Irish History - July 22 - 28

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

July 22
1606 - A commission is instituted to remedy defective land titles
1817 - William Sadler makes the first balloon crossing of the Irish Sea, from Dublin to Anglesey
1860 - Johanna Butler is born in the Rower, Co. Kilkenny. She entered the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary at the age of sixteen in Béziers, France. Popularly known as Mother Butler, Mother Joseph was the founder of Marymount School and College in Tarrytown, New York. On August 26, 1926, she was elected general superior of the order and remained in that position until her death on April 26, 1940
1866 - Birth of D.J. O'Donoghue, writer, bookseller and librarian
1873 - James Cousins, writer and teacher, is born in Belfast
1933 - The anti-Fianna Fáil Army Comrades Association, which developed into a fascist-inspired group nicknamed the "Blueshirts," is outlawed
1999 - Loyalist Volunteer Force rules out any further weapons handover
2001 - Ranked 25th, Ireland falls below most of Europe in its healthcare.

July 23
1803 - In opposition to the Act of Union, Robert Emmet leads an armed outbreak that is easily suppressed
1834 - St. Vincent’s Hospital, established by the Sisters of Charity, opens in Dublin
1883 - Birth of Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke; military commander, in Bagnéres-de-Bigorre, France
1889 - Birth in Chicago of writer Raymond Chandler, creator of Philip Marlowe. He was born to Irish Quaker and Irish Catholic parents
1948 - John Cushnahan, Alliance Party and Fine Gael politician, is born in Belfast
1998 - Irish under-18 squad defeat Cyprus to reach final in European Football Championship
1999 - The nation pays its last respects to arson victim Garda Sergeant Andy Callanan, who is buried with full State honours
1999- - Guinness Blues Festival gets underway in 30 venues across Dublin
2001 - Under heavy garda surveillance, the gangland funeral of Seamus "Shavo" Hogan takes place at St Agnes' Church, Crumlin, Dublin
2002 - According to the United Nations report, Ireland is regarded as one of the least corrupt countries in the world.

July 24
1261 - The Norman-Irish under the justiciar, William de Dene, are heavily defeated by Fineen MacCarthy at the battle of Callann in Co. Kerry; the MacCarthys and O'Sullivans now control the south-west corner of Ireland.
Richard de la Rochelle becomes justiciar
1294 - Before the council of Dublin, de Vescy accuses John Fitz Thomas, Baron of Offaly, of defaming him to the king and council in England. Fitz Thomas retorts that de Vescy has described the king as the most perverse and dastardly knight of his kingdom. A wager of battle follows and the party are summoned before the king at Westminster. On this date, de Vescy appears ready to give battle but Fitz Thomas does not; de Vescy thus wins his case by default. However, he has been removed from the post of justiciar
1750 - John Philpott Curran, lawyer, politician, and defender of prominent United Irishmen, is born in Newmarket, Co. Cork
1878 - Edward Barrett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, fantasist, playwright and short-story writer is born in London
1909 - Geoffrey Bing, Irish human rights activist and author, is born in Belfast
1940 - The Picture Post magazine is banned in Ireland after a campaign by the Irish Catholic which objected to the “vulgarity and suggestiveness of the illustrations”
1998 - Cork Opera House announces significant rise in operating losses
2000 - The new Student Drama Theatre in the NUI Galway opens
Photo: Ray Ryan
2000 - Bus strike cripples large areas of Dublin
2000 - Galway district court Judge John Garavan refuses to extend late night opening hours to a number of nightclubs because the women frequenting them are “dreadful and not respectable”
2002 - Latest census figures show that the population of the State is just over 3.9 million - the highest level since 1871.

July 25
Today is the feast day of St. James. Since mediaeval times, Dubliners held an annual drinking festival in the Saint’s honour. Fittingly, Guinness chose St. James’ Gate as the site for their brewery
Click here to read our article on Guinness.
1633 - Thomas (Viscount) Wentworth becomes Lord Deputy of Ireland
1750 - Birth of John Curran, Irish statesman, in Newmarket, Co. Cork
1758 - Elizabeth Hamilton, author and educator, was born
1814 - Robert Peel establishes the Peace Preservation Force to counter rural unrest
1820 - Michaelangelo Hayes, painter, is born in Waterford
1917 - The Irish Convention - an attempt by Lloyd George to arrive at a political settlement - meets in Dublin; the opposition of Sinn Féin and the Ulster unionists will render it irrelevant
1919 - Death of Sir Sam McCaughey, known as ‘the Sheep King’. Born near Ballymena, he owned many millions of sheep in Victoria and New South Wales
1987 - U2 plays in Cardiff, Wales, in response to a fan who gathered 10,000 signatures on a petition requesting the show
1999 - A countrywide lobby is organised to persuade the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, to ban foxhunting in Ireland
2000 - An Aer Lingus 737 carrying Irish passengers to Paris is the last aircraft allowed to land in Charles de Gaulle airport after the Air France Concorde explodes, killing 113 people.

July 26
1575 - On the orders of Essex, John Norris and Francis Drake lead an attack on Rathlin island, a stronghold of the MacDonnells. After the surrender of Bruce's castle, its 200 occupants are killed, as are 400 others found hiding in caves and cliffs
1739 - George Clinton, first governor of New York State, is born to an Irish family that had immigrated to New Britain, a small town near the Hudson River. He served as vice president under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
1782 - Birth of composer John Field in Dublin. His nocturnes for piano are the inspiration for much of Chopin’s work
1813 - A Catholic is killed at the 'Battle of Garvagh', a sectarian confrontation in Co. Derry/Londonderry
1856 - The Anglican Church of Ireland is disestablished as the state religion by the Irish Church Act
1856 - Birth in Dublin of George Bernard Shaw
1869 - British Royal assent is given to the Bill disestablishing the Irish Church (Anglican)
1914 - Arms which Sir Roger Casement had procured in Germany for the Easter Uprising are landed in Howth from Erskine Childers’ yacht, the "Asgard"
1927 - Entertainer, Danny La Rue is born Daniel Patrick Carroll in Co. Cork
1950 - Sir Gilbert Laithwaite and John Dulanty are installed as the first UK ambassador to Ireland and Irish ambassador to the UK respectively
1960 - Death of Dubliner Cedric Gibbons, art director and designer of the Oscar awards
1987 - Stephen Roche becomes the first Irishman to win the Tour de France
1998 - Robert Saulters, the Grand Master of the Orange Order, puts his leadership on the line with a call for talks with nationalist residents
2001 - Thirteen-year old Michael Beirne wins first prize in the Irish Animation Festival competition.
2006 - In what is described as a discovery 'of staggering importance' it is announced that an ancient book of psalms has been found in a bog in the midlands. The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.

July 27
1602 - O'Neill's principal vassal, Donal O'Cahan, submits to Docwra
1662 - Ormond becomes Lord Lieutenant and arrives in Ireland on this date
1663 - The "Cattle Act" restricts Irish trade with colonies as well as exports to England
1669 - Molly Malone is christened in Dublin
1710 - George Carpenter, former MP for Newtown, is wounded at Battle of Almenara, Spain
1782 - Poynings' Law is amended by Yelverton's Act which was passed on this date: only bills passed by both houses of the Irish parliament will be forwarded to England for assent
1782 - Second and third Catholic Relief Acts (4 May, 27 July) allow Catholics to own land outside parliamentary boroughs, to be teachers and to act as guardians
1805 - Death of Brian Merriman, poet famous for his translation of "The Midnight Court"
1830 - Birth of John O'Leary, Fenian, in Tipperary; referred to famously by Yeats in his poem "September 1913": 'Romantic Ireland's dead and gone/It's with O'Leary in the grave'
1846 - William Smith O’Brien leads the Young Irelanders out of the Repeal Association
1860 - Birth of John Henry Bernard, scholar, Archbishop of Dublin and provost of Trinity College Dublin
1866 - Completion of the first submarine cable link underneath the Atlantic, from Valentia Island, Co. Kerry to Trinity Bay, Newfoundland
1960 - Ireland sends troops to serve with UN forces in the Congo; nine are killed by Baluba tribesmen in an ambush at Niemba on 8 November; one of these, Anthony Browne, will be awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry
1980 - U2 plays its first-ever open-air show at the "Dublin Festival 1980" in front of 15,000 at Leixlip Castle in Kildare
1998 - A former lieutenant of drugs baron George Mitchell, is caught red-handed with £2.7m worth of cannabis in Co. Meath
1998 - Unionists claim proposals to ban RUC recruits from groups like the Orange Order may be illegal
2000 - The cream of Irish opera talent performs popular classics in aid of charity at the National Concert Hall. Headlining Pop Opera 2000 is Ireland's foremost soprano, Cara O'Sullivan
2000 - Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams warns that the Good Friday Agreement would be "holed below the water line," if the British Government did not properly implement the Patten Report on the reform of policing in Northern Ireland
2001 - According to the National Treasury Management Agency annual report for 2000, Ireland's national debt is among lowest in Europe.

July 28
1210 - King John captures William de Braose and confiscates his lands
1674 - Birth of Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery; Jacobite soldier and editor
1769 - Birth in Galway of Sir Hudson Lowe, soldier, and governor of St Helena responsible for guarding Napoleon
1846 - O'Connell and the Young Irelanders party split over use of physical force
1895 - Birth of John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin, in Cootehill, Co. Cavan
1927 - The first automatic telephone exchange in Ireland, serving more than 700 customers, is opened at Ship Street
1954 - Birth of Mikey Sheehy, Gaelic footballer. in Co. Kerry
1998 - Marine Minister Dr. Michael Woods firmly rules out an extension of the salmon season
1999 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern predicts on local radio that Moscow Express will win the Galway Plate at Ballybrit. The horse is steered to victory by current Irish champion jockey Ruby Walsh
1999 - TV3 announces that model Amanda Byram will spearhead Ireland’s first ever breakfast television programme
1999 - The Central Statistics Office publishes the most popular baby names for the previous year; the leading boy’s name is Conor, followed by Seán, Jack, James and Adam. Across the gender divide, Chloe tops the list, ahead of Ciara, Sarah, Aoife and Emma
2000 - Seventy-eight republican and loyalist prisoners are released from the Maze prison
2001 - BirdWatch Ireland appeals for loans of ghettoblasters as part of a bid to save the corncrake.The blasters are needed to replay the sounds of farm traffic - tractors and their grass mowers - in areas where the rasping, croaking corncrake can still be heard, mainly along the banks of the River Shannon. The hope is they will attract the birds so they can be banded and tracked.
2005 - IRA issues statement ending its armed campaign. Gerry Adams says that it offered an unprecedented opportunity to revive the peace process. He called on unionists to fully embrace the principles of the Good Friday Agreement. The 36-year campaign of armed conflict has cost 3,500 lives, 1,800 of them at the hands of the Provisionals.


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