Irish History - Jan. 13 - 19

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

January 13
1695 - Jonathan Swift becomes Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
1800 - Daniel O'Connell makes his first public speech, opposing Union with England
1880 - Alexander Brenon, film director, is born in Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
1931 - Mary Clarke, Maryknoll nun and martyr is born of Irish parents in NYC
1935 - Eibhin Nic Choill (Eleanor Hill) Irish Celtic scholar dies
1941 - James Joyce, considered by many to be one of the most important modern authors in English because of his revolutionary approach to the novel, dies in Zurich
1964 - Ulster golfer Ronan Rafferty is born
1998 - Northern Ireland takes another giant step towards peace after the political parties at Stormont accept the British and Irish governments blueprint as the basis for negotiation
2000 - A record-breaking 55 people are presented with the President’s Gold Awards at a special ceremony in A´ras an Uachtaráin
2000 - It is announced that a 1,000 year old treasure trove has been discovered by a tour guide cleaning up litter from a Co Kilkenny cave. The priceless Viking age silver and bronze jewellery is unique - nothing like them have been found in Ireland or elsewhere
2001 - One and a half copies of the most important piece of documentation of the 20th century in Ireland, the Declaration of Independence, is sold to a New York collector for £56,000
2003 - It is announced that the Government is to undertake a major review of Gaeltacht areas amid concerns of a dramatic fall-off in Irish language use in many areas.

January 14

1753 - Death of George Berkeley, Irish philosopher and Anglican
1775 - John Hely-Hutchinson, Provost of Trinity College, fights a duel with William Doyle over abusive newspaper articles. Doyle is ill and has to lean on a crutch at the duel; on being challenged he had initially complained of sore eyes, and 'objected to stand merely to be shot at, without the power of retaliation'. Neither party is injured. One of the Provost's sons wishes to fight a further duel with Doyle, but the authorities prevent this; they then go abroad and hold the duel, neither being injured
1871 - Alexander Sullivan, barrister and last King's Serjeant of Ireland, is born in Dublin
1937 - De Valera's new constitution, with its assertions of Ireland as a sovereign 32-county state, and its definition of Catholic morality and "women's place" is approved
1965 - Talks between Seán Lemass, Taoiseach, and Terence O'Neill, Northern Ireland Prime Minister, take place in Belfast
2000 - Unemployment drops to its lowest level in 19 years
2000 - Unionist politicians are furious after Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams claims that there could be a united Ireland by the year 2016, the centenary of the Easter Rising
2000 - Eco Warriors and the Green Party meet with members of Wicklow County Council in a last ditch attempt to get the local authority to abandon its controversial road widening scheme in the Glen of the Downs.

January 15
1775 - Thomas Dermody, classical scholar and poet is born
1798 - Thomas Crofton Croker, antiquarian and folklorist, is born in Cork
1800 - The last session of the Irish parliament begins on this date
1821 - Thomas Clarke Luby, Fenian, is born in Dublin
1825 - Thomas, 2nd Viscount Newcomen, commits suicide after the failure of Newcomen's Bank
1835 - Birth of Patrick Guiney, soldier and politician, in Parkstown, Co. Tipperary
1860 - Eleanor Hull, Irish Celtic Scholar is born
1861 - Young Irelander Terence MacManus dies in San Francisco, CA
1939 - IRA Army Council and Republican survivors of 2nd Dáil Éireann declare war on England
1920 - Sinn Féin takes control of most borough and urban councils in local elections
1961 - Dave MacAuley, world flyweight boxing champion, IBF,1989-92, is born in Larne, Co. Antrim
1973 - Ireland joins the European Investment bank
1988 - Sean McBride, Irish patriot and human rights activist, dies.
2007 - Dublin-boorn actress Pauline Delaney, who is best known for her role in Circle of Friends and Into The West, passes away from complications caused by from Parkinson's disease.
In the liturgical calendar, today is the feast of St. Ita.

January 16
1700 - Richard Levinge, an Irish MP and later a prominent Tory, is committed by the English House of Commons to the Tower of London until 11 April for speaking ill of his fellow Commissioners of Forfeited Estates
1707 - Robert Allen, a future MP, elopes with the daughter of Robert Johnson MP: Johnson writes to Ormonde on 16 January that Allen 'has stolen a marriage with my daughter; no consent or acquainting of him with me. I fancy they will find they have two very difficult fathers to persuade to part with anything to either of them.' In 1730 Allen will be satirized viciously by Jonathan Swift
1816 - Frances Browne, writer, is born in Stranorlar, Co. Donegal
1822 - Thomas Clark Luby, co-founder of the Fenian Brotherhood, is born
1900 - Frank Devlin, badminton player, is born in Dublin
1904 - In reaction to attacks on Jews in Limerick, Michael Davitt, a leader of the Irish Land League, protests "as an Irishman and a Catholic against this spirit of barbarous malignity"
1913 - Home Rule bill passes in the House of Commons
1920 - Percy French gives his last concert in Glasgow. He dies in Liverpool eight days later
1922 - Michael Collins takes over control of Dublin Castle from the British authorities on behalf of the new Irish state
1935 - Gobnaitt NiBhruadair (Albinia Broderick), Irish republican activist, dies
1981 - Northern Ireland civil rights campaigner and former Westminster MP, Bernadette McAliskey, is shot by gunmen who burst into her home at Coalisland in County Tyrone
2000 - For his adaptations of the work of William Shakespeare, Belfast born actor and director Kenneth Branagh becomes the youngest winner of the Gielgud award
2001 - Hough’s Pub in Lorrha, Co Tipperary retains the title of "The Cheapest Pint" in Ireland. Earning the respect of drinkers everywhere, Pat Hough won’t be raising the price of a pint of plain above £1.50
2002 - Richard Haass, US President George Bush's special adviser on Northern Ireland, urges Sinn Féin to drop its objections to the new Police Board
2002 - Joe White of Rathmire, Co. Kerry becomes one of the oldest people in the country to pass the driving test. He began driving in Ireland more than 60 years ago, went to the USA and returned last year to find his Irish license had long lapsed. It took two attempts, but the sprightly 84-year-old proved age, bad roads or fast drivers need not be a barrier to passing the test.

January 17
1649 - Marquis of Ormond James Butler and the confederates sign a peace treaty which grants toleration for Catholics in exchange for troops
1815 - Marie-Louise O'Morphi, famous courtesan, dies in Paris
1856 - Joseph Hayden, Irish journalist, dictionary compiler and author of Dictionary of Dates, dies
1860 - Birth in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, of Douglas Hyde, playwright, folklorist, founder of The Gaelic League and the first president of Éire
1861 - Lola Montez (Marie Gilbert), dancer and courtesan dies in New York
1866 - Death of George Petrie, folk music collector who is credited with preserving many of Ireland’s irreplaceable harp tunes
1873 - T.C. Murray, playwright, is born in Macroom, Co. Cork
1964 - The Campaign for Social Justice (CSJ) is formed. It is the forerunner of the civil rights movement and begins a programme of publicising what it sees as widespread discrimination, in a number of areas of life, against Catholics in Northern Ireland
1992 - Seven Protestant constructions workers at a security base in Co. Tyrone are killed by an IRA bomb. The driver of their bus also dies
2000 - Galway city centre is brought to a standstill as hundreds of student nurses take to the streets to protest at plans to charge them to finish their nursing courses
2000 - A pair of King Billy’s gloves, worn during the battle of the Boyne, and the dress worn by Sinéad de Valera at the second inauguration ceremony of her husband, President Éamon de Valera, are unlikely companions in The Way We Wore, a permanent exhibition of the clothing and jewellery worn by Irish people from the1760s to the 1960s which opens at the National Museum, Collins Barracks.

January 18
1667 - Cattle exports to England are prohibited
1671 - Catholic gentry present petition to Charles II
1779 - Cement Patent No. 1207 is issued to Sligo-man Bryan Higgins
1811 - Charles Kean, actor, is born in Waterford
1831 - Daniel O’Connell is convicted of conspiracy
1913 - The Irish Transport and General Workers' Union strike ends
1928 - Birth of Daniel Bradley, physicist
1930 - Breandán Ó hEithir, writer and broadcaster, is born in Cill Rónáin, Aran Islands
1934 - Joseph Devlin, Irish nationalist dies
1937 - Birth of John Hume, nationalist politician, in Derry/Londonderry
1997 - Death of Gerard Slevin, the Corkman who designed the EU flag
1998 - The fourth revenge killing of a Catholic by LVF murder squads since ruthless warlord Billy Wright was gunned down, is committed in Maghera, Co. Derry
2000 - The improvement in the hospitality scene in Ireland is proven by the addition of 54 hotels and 27 restaurants to the prestigious Michelin Guide
2001 - The right of Travellers to pursue their traditional lifestyle on their own land was yesterday rejected by the European Court of Human Rights
2002 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern pays tribute to the former Fianna Fáil TD, Jim Tunney, who died yesterday. Mr Tunney, was a former minister of state and deputy in Dublin North-West for two decades. He also served a term as Lord Mayor of Dublin and was co-chairman of the British-Irish inter-parliamentary body. A stylish dresser, he always wore a flower in his lapel and was called the Yellow Rose of Finglas by friends and colleagues. He was 78
2002 - Political history is made today as the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition becomes the longest-serving government in the State. After taking office on June 26, 1997, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's minority government is serving its 1,666th day in office.

January 19

1739 - Birth of Arthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount Kilwarden and Lord Chief Justice in Forenaghts, Co. Kildare
1787 - Birth in Cork of Mary Aikenhead, founder of the Irish Sisters of Charity and St. Vincent’s Hospital Dublin
1793 - Hugh Cane, MP for Tallow, dies from a fall down stairs
1920 - IRA attacks Drombrane barracks, Co. Tipperary
1949 - Dennis Taylor, snooker player and world champion in 1985, is born in Coalisland, Co. Tyrone
1963 - Playwright Teresa Deevy dies
1964 - Birth of Richard Dunwoody, jockey, in Comber, Co. Down
1983 - The Minister for Justice, Michael Noonan, reveals that the previous Fianna Fáil administration was involved in tapping the phones of Journalists Geraldine Kennedy and Bruce Arnold
1985 - Death of Dublin-born actor Wilfrid Brambell, aka Old man Steptoe
1988 - Dublin writer Christopher Nolan, who cannot move or speak because of an accident at birth, wins the Whitbread Book of the Year
1998 - The Northern peace process are close to collapse after a 52-year-old Catholic taxi driver is killed in an attack which bears all the hallmarks of the UDA/UFA
2003 - Disgraced celebrity chef Tim Allen moves to protect his multi-million euro family business, announcing he is ceasing all connection with the Ballymaloe Cookery School and hotel.

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