Irish History Feb. 24 - Mar. 1

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

March is Irish-American Heritage Month!

February 24
1582 - Pope Gregory XIII announces the new Gregorian calendar, replacing the Julian calendar
1692 - The Treaty of Limerick is ratified by William of Orange
1780 - A British Act opens colonial trade to Irish goods
1797 - Birth in Dublin of writer, artist, musician and songwriter, Samuel Lover. To him is attributed the romantic proposal "Come live in my heart and pay no rent"
1841 - John Philip Holland, inventor and developer of the modern submarine, born in Co. Clare
1850 - Paul Cullen is consecrated Catholic archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland
1852 - George Moore, novelist, playwright and critic, is born in Ballyglass, Co. Mayo
1920 - Dublin Metropolitan District is placed under a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m.
1948 - Birth of Dermot Earley, Roscommon Gaelic footballer and GAA administrator, in Castlebar, Co. Mayo
2000 - The Government calls for a full public inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane
2000 - The North’s precarious peace process moves closer towards meltdown as Sinn Féin threatens to end their role as mediators with the IRA on decommissioning and warns of dissident republicans launching a renewed campaign of violence
2000 - A portrait of Queen Elizabeth II stolen from Edinburgh University by three inebriated Trinity College is returned
2002 - The Catholic Church and Government clash over next week's abortion referendum as a poll highlights confusion among voters. While bishops support the Government campaign for a Yes vote on the substantive issue of abortion, they question the future protection of the morning-after pill
2003 - Iarnród Éireann announces that it will not proceed with its plan to charge commuters for parking at three DART stations in Dublin.

February 25
1570 - Elizabeth I is excommunicated by Pope Pious V
1852 - Death of Thomas Moore, popular poet and editor of Irish Melodies
1891 - Edward "Ned" Daly, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising, is born in Limerick
1928 - Death of William O’Brien, architect of agrarian land reform
1934 - Ireland’s first ever World Cup match takes place in Dublin. The Irish draw with Belgium 4-4
1937 - The Imperial Airways flying boat Cambria is delivered to Shannon to begin the first trans Atlantic air service
1947 - The worst snow blizzard in living memory hits Ireland
1951 - Neil Jordan, writer and film director, is born
1952 - Joey Dunlop, motorcycle racer, is born in Armoy, Co. Antrim
1991 - Birmingham Six on verge of freedom. An announcement by the Director of Public Prosecution, Alan Green, says their convictions can no longer be considered safe and satisfactory. Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker were all jailed in 1975 for an IRA attack on two pubs in Birmingham in November 1974 in which 21 people died
1998 - Security is stepped up in both Belfast and Derry amid fears the cities are targeted for a new wave of bombing attacks
2000 - The faltering peace process in the North suffer a double body blow with a bomb blast at an army base in Derry and a threat by the Progressive Unionists to withdraw support for the Good Friday Agreement
2001 - British supermarket chains draw up contingency plans to source supplies of fresh meat in Ireland if the ban on livestock transport is not lifted
2001 - It is announced that the birthplace of Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator, is for sale. The historic property at Carhan just outside Caherciveen, where O’Connell was born on August 6, 1775, is being put on the market by his descendants, a local family of O’Connells
2003 - The number of Catholics worldwide has exceeded one billion for the first time, according to figures released by the Vatican
2003 - North American Airlines and Miami Airlines, both charter troop carriers for the US military, end stopovers at Shannon because of recent security breaches
2003 - The Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and the Northern Secretary Paul Murphy hold two hours of talks in Dublin. The talks centre on cross border co-operation and anti terrorist measures.

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
Photo Credit: Charlie Collins
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.

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