Irish History - Feb. 26 - March 4

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

February 26
1797 - The Bank of Ireland suspends gold payments
1854 - William Smith O'Brien, leader of the 1848 rebellion, is pardoned
1962 - Due to "lack of support", the Irish Republican Army ends what it calls "The Campaign of Resistance to British Occupation"; which is also known as the 'Border Campaign'
1978 - Film critic Ciaran Carty hails the Irish language film Poitín for its deromanticization of the west
1983 -Irishman Pat Jennings becomes the first footballer to play in 1,000 Football League matches
1998 - During talks at Downing Street, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern launches a bid to persuade British Prime Minister Tony Blair to sign up to an Anglo-Irish paper which would lay out the details of a final Northern Ireland peace settlement
1998 - An army recruitment programme to bolster the defence forces with 500 new members is officially launched with a commitment made to keep staffing levels at 11,500 by the end of 1998
1999 - During talks in Bonn, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair agree to push for implementation of the Good Friday peace deal by the March 10 deadline
2001 - The Government imposes a temporary ban on the country’s 120 livestock marts as the devastating foot and mouth disease spreads in Britain. Strict procedures are also implemented in airports around Ireland to keep the disease out of the country
2001 - Blizzards, gale force winds and driving hail sweep the country, leaving many householders without electricity or heat.

February 27
1495 - Garret More Fitzgerald, Eighth Earl of Kildare, is arrested in Dublin by Sir Edward Poynings, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1760 - François Thurot holds the castle and the town of Carrickfergus until this date
1792 - The Irish House of Commons is partly destroyed by fire
1841 - William Bruce, Sr., the last surviving member of the Ulster Volunteer convention of 1783, a group that fostered efforts towards reform, dies
1907 - Coslett Quin, clergyman, scholar and linguist, is born in Derriaghy, Co. Antrim
1975 - Scotland Yard announces that the man who shot dead a police officer in London on February 26 had been staying in a flat used as a "bomb factory" by the Provisional IRA
1997 - After a contentious court battle contesting the referendum, the new divorce law in the Republic is enacted
1998 - A recruitment programme to bolster the defence forces with 500 new members officially launched with a commitment made to keep staffing levels at 11,500 by the end of 1998
2000 - President Mary McAleese and former Taoiseach Charles Haughey are among the many people to pay tribute at the funeral of North Kerry Fianna Fáil TD and former minister, Tom McEllistrim
2001 - In an effort to help prevent the spread of hoof and mouth disease, the Six Nations match between Wales and Ireland is cancelled and the Government has asked the Irish racing industry not to participate in the Cheltenham racing festival this year. All horseracing, including point to point events, and all greyhound meets are also cancelled until further notice
2001 - Blizzard conditions bring parts of Leinster to a standstill; all flights are cancelled at Dublin Airport and many roads are left impassable after heavy falls of snow
2002 - Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visits University College Cork where he is confronted by more than 400 angry students protesting his presence
2003 - The funeral of former chief justice and government minister Tom O’Higgins takes place at St Patrick’s Church in Monkstown, Dublin
2003 - The European Commission confirms that new cars cost, on average, are 10% more in Ireland than the lowest pre-tax prices recommended by manufacturers in other eurozone markets.

February 28
1713 - Henry Pyne, MP for Dungarvan, aged about 24 and the father of three children, is killed in a duel with Theophilus Biddulph at Chelsea Fields, London; Biddulph will later be convicted of manslaughter
1790 - The Northern Whig Club is founded in Belfast
1799 - William Dargan, railway engineer and philanthropist, is born in Carlow
1830 - Whitley Stokes, jurist and Celtic scholar, is born in Dublin
1884 - Seán MacDiarmada, revolutionary, is born in Kiltycolgher, Co. Leitrim
1929 - Poet John Montague, best known for his volume, The Rough Field, is born
1933 - Birth of Noel Cantwell, captain of Manchester United and Irish international
1938 - Alice Taylor, writer, is born near Newmarket, Co. Cork
1944 - John O'Shea, journalist, charity worker and founder of GOAL, is born in Limerick
1955 - Premiere of Sean O’Casey’s play The Bishop’s Bonfire in Dublin
1961 - Birth in Clones, Co. Monaghan of Barry McGuigan, "the Clones Cyclone", world featherweight boxing champion (WBA) 1985-86
1973 - General election in the Republic leads to a Fine Gael-Labour coalition government; Liam Cosgrave becomes Taoiseach
1998 - Death of one of TV's best-loved comedy stars, Dermot Morgan, who played Father Ted in the hit Channel 4 show
1999 - Sinn Feín supporters rally in Belfast to urge an end to unionists delaying the establishment of a power-sharing executive
2001 - Economic disaster is threatened after the first case of foot and mouth disease for 60 years is confirmed in Meigh, South Armagh
2001 - Dublin Zoo and Fota Island in Cork are closed as a preventive measure designed to protect any animals that may be susceptible to foot and mouth disease
2002 - U2 and Enya lead the Irish victory celebrations at the Grammys in Los Angeles. Bono's boys scoop the best rock album title for All That You Can't Leave Behind, best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal for Elevation, and best pop performance by a duo or group for Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of. Donegal singer/songwriter Enya wins best new age album for A Day Without Rain
2003 - Soldiers add razor wire to Shannon Airport’s perimeter fences as the army and gardaí brace for trouble at anti-war protest
2003 - Bono is made a knight of the French Legion - France’s highest award.

February 29
1888 - Birth of Thomas Paterson, historian and antiquarian
1948 - Dermot Weld, racehorse trainer, is born
2000 - The British and Irish governments come under fresh pressure from a range of political opinion in Northern Ireland to convene a meeting of the North’s parties to resurrect devolution
2000 - Army bomb experts recover a hand held rocket launcher in Co. Tyrone just hours after it is learned that large amounts of Semtex high explosive have been stolen from Provisional IRA hides
2000 - Hospital waiting lists soar to their highest level in more than a year
2000 - Claire McCollum,a newsreader at Downtown Radio in Newtownards, Co. Down makes headlines herself when she proposes on air to Dungannon and Ulster rugby star Alastair Clarke. Mr. Clarke said yes
2000 - After weeks of controversy over the level of troop cuts and the lack of consultation with military chiefs, the White Paper on Defence gains Cabinet approval
2000 - The plan to allow solicitors be appointed as judges in the High and Supreme courts is broadly welcomed by the Law Society
2000 - Live on Today FM, Claudette Campbell pops the question to Richard Walsh 170 feet above the city of Dublin. Together for 14 years, the childhood sweethearts are among the first to take in the spectacular view from the capital’s new observation tower. Richard accepts his sweetheart's proposal.

March 1
1703 - Birth of Philip Tisdall, politician and Attorney General noted for his lavish hospitality
1726 - Abraham Shackleton, a Quaker, opens a school at Ballitore, Co. Kildare. Edmund Burke will later be a pupil
1794 - Statutes of Dublin University amended to allow Catholics to take degrees
1848 - Augustus St. Guadens, Irish sculptor of Dublin's Parnell monument, is born
1905 - Birth of Nano Reid, painter, in Drogheda, Co. Louth
1949 - Birth in Donegal of guitarist Rory Gallagher
1953 - Birth of Martin O’Neill, international soccer star and manager of Celtic
1965 - Roger Casement's body is re-interred in Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin
1976 - "Special Category" status is removed from political prisoners in Northern Ireland
1981 - Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike at Long Kesh prison
1998 - President McAleese defends her decision to hold a reception to mark Orange Day celebrations in the face of mounting criticism from unionists
1998 - DUP councillor Nigel Dodds calls for security to be stepped up following an INLA bomb attack at a school used by Catholic and Protestant children
1999 - The heroic action of a pilot and the crew of a Channel Express cargo plane avert a major tragedy as they land the plane safely at Shannon after two propellers on their ageing aircraft disintegrated, disabling two of their four engines and leaving a deep hole in the aircraft's fuselage
2001 - Fears of a foot and mouth outbreak in Kerry are eased with confirmation from the Department of Agriculture that no animals checked on two farms near Castleisland show symptoms of the disease
2003 - According to a new global survey, Dublin is one of the safest cities in the world.

March 2
1718 - Birth of John Gore. Baron Annal, lawyer, politician and Chief Justice of the King's Bench from1764 to 1784
1871 - Gladstone gives his first speech in the House of Commons on Home Rule
1888 - Birth in Dublin of Cyril Bentham Falls, military historian and journalist
1979 - Death of hurler Christy Ring
1996 - Thomas P. O'Neill, Irish historian, dies
1998 - The Kerry Bog Pony receives its "passport," from Weatherbys, which proves pedigree and opens up sales opportunities worldwide. The passport contains height, breeding details and blood type
2001 - In measures adding to the effects of Ireland’s countrywide lock up, the United States bans Irish meat, and the Philippine government returns 1,000 plus boxes of processed Irish beef just 24 hours after France bans Irish livestock
2001 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern presents Bill Whelan with the IMRO Lifetime Achievement Award at Dublin Castle
2001 - Three farms in Monaghan and one in Louth are sealed off in a bid to stop the spread of foot and mouth disease
2001 - The massive beef and lamb slaughtering facility at Kildare Chilling — capable of processing almost 2,000 animals a day is closed as a precautionary measure against spreading foot and mouth disease.

March 3
1592 - A charter incorporates the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, near Dublin, later to become known as Trinity College
1766 - Four pirates are found guilty in Dublin of murdering on the high seas Captain Cochrane, Captain Glass and others, and of plundering and scuttling the Lord Sandwich; they are executed in St Stephen's Green on this date and later hanged in chains near the Liffey; complaints from the public lead to the removal of the corpses to Dalkey Island
1831 - In the 'tithe war', 120 police move in to Graiguenamanagh to seize cattle in payment of the tithe
1918 - Birth of Sir Peter O'Sullevan, "the voice of horseracing"
1954 - Birth of Ollie Campbell, rugby player, in Dublin
1977 - Birth of Ronan Keating of Boyzone fame
1998 - Two friends, one a Catholic the other a Protestant, are shot dead, after being ordered to lie on the floor of a bar in Pontyz Pass, near Newry, Co. Down
2000 - The hearing of the longest ever action in the High Court ends after a total of 281 days spread over a number of law terms since its 1997 opening
2002 - The Government has again refused to bail out RTÉ after a new consultants' report concludes that the national broadcaster will run out of cash by next year
2002 - It is anticipated that by 2035, total forestry production in Ireland will be €1.7 billion
2003 - According to a survey by the Dublin Institute of Technology's Tourism Research Centre, the US is the most desirable destination for Irish tourists. In second place is South Africa, while Italy is the favourite continental destination
2003 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair conduct talks at Hillsborough Castle in the latest bid to restore devolution and secure the Provisionals’ disarmament
2003 - Ambulance workers in Kilkenny abandon their fleets (responding to 999 calls only) in protest over changes in their working terms which they say are being enforced by their health board.

March 4
1704 - Penal law 'to prevent the further growth of popery' restricts landholding rights for Catholics; gavelkind is reimposed on Catholics (unless the eldest son converts to Protestantism, in which case he inherits the whole); a 'sacramental test' for public office is introduced, directed mainly at Ulster Presbyterians
1771 - John Ponsonby resigns as Speaker of the Irish parliament for political reasons; Edmond Sexton Pery is elected to replace him
1778 - Robert Emmet, one of Ireland's most famous revolutionaries, is born in Dublin
1794 - William Carleton, novelist, is born in Prillisk, Co. Tyrone
1864 - Daniel Mannix, Archbishop of Melbourne and advocate of Irish independence, is born in Charleville, Co. Cork
1867 - Fenian national uprising begins in Ireland
1888 - Grace Gifford Plunkett, Irish patriot, is born in Rathmines, Dublin
1902 - Ancient Order of Hibernians is revived at unity council
1916 - First Irish Race Convention is held in New York City. Serves as immediate call for the Easter Rebellion in Dublin
1923 - Birth of Sir Patrick Moore, broadcaster, astronomer and curate at the Armagh Observatory
1978 - Death of General James Emmet Dalton, aged 80 (today is also his birthday). Dalton led the bombardment of the Four Courts in what effectively is the start of the Civil War, and is with Michael Collins at Béal na mBlátha when they are ambushed and Collins is assassinated
1993 - U2 ties with REM as "best band" in a Rolling Stones magazine reader's poll
2001 - A car bomb explosion outside the BBC’s London headquarters on Wood Lane in west London is said to be part of an ongoing campaign of ‘‘murderous attacks’’ by the Real IRA
2001 - 300 sheep are destroyed and eight Irish farms are cordoned off as a precaution against foot and mouth disease. Despite 69 confirmed cases in Britain and one in the North, there is still no case of the disease in the Republic
2001 -The world’s largest car ferry arrives in Dublin Port. The £80 million Ulysses sailed from Finland following her construction for Irish Ferries. Once she has completed final sea trials the vessel will go into service on the Dublin-Holyhead route
2001 - After being left to rot for the last 22 years, the boat made famous for smuggling arms to the Irish Volunteers in 1914, the Asgard, is released from Kilmainham Gaol and moved to the Docklands where restoration, estimated to cost over £1 million, will take place
2002 - Fears of chaos around the country's schools prove to be unfounded as 2,500 non-teachers begin supervision and substitution duties in more than 600 schools
2003 - The North’s assembly elections look set to be delayed for weeks following failure to reach an early agreement on a deal to restore the power-sharing government.

Sources: Irish Culture and Customs, The Celtic League, Irish Abroad, The Wild Geese