Irish History - Feb. 17 - Feb. 23

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

February 17
1896 - In the House of Commons. Horace Plunkett and W.E.H. Lecky, Irish Unionists, support John Redmond's plea for clemency for Irish political prisoners
1945 - Birth of actress, Brenda Fricker
1978 - An IRA incendiary bomb explodes at the La Mon entertainment complex in Comber Co. Down ; it kills 12 people and injures 30 others. The blast is the second worst since the present wave of troubles began in 1969
1980 - The Derrynaflan Chalice and other ancient silver and bronze pre-Christian antiquities are discovered in Co. Tipperary
1998 - Sinn Féin announces it will mount a legal challenge to the British Government's attempt to have them expelled from the multi -party talks
1998 - According to a nation-wide survey, "Morning Ireland" is the nation's favourite radio programme
1999 - Farmers with tractors and trailers move through the centres of 28 cities and towns during a National Day of Action to protest proposed reforms in the EU Common Agricultural Policy
1999 - EU governments gear up for an epic battle with the European Commission over the Brussels verdict to end duty free sales
2000 - Minister O’Donoghue unveils a raft of far reaching proposals for a new legislative initiative at a passing out ceremony at the Garda College in Templemore. He tells the 98 graduating recruits he has received Government approval to draft and bring a new Criminal Justice Bill before the Oireachtas
2001 - Two explosions near Newry force the closure of the rail line between Portadown and Dundalk
Photo Credit: Photopress, Belfast
2003 - Supermarket giant Tesco sparks a possible price war with the opening of its first petrol filling station in Killarney, Co Kerry
2003 - The famine replica ship, the Jeanie Johnston, is forced to drop anchor close to the Valentia Island, 20 hours into her 21-day voyage to Tenerife. Strong winds also lead Aer Lingus to cancel all flights to New York.

February 18
1366 - The Statutes of Kilkenny are passed in an attempt to prevent Norman settlers becoming “more Irish than the Irish themselves”
1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, is executed for high treason in the Tower of London; according to Shakespeare, he meets his death by being drowned in a butt of malmsey wine
1948 - A coalition government takes over under Fine Gael's John Aloysius Costello
1921 - Brian Faulkner, the last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland who serves from 1971 to 1972, is born in Helen's Bay, Co. Down
1922 - Joe Carr, amateur golfer, is born in Dublin
1948 - Actress Sinead Cusack is born
1964 - Death in Blackrock of novelist Maurice Walsh, author of the original story of The Quiet Man
1978: Police in Northern Ireland arrest at least 20 people in connection with the La Mon entertainment complex explosion
1982 - General election in the Republic leads to a Fianna Fáil minority government; Haughey succeeds FitzGerald as Taoiseach
1998 - A page in Irish history is written as Sinn Féin representatives walk into the Four Courts as plaintiffs rather than defendants. One journalist says "The last time Republicans walked in the front door of this building was during the Civil War when the Irregulars occupied the place"
2000 - One of Waterford’s best loved theatrical personalities, Denny Corcoran, is announced as the 1999 winner of the Waterford Crystal WLR FM Arts and Entertainment Hall of Fame Award for his lifetime contribution to theate and music in a career spanning over four decades
2000 - The bodies of four soldiers tragically killed in a car accident in Lebanon are brought to the Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel
2002 - Hospitals nationwide are forced to cancel admissions, postpone surgery and close outpatient clinics as the highly-contagious winter vomiting virus spreads, striking patients and staff
2003 - Singer Bono is nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. It is the second year in a row that he has been nominated
2003 - Twelve men serving sentences in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin make Irish legal history when they become the first graduates of a new course on the very reason they’re behind bars - the law.

February 19
1904 - Birth on the Great Blasket Island of writer Muiris Ó Suilleabhain who is best known for his book, "Twenty Years A-Growing"
1939 - De Valera states his intention to preserve Irish neutrality in the event of a second world war
1987 - A general election in the Republic returns a Fianna Fáil government with Haughey as Taoiseach
1992 - US government deports Joseph Doherty, volunteer Oglaigh na hÉireann
1999 - Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh launches an ambitious bid to cushion the impact on Ireland of huge cuts in EU beef subsidies as the deadline for sweeping CAP reforms nears
1999 - Families of missing IRA murder victims plead with Sinn Féin
leaders to use their influence with the IRA to find out where the dead are buried
1999 - The hearing of an application by Sinn Féin for an injunction restraining the party's expulsion from the Northern Ireland negotiations resumes at the High Court
2000 - Four peacekeepers killed in an automobile accident in Lebanon - Privates Declan Deere, Brendan Fitzpatrick, Jonathan Murphy and John Lawlor - are laid to rest in their native towns
2001 - According to the latest price survey, taxes make price of Irish cars highest in the EU
2001 - A 4ft limestone rock is unveiled at the entrance to Villierstown in west Waterford which is famous for the heroic exploits and achievements of John Treacy. Weighing a massive eight and a quarter tons, the stone, which came from the nearby quarry at Cappagh, bears the surnames of all 84 families living in the village and the immediate surrounding townlands as of January 1, 2000
2003 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says a second United Nations resolution before any military action against Iraq is a political imperative. But Mr Ahern is still refusing to state whether the Government will halt the use of Shannon Airport by the US military if the Bush administration undertakes unilateral action against Saddam Hussein without UN backing.

February 20
1742 - James Gandon, architect and builder of the Customs House, the Four Courts and other Dublin buildings, is born in London
1794 - Birth near Clogher, Co. Tyrone of William Carleton, one of the most graphic writers about the Famine. He is best known for his Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry
1874 - Gladstone resigns; a Conservative administration under Disraeli takes over
1882 - Birth of Padraic Ó Conaire, writer and poet, in Galway
1892 - First performance of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan
1989 - IRA bombs Tern Hill barracks in Shropshire
1998 - In a face-to-face meeting with Northern Secretary Mo Mowlam and Foreign Affairs Minister David Andrews at Stormont, Gerry Adams is told that Sinn Féin is suspended from the peace talks for just under three weeks
1998 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern agrees to a demand from Sinn Féin Leader Gerry Adams for a crisis meeting next week, amid mounting fears that IRA 'hawks' will attempt to scupper any chance of Sinn Féin's return to the talks
2001 - Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne confirms that eighty publicans are to be prosecuted for serving drink to underage customers
2002 - After intense speculation that the Abbey Theatre would move to the southside of the Liffey to a completely new location in the Dublin Docklands, Arts Minister Síle de Valera informs the board of the theatre that the government has decided it is to be redeveloped at its present location
2003 - New figures compiled by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) show that Ireland has the highest death rate from heart disease in Western Europe. Finland is second and Britain is third
2003 - Sinn Féin chairperson Mitchel McLoughlin claim claims that the deadlock in the Northern peace process will only be broken by St Patrick’s Day if the British Government delivers on the outstanding promises of the Good Friday Agreement
2003 - The European Commission is accused of abusing private citizens’ right by conceding to American pressure on a data protection controversy. Transatlantic airlines such as Aer Lingus will be forced to provide US authorities with the names, addresses, phone numbers, itineraries and credit card details of all passengers flying to the United States.
2007 - Market hits record 10,000. Share values in Dublin surge to a new record with investors pushing the Irish stock market index above 10,000 for the first time.

February 21
1775 - Edward Denny, MP for Tralee, commits suicide
1760 - François Thurot lands French forces at Carrickfergus in Belfast Lough, increasing English anxiety about an Irish-Catholic alliance with the French.
1822 - Birth in Dublin of Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo; Viceroy and Governor-General of India
1893 - Peadar O'Donnell, revolutionary and writer, is born in Co. Donegal
1922 - The Garda Síochána na h-Eireann - Guardians of the Peace of Ireland - is founded
1999 - Seven men, including senior figures in the Real IRA. are arrested in connection with the Omagh bombing - five in the Republic and two by the RUC in the North, in a simultaneous operation
2000 - A new survey reveals that Dubliners have more disposable income than people living in other parts of Ireland
2001 - The country's multi billion pound livestock industry is on full alert for signs of foot and mouth disease after the first outbreak in Britain for twenty years is confirmed in pigs
2001 - Ronnie Drew becomes one of the first non-sportsmen to receive a Posthouse Legend in Life award
2001 - The British and Irish Governments are considering proposals for round table talks involving the Northern Ireland parties amid growing pessimism about the peace process
2001 - Desmond O'Connell becomes the first Archbishop of Dublin in over 100 years to be installed as a Cardinal. A large Irish contingent from Church and State, along with family and friends of the Cardinal attend the installation which for the first time takes place at the front of the entrance to St Peter’s Basilica
2003 - A rare political letter written by Michael Collins fetches a record price of €28,000 at an auction in James Adam showrooms on Dublin’s Stephen’s Green. Despite fierce bidding by the National Library, the letter is purchased by singer Enya’s manager Mickey Ryan who says he wants the letter to remain in Ireland.

February 22
1772 - On the first occasion of his attendance after the death of his only child (a daughter), Thomas Eyre, MP for Fore, dies in the House of Commons - 'suddenly taken with an apoplectic fit and dropt down dead in his place'
1797 -The last invasion of England: Small French force commanded by Irishman William Tate lands in Wales
1832 - The first burial takes place at Glasnevin Cemetery
1886 - At Ulster Hall in Belfast, Lord Randolph Churchill gives his destructive speech which includes the incendiary comment, "Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right." The speech instills fear of rule by Roman Catholics in Dublin and incites militant loyalists
1893 - Peadar O'Donnell, novelist, editor of the newspaper An Phoblacht (The Republic) and social reformer, is born in Co. Donegal
1900 - Birth in Cork of short story writer Sean O'Faolain
1921 - Cecil King, painter, is born in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow
1972 - IRA bomb kills six at Aldershot barracks in Surrey, including five women and a Roman Catholic army priest; 19 people are injured and one of these victims dies later
1995 - Death at the age of 76 of Dublin man Johnny Carey, soccer international, and one of Manchester United’s great captains
1998 - Republicans take to the streets in the first of a series of demonstrations in protest at Sinn Féin's suspension from the Northern Ireland peace talks
1998 - Opposition parties are claiming the Government may have breached the Constitution by allowing planes carrying US troops to refuel at Shannon Airport over recent weeks
1998 - Neil Jordan, director of The Butcher Boy, is awarded a Silver Bear for best director at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival
1998 - Cross-border cooperation between the Irish Marine Emergency Services and the Northern Ireland Coastguard is put to the test as emergency teams from the Ambulance Service, the RUC, Irish Marine Emergency Service, the Coastal Rescue Teams and others join forces for a spectacular drill on Carlingford Lough
1998 - Criminal and security sources confirm that the man believed to have masterminded the Omagh bomb massacre has escaped the country on a false Irish passport
1999 - Labour Party TD Pat Upton dies of a massive heart attack
2001 - Authorities begin placing a massive security cordon on sea and airports and along the 300-mile border with Northern Ireland in a determined bid to prevent animals infected with foot and mouth disease from entering the country
2001 - President Mary McAleese launches the Manchester Irish Festival and a website to provide a record of Irish family histories
2001 - The British Government unveils a £12 million aid package for victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland
2002 - A unique record of the life and times of Irish emigrant families throughout the world is launched by President Mary McAleese in Manchester. This first ever social history of emigrant activity will be set down by descendants and will detail the difficulties, frustrations and ultimate successes of ancestors in their adopted lands.

February 23
1317 - Bruce's army marches south and reaches Castleknock, within sight of Dublin. The mayor of Dublin has imprisoned the Earl of Ulster, who is suspected of being sympathetic to Bruce. The citizens of Dublin destroy some of the northern and western suburbs, to prevent Bruce from using them as a base - to the later inconvenience of the administration, as many of the buildings it uses as law courts etc. are obliterated
1649 - Giovanni Battista Rinuccini returns to Rome. Originally from Rome, he takes his doctorate in law at the University of Pisa. During the next decade he wins distinction at the ecclesiastical courts in Rome and is made Archbishop of Fermo in 1625. In 1645, Pope Innocent X sends him to Kilkenny - then the capital of Ireland - to support the Catholics with arms, money and diplomacy. His determined support of the militant anti-English faction is doomed to failure, but gains him fame and infamy in Anglo-Irish history
1713 - Nicola Hamilton, widow of Tristram Beresford MP, dies on her 47th birthday. On the day of her death, she gave a party to celebrate her 48th birthday; one of those present was the priest who had christened her. He pointed out that it was in fact her 47th birthday - she had been born in 1666, not 1665 as she had always supposed. On hearing this she turned deathly pale; she sent for her children, told them the whole story, and died later that day. The Black Mark of Lord Tyrone
1935 - Thomas Murphy, a playwright best known for his portrayal of the people in the working class rural town of Tuam, is born
1943 - Thirty -five people die in a fire at St Joseph's Orphanage, Co. Cavan
1944 - Children's allowances are introduced in the Free State
1948 - Death of John Robert Gregg, Irish inventor of the Gregg shorthand system
1965 - Roger Casement's body is returned from England to be re-interred at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin
1998 - The Sinn Féin leadership takes to the stage at a Belfast hotel rally as fears grow that the party may not re-turn to the peace talks
2000 - According to a report released by the National Roads Authority, nearly half of Irish motorists never wear a seatbelt. Men are the worst offenders, with two-thirds admitting they do not strap themselves in
2001 - Measures to prevent livestock with foot and mouth disease entering Ireland are tightened as Britain halts all internal livestock movements amid fears that the outbreak there is spreading
2001 - A major recruitment drive for the Police Service of Northern Ireland goes ahead despite the refusal of the SDLP and Sinn Féin to support the new force
2002 - It is announced that Guinness is testing a new system that will slash the waiting time for a pint of the black stuff to 30 seconds. In an effort to combat declining sales in recent years, Guinness is hoping to appeal to people not prepared to wait the 1 minute 59 seconds for the traditional pint to be poured
2003 - Daniel Day-Lewis is named Best Actor for his role in Martin Scorsese’s epic Gangs of New York, the only prize which the film takes at the British version of the Oscars.


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