place 2002 - Severe storm batters Ireland causing power cuts and interruptions in road, rail, air and sea transport services
2002 - After comments by British prime minister Tony Blair that the continued existence of the IRA is an obstacle to rescuing the peace process, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams says the IRA is never going to disband in response to ultimatums.
October 28
1659 - Birth of Nicholas Brad, Anglican clergyman and poet, in Bandon, Co. Cork
1758 - Edward Moore, 5th Earl of Drogheda and former MP for Dunleer, drowns with his son Edward, chaplain to the House of Commons, en route from England to Dublin
1875 - Death of William Howard Glover, composer and music critic
1907 - John Harold Hewitt, poet who wrote the Glens of Antrim, is born
1909 - Birth in Dublin of Sir Francis Bacon, painter
1958 - The State Opening of Parliament is televised for the first time
1976 - Máire Drumm, Irish Republican and Sinn Féin vice-president, is assassinated in her hospital bed by Unionist gunmen
1999 - Ulster Unionist and Sinn Féin politicians grapple with a new formula designed to break the deadlock in the peace process
2000 - Athlete Sonia O'Sullivan returns to her hometown of Cobh and is presented with the Freedom of The Town
2001 - Republican sources claim the IRA has destroyed up to 300 weapons in its first act of decommissioning.
October 29
1835 - Michael William Balfe's opera Siege of Rochelle is first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in London
1885 - Confederate Civil War Gen. Joseph Finegan, from Co. Monaghan, dies in Rutledge, Florida
1892 - Death of Clonakilty artist, William Hartnett
1922 - Birth of Neil Blaney, politician, in Rosnakill, Co. Donegal
1953 - The Health Act provides for a free mother-and-child healthcare scheme in the Republic
1958 - The Dáil announces a bill to introduce a system of proportional representation into the Republic
1972 - Gilbert O’Sullivan reaches no. 1 in the British charts with Clair
1998 - The tax on tourists row flares up again when members of the Dáil Committee on Tourism clash over a proposed £1 levy on visitors to the Aran Islands
1998 - In tribute to emigrants who sailed to the New World on coffin ships, Coillte announces plans for the establishment of the Forest of Dunbrody on the outskirts of New Ross, Co Wexford. The public, and particularly Irish-Americans, will be invited to buy a tree in the name of their loved ones
2001 - Hardline unionists seek to block David Trimble's re-election as Northern Ireland First Minister
2001 - Over £3.5m will be spent converting Limerick's city centre into a pedestrian area. Within five years, only buses, taxis and delivery vehicles will be able to travel up O'Connell Street
2002 - Continuous heavy rain brings severe flooding to many parts of the country
2002 - Thousands of homes and businesses face massive disruption to Christmas mail delivery following a vote by postmasters in favour of industrial action
2002 - Broadcaster Gerry Ryan becomes the latest homegrown celebrity to feature in the Irish version of Madame Tussaud's collection when he unveils a life-size model of himself at the Dublin museum.
Sources: Irish Culture and Customs, The Celtic League, Irish Abroad, The Wild Geese
1662 - The Irish parliament orders the annual observance of this date as a day of thanksgiving for deliverance from the 1641 rising; for over a century, church services on this day will remind Protestants of Catholic disloyalty
1766 - Birth of John Claudius Beresford, banker, MP, and controversial figure in 1798 rebellion, during which he was alleged to have flogged suspects at his riding house in Marlborough Street, Dublin; the slogan 'Mangling done here gratis by Beresford and Co.' was daubed on it
1771 - Benjamin Franklin ends his visit to Ireland
1931 - The IRA and other organizations are declared illegal in the Free State and the Catholic Church excommunicates members of all of them, including Saor Eire, which soon dissolves
1948 - Gerry Robinson, (UK businessman, is born in Co. Donegal
1969 - Samuel Beckett wins Nobel Prize for Literature. He was born in Foxrock, Dublin on Good Friday,13 April 1906. (Although his birth certificate says it was a month later). "Waiting for Godot"
is generally regarded as his best-known play
1970 - Charles Haughey, former Minister for Finance, is acquitted of charges that he and Neil Blaney, former Minister for Agriculture, imported arms for the IRA
1999 - The Guinness Jazz Festival in Co. Cork receives a spiritual blessing with the surprise appearance of an infamous cleric. Mother Bernadette Marie O’Connor, or the artist (formerly) known as Sinéad O’Connor, performs in Ireland for the first time in five years
2001 - Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble welcomes official confirmation that the IRA has put a quantity of guns and explosives beyond use
2001 - The Government announces it will sell off one-third of Aer Lingus at a knock-down price in order to fund a drastic rescue plan for the airline.
2001 - Former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam is presented with the International Woman of the Year Award at a ceremony in Dublin. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson's wins the Overall Award at the Irish Tatler Women of the Year Awards
2002 - Thornton’s in Stephen’s Green, Dublin, is awarded the Jameson Restaurant of the Year. It is among the national award winners announced to coincide with the launch of Georgina Campbell’s Jameson Guide Ireland 2003.
October 24
1642 - Irish Confederate rebels establish government at Kilkenny
1789 - Work begins on the construction of the Royal Canal
1854 - Birth of Sir Horace Plunkett, agricultural reformer and politician
1880 - Fanny Parnell launches the Ladies' Land League in New York. Known as the Patriot Poet, Fanny Parnell is the leading spokeswoman throughout the United States for the organization
1942 - Birth of Frank Delaney, writer and broadcaster, in Tipperary town
1990 - The IRA kills 6 soldiers and a civilian in bomb attacks at Derry and Newry
1998 - New British proposals for a European defence force which could undermine Irish neutrality are outlined at a key summit of EU heads of government in Austria
1999 - The first state funeral ever held in Co. Cork takes place for former taoiseach Jack Lynch at St Mary and Anne’s Cathedral in Cork
1999 - Westlife become the first boy band to score number ones with their first three singles; and, as their song Flying Without Wings hits the top, they beome only the third act ever to see all of their first three releases go straight into the charts at number one
2000 - Hallowe'en firework displays are dampened after gardaí seize rockets and bangers worth close to £1 million in a warehouse north of Omeath, Co. Louth
2002 - President Mary McAleese is named the Irish Tatler Woman of the Year. Northern Ireland Woman of the Year is awarded to blind world water-skier champion Janet Gray
2003 - A smoking ban in all enclosed workplaces except private dwellings is signed into law. Prisons will be excluded to prevent security and conduct problems. The law will go into effect on January 26, 2004. Hoteliers and publicans consider legal action.
October 25
1212 - John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, dies and is buried in Christ Church Cathedral
1784 - A radical reform congress commences in William Street, Dublin
1818 - Birth of opera singer Catherine Hayes in Limerick
1899 - Birth of Micheál Mac Liammóir, actor and writer
1909 - The Engineering and Scientific Association of Ireland assures the population that flying machines will never be of any practical use
1920 - Terence MacSwiney, the Mayor of Cork, dies in a London prison after 73 days on hunger strike. His last words to a priest by his side were, "I want you to bear witness that I die as a soldier of the Irish Republic."
1922 - The Dáil approves the Constitution of the Irish Free State
1960 - Death of Harry George Ferguson, environmental pioneer, aircraft designer, inventor of the Ferguson tractor and revolutioniser of mechanised farming. He was from Dromore, Co. Down
1985 - First commercial flight from Knock Airport (Horan International Airport) in Co. Mayo
1999 - Inter-party talks resume at Stormont as the Northern Ireland peace process enters its final and most crucial phase
2000 - The Provisional IRA throws beleaguered Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble a lifeline after it agrees to allow a number of its arms dumps to be re-examined by international inspectors
2002 - Limerick-born movie star, Richard Harris, loses his battle to cancer.
October 26
1601 - A Spanish army under Don Juan del Aguila, which had landed at Kinsale on 21 September, is besieged by Lord Mountjoy on this date
1771 - John (Juan) MacKenna, who would rise to fame in South America, was born in Clogher, Co. Tyrone
1791 - Founding of the United Irishmen movement
1831 - Birth of painter Nathaniel Hone in Dublin
1837 - James Lawlor Kiernan, Union general in America's Civil War, was born in Mount Bellew, County Galway
1932 - Margaret "The Unsinkable Molly" Brown, daughter of Irish immigrants, dies in New York
1943 - Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, the coordinating body for Irish-language organizations, is formed
1997 - The country's first women soldiers hold their passing out parade
1998 - A price war rages over the video of Oscar-winning Titanic, which is set to become Ireland's biggest selling video of all time.
1999 - A major opinion poll reveals that a majority of people in Northern Ireland would vote ‘yes’ in a new referendum on the Good Friday Agreement
1999 - A line of tractors backs up for miles as a cavalcade of farmers make their way to the annual Great Maam Cross Fair - the last great fair of the millennium
2000 - The new Manchester United Superstore is officially opened in Dublin
2000 - The country’s 350,000 secondary school students are asked by the Department of Defence to propose a name for a new £20m naval patrol boat.
October 27
1651 - Surrender of Limerick
1673 - A proclamation declares the banishment of Catholic bishops and priest and the closure of religious houses and schools under Charles II's reign
1878 - Between October 24 and this date, Fenians propose a 'New Departure': an alliance with the Parnellites
1905 - Birth in Dublin of Bryan Guinness, 2nd Lord Moyne; brewer and writer
1980 - Beginning of the Hunger Strike by seven Republican prisoners in the 'H' Blocks at Long Kesh. They are later joined by three female prisoners at Armagh Prison
1998 - 200 delegates of the 24,000-strong INO (nurse's union) vote unanimously to reactivate industrial action if their claims are not met
1999 - Fifty bar workers are to sue their bosses in the first smoking related personal injury claim in the history of the State
1999 - NUI Galway marks its 150th anniversary
2000 -The IRA says that the re-examination of a number of its arms dumps by the international inspectors has already taken place 2002 - Severe storm batters Ireland causing power cuts and interruptions in road, rail, air and sea transport services
2002 - After comments by British prime minister Tony Blair that the continued existence of the IRA is an obstacle to rescuing the peace process, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams says the IRA is never going to disband in response to ultimatums.
October 28
1659 - Birth of Nicholas Brad, Anglican clergyman and poet, in Bandon, Co. Cork
1758 - Edward Moore, 5th Earl of Drogheda and former MP for Dunleer, drowns with his son Edward, chaplain to the House of Commons, en route from England to Dublin
1875 - Death of William Howard Glover, composer and music critic
1907 - John Harold Hewitt, poet who wrote the Glens of Antrim, is born
1909 - Birth in Dublin of Sir Francis Bacon, painter
1958 - The State Opening of Parliament is televised for the first time
1976 - Máire Drumm, Irish Republican and Sinn Féin vice-president, is assassinated in her hospital bed by Unionist gunmen
1999 - Ulster Unionist and Sinn Féin politicians grapple with a new formula designed to break the deadlock in the peace process
2000 - Athlete Sonia O'Sullivan returns to her hometown of Cobh and is presented with the Freedom of The Town
2001 - Republican sources claim the IRA has destroyed up to 300 weapons in its first act of decommissioning.
October 29
1835 - Michael William Balfe's opera Siege of Rochelle is first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in London
1885 - Confederate Civil War Gen. Joseph Finegan, from Co. Monaghan, dies in Rutledge, Florida
1892 - Death of Clonakilty artist, William Hartnett
1922 - Birth of Neil Blaney, politician, in Rosnakill, Co. Donegal
1953 - The Health Act provides for a free mother-and-child healthcare scheme in the Republic
1958 - The Dáil announces a bill to introduce a system of proportional representation into the Republic
1972 - Gilbert O’Sullivan reaches no. 1 in the British charts with Clair
1998 - The tax on tourists row flares up again when members of the Dáil Committee on Tourism clash over a proposed £1 levy on visitors to the Aran Islands
1998 - In tribute to emigrants who sailed to the New World on coffin ships, Coillte announces plans for the establishment of the Forest of Dunbrody on the outskirts of New Ross, Co Wexford. The public, and particularly Irish-Americans, will be invited to buy a tree in the name of their loved ones
2001 - Hardline unionists seek to block David Trimble's re-election as Northern Ireland First Minister
2001 - Over £3.5m will be spent converting Limerick's city centre into a pedestrian area. Within five years, only buses, taxis and delivery vehicles will be able to travel up O'Connell Street
2002 - Continuous heavy rain brings severe flooding to many parts of the country
2002 - Thousands of homes and businesses face massive disruption to Christmas mail delivery following a vote by postmasters in favour of industrial action
2002 - Broadcaster Gerry Ryan becomes the latest homegrown celebrity to feature in the Irish version of Madame Tussaud's collection when he unveils a life-size model of himself at the Dublin museum.
Sources: Irish Culture and Customs, The Celtic League, Irish Abroad, The Wild Geese
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