Irish History - May 28 - June 3

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

May 28
1590 - Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, agrees to abandon further attempts at extending his territory in the north, and undertakes to force his people to adopt English laws and customs
1713 - William Molyneux, the fourteen-year old son of Sir Thomas Molyneux, a former MP, is killed when a leaden image falls on him in a garden near Dublin
1779 - Poet and songwriter, Thomas Moore, is born in Dublin
1798 - In the first Battle of Enniscorthy, the rebels take the town
1947 - Róis Ni Ógain - Rose Mabel Young - Gaelic scholar and editor of Duanaire Gaedhilge, dies
1959 - The Howth Tram makes its last journey; not only is it the highest but it is also the last of the open top trams operating in the world
Photo Credit: Philip Morgan
1970 - Charles Haughey, who will later be acquitted and become Taoiseach, is arrested with Niall Blaney for conspiracy to import arms
1974 - General strike by Unionists brings down the Sunningdale power-sharing agreement and Northern Ireland is returned to direct rule
1999 - The Provisional IRA produces the remains of Eamon Molloy, whom it killed in 1975; information from the IRA leads to several protracted searches in the Republic for the remains of other victims
2000 - A plaque to commemorate the first Irish meeting of the Orange Order is unveiled in Dublin - without a single member of the hardline Protestant group in attendance. The Dublin and Wicklow Lodge boycott the event on Dawson St in protest at its treatment over a march in the city, also planned for this date
2000 - The decision by Ulster Unionists to return to power sharing with Sinn Féin at midnight on 29 May is given a massive boost when the IRA pledges to keep their part of the bargain
2000 - Ireland's National Aquarium is opened in Galway at the Atlantiquarium on the Prom in Salthill. Built in the shape of a fish, the £6m building contains direct water links to Galway Bay and has massive tanks on its roof which collect rainwater for use in many of the fish pools
2003 - James Plunkett, best known for his epic novel of Dublin, 'Strumpet City', dies at the age of 83
2003 - William Trevor wins the €10,000 Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award at Listowel Writers’ Week for his novel The Story of Lucy Gault.

May 29
1205 - King John makes Hugh de Lacy Earl of Ulster
1666 - The Act of Uniformity confirms Guy Fawkes' day (5 November) as an anniversary, and adds 30 January (execution of Charles I) and 29 May (the Restoration)
1722 - Birth of James Fitzgerald, 20th Earl of Kildare; Duke of Leinster; politician and Lord Justice
1798 - On this date, under the command of Father Murphy of Boolavogue, a priest who had been in dispute with his bishop and who had reluctantly stepped forward as leader, the Wexford insurgents, gaining strength as they advance, storm Enniscorthy. The defences of the town are swept aside by means of a stampede of cattle. Elsewhere, General Sir James Duff arrives in Monasterevin where he augments his forces before marching on to Kildare and the Gibbet Rath. On this same date, the insurgents camp on Vinegar Hill, outside Enniscorthy town. In the north, the Ulster Directory of the United Irishmen meets to plan rebellion in counties Antrim and Down
1884 - Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd are married
1917 - Birth of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th US president, in Brookline, Mass
1936 - The Free State Senate (upper house of parliament) is abolished
1942 - Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin's "White Christmas"
1953 - Death of James Downey; at the time he is probably the most famous publican (pub-owner) in the world for bringing to an end the longest ever pub strike. Downey’s premises in Dun Laoghaire had been the focus of a union dispute for 14 years, and brought the pub world fame
1967 - Noel Gallagher of Oasis is born
1974 - Northern Ireland is brought under direct rule from Westminster
1999 - Thirteen RUC officers are injured as tensions explode on the streets of Portadown with both Loyalist and Nationalist rioters venting their fury in the wake of a banned parade along the lower Garvaghy Road
2000 - For the second year in a row, l’Ecrivain on Dublin’s Baggot Street wins the Bushmills Malt Best Restaurant award, with proprietor Derry Clarke also taking Best Chef award
2001 - Irish artists take a stand against racism by donating original works to a special fund-raising auction. Over 100 works by both new and established Irish artists go under the hammer at the Le Chéile auction in the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2002 - Former Taoiseach Charles Haughey is €2.2m richer following the auction of a tiny part of his extensive Abbeville art collection
2002 - Arts Minister Síle de Valera hails the State’s acquisition of a previously unseen collection of original manuscripts by James Joyce as “a monumental event in Ireland’s literary and cultural history”. The collection, stored in Paris for many years, consists of 500 sheets of handwritten notes by the author. It includes notes and drafts by Joyce on several works including his classics, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, as well as notebooks dating from the early 1900s
2002 - John McGahern wins the €10,000 Kerry Ingredients Irish fiction award at the 32nd Listowel Writers’ Week for his novel That They May Face the Rising Sun
2003 - According to the Eurydice report, Ireland has the largest number of children per class in Europe and our teachers have to work longer than most to earn the top salary
2003 - Thousands of republicans and nationalists join in a series of protests across the country to mark the cancelled date for the North’s Assembly elections.

May 30
1630 - Birth of Charles Stuart who will become Charles II of Great Britain and Ireland
1784 - Belfast's first Catholic church, St. Mary's, opens for public worship
1798 - Following the massacre of Kingsborough's militiamen and yeomanry at Oulart on 27 May, rebels capture Enniscorthy and Wexford town
1807 - During the election for Co. Wexford, two of the candidates, William Congreve Alcock and John Colclough, fight a duel in front of the county sheriff, 16 magistrates and a large crowd of spectators. Alcock shoots Colclough dead; he is elected; he is also tried and acquitted for killing Colclough, but his mind is badly affected; two years later, he will be confined in an asylum for the insane
1817 - Micheal William Balfe, one of Ireland’s greatest composers, gives his first public performance, aged nine
1844 - Daniel O'Connell is fined and sentenced to 12 months in prison for 'conspiracy'
1906 - Death of Michael Davitt, "Father" of the Irish Land League. He was born at the height of the Great Famine. At four, his family was evicted and forced to emigrate to England. He joined the Fenians in 1865, became organizing secretary and was arrested in 1870 for arms smuggling. Released after seven years, he returned to County Mayo as a national hero. His travels in Connaught showed conditions had not improved. Realising that, if the power of the tenant farmers could be organised, it would be possible to bring about improvement, he arranged a convention in August of 1879. The result was a body called the National Land League of Mayo. Thus began the land agitation movement. For more details on the life of Michael Davitt, click Museums of Mayo
1944 - Eamon de Valera is returned as Taoiseach
1951 - Fianna Fáil regains power in a general election
1969 - Irish nationalist and the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Dublin, Robert Briscoe, dies in Dublin
1972 - The Official IRA announces a ceasefire, but the Provisional IRA says it will continue fighting until the British leave Northern Ireland
1973 - In a political upset, Erskine Childers defeats Tom O'Higgins by a very narrow margin and is elected President of Ireland
1983 - The new Ireland Forum of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the SDLP meets in Dublin
1986 - Connacht Regional Airport at Knock, Co. Mayo (now Horan International) is officially opened by Charles Haughey
2000 - Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness returns to his job as Northern Ireland’s Education Minister
2001 - Bord Fáilte launches a major marketing campaign aimed at domestic holiday-makers in an effort to combat losses of £500m caused by the foot-and-mouth crisis
2002 - Writer John B. Keane dies at his home in Listowel
2002 - The Liss Ard estate, on the seaward side of Skibbereen and near historic Castle-townsend in west Cork goes on the market for €6m
2003 - A collection of previously unpublished works by John B. Keane is launched on the first anniversary of his death at Writers’ Week, the annual literary festival in his native Listowel, Co. Kerry
2003 - Less than a year after taking up the post as chief executive of Northern Ireland’s Policing Board, Bob McCann resigns for personal reasons.

May 31
1430 - Charges are made against Thomas Foster, Archdeacon of Glendalough, that he has sold the lands of the dignity, has kept concubines, has had offspring, is ignorant of letters and does not know the language of the country: if they are true, he is to be deprived on this date
1744 - Birth of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, inventor, educationist and politician
1798 - Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey is appointed as Commander of the insurgent forces In Wexford town, a civilian government led by four Protestants and four Catholics is established
1847 - Birth of Alice Stopford Green in Kells, Co. Meath. Irish historian and patriot; she is noted for proving the Irish had a rich culture before English rule. A strong supporter of the Treaty of 1921, she is nominated to the first Seanad in December 1922
1848 - At Grosse Ile, Canada, 40 immigrant vessels wait to unload. For more on this story, please click The Wild Geese
1889 - Helen Waddell, Irish scholar, translator and novelist, is born in Tokyo
1900 - During the Boer War, Piet de Wet captures the thirteenth battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry at Lindley. To British eyes, this mounted Battalion is the social and political show-piece of the new Volunteer Army; a company of Irish M.F.H.'s known as the Irish Hunt Contingent, including the Earl of Longford and Viscount Ennismore; two companies of Ulster Protestant Unionists, including the Earl of Leitrim, a whiskey Baronet (Sir John Power) and the future Lord Craigavon; and a company of English and Irish men-about-town raised by Lord Donoughmore, who had insisted on paying their own passage to South Africa. This patriotic band is commanded by a British regular, Lieutenant Colonel Basil Spragge. The surrender of Spragge's Irish Yeomanry is the cause of a ripple of mirth in nationalist circles in Ireland. In fact, there is a gallant Last Stand made by the Irish Hunt Company. Lord Longford, with blood streaming from wounds at the neck, face, and wrists, orders his men to fight to the end. "I knew it to be madness," said one of the gentlemen troopers, (son of the Irish Lord Chancellor) "and so did everyone else, I think, but not a man refused". In general, raw Irish Yeomen fought no worse than British regulars had fought in similar situations. A respectable total of 80 were killed or wounded before the White Flag went up. Piet de Wet's bag totalled about 530 men, including Spragge, Lord Longford (seriously wounded), Lords Ennismore, Leitrim, and Donoughmore (and the future Lord Craigavon), all captured, and the whiskey Baronet Power killed
1911 - The hull of the world’s most famous ship - the Titanic - is launched
1922 - The Royal Ulster Constabulary is established
1937 - Birth of Mary O'Rourke, Fianna Fáil politician
1941 - German bombs fall on North Strand, Dublin; 34 people are killed and 90 are injured
1962 - General Election is held in Northern Ireland; Unionists win 34 of the 51 seats
1970 - Death of Arkle, the greatest Irish steeplechaser of all time. Arkle had broken a pedal bone during a race in 1968. Stiffness caused by the injury becomes worse and in spite of his great courage, he can hardly stand. On this date, his vet, James Kavanagh, gives him his final injection; Arkle lies down in his box and goes to sleep forever
1976 - Birth of actor Colin Farrell in Castleknock, Dublin
1979 - RTÉ 2 (now 2FM) makes its debut
1998 - The Protestant community in a Wexford village receives an apology from Bishop Brendan Comiskey over a boycott more than 40 years ago.
He asks for forgiveness for a controversial incident in Fethard-on-Sea when local Catholics boycott Protestant shops and classes over a six-month period during 1957
2000 - It is announced by the British Government that Tom Constantine, a former director of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration will oversee policing reforms in Northern Ireland
2002 - As the Aer Lingus pilots’ dispute enters a second day;
pilots and management agree to take their dispute to the Labour Court but all the airline’s flights remain suspended, leaving thousands of passengers stranded
2002 - The people of North Kerry turn out in their thousands to pay their last respects to playwright John B. Keane.

June 1
1762 - Birth in Callan, Co. Kilkenny of Edmund Ignatius Rice, educator, philanthropist, and the founder of the Irish Christian Brothers' Order
1852 - The Magnetc Telegraph Company links Britain and Ireland via submarine telegraph cable. The company also operates lines from Donaghadee to Portpatrick, and connects major Irish cities, as far as Limerick, Killarney and Cork
1860 - Birth of Hugh Thomson, illustrator, in Coleraine, Co. Derry/Londonderry
1866 - Renegade Irish Fenians invade Ft. Erie Ontario from the US
1919 - Eamon DeValera begins his tour of the USA to raise money and support for the IRA's war against England
1958 - The Clean Air Act comes into force
1959 - Death of Arthur Sarsfield Ward, born in Birmingham of Irish parents William Ward and Mary Furey. Best known as Sax Rohmer, creator of the Dr Fu Manchu novels
1998 - The Irish and British Governments search for common ground on the parades crisis, amid growing indications that the summer marching season will push the North to the brink of open sectarian warfare
2000 - The controversial nomination of former Supreme Court judge Hugh O'Flaherty as a vice-president of the European Investment Bank is put on hold by the High Court.

June 2
1567 - The Ulster chieftain, Shane O'Neill, takes refuge with the MacDonnells, and is murdered by them at Cushendun, Co. Antrim. He is succeeded by Turlough Luineach O'Neill
1705 - The town of Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh is virtually destroyed by an accidental fire. One hundred and fourteen families and their servants suffer severe losses, and the barracks of her Majesty (Queen Anne) sustains great damage, the total loss being computed at 7,911 pound 13 s. 4d. A memorial is presented to the Lord Lieutenant from the Provost and Corporation, asking for the benefit of a full collection from house to house throughout the Kingdom, and in all Cathedrals and Parish Churches. It sets forth that " they never in the late reign nor in this applied to their Majesties for any relief or reward for their services and sufferings (in 1641 and 1688-90) when they had to maintain many thousands of poor stript Protestants who came for protection. But now being poor, disconsolate and entirely ruined, so that they have neither house to go into, beds to lie on, nor wherewithal to buy bread, may it please your Grace to grant your Petitioners the benefit of a full collection."
1772 - An Act of Parliament allows Catholics to lease bogland
1774 - An act of the Irish parliament enables Catholics to testify their allegiance to the king
1866 - Renegade Irish Fenians surrender to US forces
1891 - A proposal for the penalty kick is accepted by the Football Association. It is the brainchild of Armagh's William McCrum and is championed by his colleague in the Irish Association, Jack Reid
1920 - Michael O'Hehir, sports commentator, is born in Dublin
1938 - Robert and Edward Kennedy, youngest sons of the American Ambassador to London, open the children’s zoo in Regent’s Park. Children are charged sixpence to watch chimpanzees have a tea party
1949 - The Ireland Act is passed in Westminster, declaring the special relationship of Irish citizens to the United Kingdom and guaranteeing Northern Ireland's status within the UK
1954 - Bovine TB Eradication Scheme begins
1954 - John Costello becomes premier of Ireland
1956 - Joan Littlewood's production of Brendan Behan's play The Quare Fella opens at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, gaining Behan international recognition for the first time
2001 - A record 75 coastal centres are awarded blue flags, but five top beaches, including Killiney and Tramore, lose the prestigious eco-symbol. Non-compliance with water quality and bathing water requirements also cost Keem beach in Mayo, Bray beach in Wicklow, and Lough Ennell their blue flags
2002 - It is announced that Progressive Democrats president Michael McDowell is to be appointed justice minister in the coalition cabinet
2002 - The World Cup football squad is officially welcomed to their new training camp in Chiba city in the coastal surburbs of southern Tokyo with a reception in a specially created Irish Village in the grounds of the team hotel
2002 - A labour court recommendation to resolve the pilots’ dispute is accepted by Aer Lingus management but the national carrier’s fleet will remain grounded, causing continued disruption for thousands of passengers.

June 3
1798 - Government reinforces Gorey and Bunclody, Co. Wexford. Rebels decide to attack Gorey
1836 - Barry Edward O'Meara, surgeon to Napoleon, dies in London
1878 - Sinéad de Valera, née Flanagan; teacher and writer, is born in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
1919 - The Local Government Act provides for proportional representation at local authority elections
1963 - Pope John XXIII dies the age of 81. He is succeeded by Pope Paul VI
1972 - A Protestant march against the creation of "no-go" areas in Londonderry ends in a bloody battle on the Craigavon Bridge. Soldiers use rubber bullets and water cannon to control the crowd when the so-called "Tartan gangs" at the tail end of the march begin to throw bottles and stones at the Army
1974 - Michael Gaughan dies on hunger strike at Parkhurst Prison in England
1991 - Three IRA gunmen are shot dead by British soldiers as they drive through the village of Coagh, Co. Tyrone. Their car is hit by a hail of bullets, before crashing and bursting into flames
1998 - In a landmark ruling on army hearing disability cases — immediately interpreted as a disaster for soldiers with noise-induced deafness — the High Court lays down a compensation marker of £1,500 per 1% loss of hearing
1998 - The Prince of Wales meets with the political spokesmen for loyalist paramilitary groups at a garden party hosted by Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam. The Prince also meets victims of terrorist violence and presents others with MBEs. The event at Hillsborough Castle is attended by 2,500 people including Gary McMichael and David Adams of the Ulster Democratic Party. The garden party, which Sinn Féin leaders had refused to attend because of the Prince's links to the Parachute Regiment, is the highlight of his hectic two-day visit. Representatives of the DUP are also present – less than a week after party leader Ian Paisley brands the Queen a "parrot"
2000 - Twelve people are injured, none seriously, when gas tanks explode at the rear of Cronin's restaurant, in Killarney, Co Kerry
2000 - Cathal Crumley, a former IRA prisoner faces unionist anger as he prepares to become the first Sinn Féin Mayor in Ireland since 1920
2000 - Security chiefs in the North come under fire after further reductions in troop levels following the increased threat posed by the Real IRA
2000 - Cash-conscious councillors in the North refuse to sponsor Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames concert in Belfast next month
2000 - Almost half the mainline train drivers threaten to resign rather than face the possibility of legal action for striking — or accepting the company's new pay deal and conditions
2001 - It is announced that the Irish immigration authorities are to open special visa offices in Bejing and Moscow. The move is aimed at speeding up the entry of Chinese and Russian workers and students to Ireland
2002 - Residents of east Belfast begin clearing up following another night of sectarian violence that saw armed gunmen on the streets of the city. Tension remains high in the area around the nationalist Short Strand enclave as both communities brace themselves for a fresh bout of sectarian violence
2002 - The Dublin mini-marathon, the largest gathering of its kind in the world, attracts nearly 40,000 women from all over the country and various parts of the world.

In the liturgical calendar, June 3 is the feast day of St. Kevin, also known as Coemgen and Kevin of the Angels. He is the patron of blackbirds, the archdiocese of Dublin and Glendalough, Co. Wicklow.

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