Irish History - April 6 - 12

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

April 6
1830 - James Augustine Healy, the first black Roman Catholic bishop in America, was born to an Irish planter and a slave on a plantation near Macon, Georgia
1889 - Actor Barry Macollum is born
1926 - Birth in Armagh of Ian Paisley, clergyman and Unionist politician
1947 - Death of Henry Ford, automobile production pioneer and son of Irish immigrants
1954 - The Flags & Emblems Act legislates against interference with the Union Jack, effectively prohibiting display of the tricolor in Northern Ireland
1956 - Kerry GAA footballer Seanie Walsh is born
1964 - Birth of Nick Popplewell, former rugby international
1965 - Former international footballer Norman Whiteside is born
1982 - James Prior launches 'rolling devolution' for Northern Ireland
1998 - Hopes of an historic peace deal are put at "less than 50%" as the multi-party talks deadline looms
1998 - Telecom Eireann launches a commemorative 50 unit Call Card to mark the 25th anniversary of the University of Limerick
2000 - Gregory Peck receives an honorary Doctor of Literature from the National University of Ireland in recognition of his contribution to the art of film
2000 - British soldiers and police search the perimeter fence of Ebrington Army Base in Derry after a bomb explodes inside the base
2001 - The Government pledges to give the GAA £60 million over the next three years in return for their commitment to staging matches — including All Ireland semi finals — in the new National Stadium. This deal effectively undermines the argument to open up Croke Park for rugby and soccer matches
2001 -The Parades Commission agrees to allow an Apprentice Boys’ march along Belfast’s flashpoint Ormeau Road on Easter Monday
2002 - Galway man Richard Donovan becomes the first person in history to run a marathon at both the North and South Pole.

April 7
1720 - The Declatory Act defines the right of the British Parliament to legislate for Ireland and denies the appellate jurisdiction of the Irish House of Lords
1801 - The trial of United Irishman, Napper Tandy, begins
1861 - A census shows the population to be 5,798,967. Only 393 Jews are recorded
1922 - Special Powers Act is introduced in Northern Ireland
1926 - Mussolini's Irish wife breaks his nose
1927 - The world’s first ever paid television broadcast takes place. An Irishman, Mr. A. Dolan was employed by the American Telephone and Telegraph company to provide a “short act of monologue and song”. Interestingly, the first professional artist to be seen on television in Britain, a year later, was Irish singer Peg O'Neil
1941 - A Luftwaffe bomb kills 13 people in Belfast. Ultimately, the city is devastated by air raids; 700 people are killed and 400 seriously injured in what becomes known as Belfast's Blitz. The British government appeals to De Valera for help and he authorizes fire brigades from Dublin, Dundalk, Drogheda and Dun Laoghaire to give assistance
1973 - Death of Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid
2000 - Four environmental protesters, including Diana Peuker shown here, who had been jailed for their part in the Glen of the Downs protest in Co. Wicklow, are freed in the High Court
2001 - The longest running legal action in the history of the State ends when the Superwood Group of companies, which claimed £90 million compensation from three insurance companies, are awarded a total of £300,000
2003 - A member of the British army's 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards, Lance Corporal Ian Malone from Ballyfermot, Dublin, is killed in the battle for Basra in southern Iraq.

April 8
1719 - Birth of Viscount Edmond Pery, speaker of the House of Commons from March 1771 to September 1785
1805 - Sir William Rowan Hamilton, mathematician and astronomer, is born in Dublin
1816 - Sir Frederick Burton, painter, is born in Corofin, Co. Clare
1835 - Jonah Barrington, the Irish Parliament's leading opponent of the Union with Britain and author of The Rise and Decline of the Irish Nation, dies
1861 - John George Adair evicts 244 tenants on his estate at Derryveagh, Co. Donegal
1867 - A. E. (George Russell), pivotal Irish Renaissance poet, painter, journalist and mystic, is born
1886 - Home Rule Bill introduced in English Parliament by Gladstone
1923 - Edward Mulhare is born in Co. Cork; he grew up to become an actor and starring roles include Capt. Daniel Gregg in the 1968 release of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
1930 - Birth in Dublin of Frank Cluskey, politician and Labour Party leader from 1977-1981
1930 - Writer and critic John Jordan is born in Dublin
1933 - The Army Comrades' Association parades in blue shirts on this date
1951 - A census on this date shows the population of the Republic to be 2,960,593 and that of Northern Ireland is1,370,921
1960 - The Royal Showband is forced to change its name to the Waterford Showband for an appearance at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London because two members of the British royal family are in attendance
1981 - Death of Greta Bowen, artist known as "The Irish Grandma Moses"
1999 - The peace process is plunged into a new crisis after mainstream loyalist paramilitaries make it clear they have no intention of handing over weapons and the Sinn Fein's leadership brands the Hillsborough Declaration "unacceptable"
1999 - The Department of Education unveils a new primary school curriculum which replaces the one of 1971
2002 - The IRA makes a second and substantial gesture of putting arms beyond use which is broadly welcomed by political leaders in Dublin, London and Belfast
2003 - U.S. president George W. Bush leaves Belfast at the end of a two-day summit attended by British Prime Minister, Tony Blair and Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern
2003 - Paul Muldoon wins the Pulitzer prize for poetry. The 51-year-old Belfast poet is awarded the prestigious prize for his work Moy Sand and Gravel.

April 9
1346 - Death of Ralph de Ufford, justiciar
1793 - The Relief Act grants Catholics parliamentary franchise and certain civil and military rights
1807 - After resigning as Commissioner of the Treasury (UK) over the issue of Catholic relief, Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co. Kerry states on this date that their war effort alone merits concessions to Irish Catholics
1837 - Edward Hallaran Bennett, surgeon, is born in Cork
1916 - The merchant ship Aud leaves Germany for Ireland with arms for the Irish Republican Brotherhood
1917 - Birth of legendary racehorse trainer, Vincent O'Brien
1921 - Dr. William Walsh, archbishop and nationalist, dies
1926 - Birth in Belfast of Lord Gerry Fitt, politician
1961 - A census on this date shows the population of the Republic to be 2,818,341 and that of Northern Ireland is 1,425,642
1961 - Mark Kelly, rock keyboard musician, is born in Dublin
1981 - IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands wins a seat in the British parliament in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election
1984 - Leslie De Barra, revolutionary, wife of General Tom Barry, dies
1998 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is back in Norther Ireland to resume his bid with Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to save the peace talks
2000 - Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nelson Mandela, arrives in Ireland to commence a four day private visit. During his visit, he is to receive an honorary degree in law at Trinity
2001 - Celebrities from the entertainment world turn out in force for the funeral mass of former lead singer with the Capital Showband, Butch Moore, at St Canice’s Church in Finglas

April 10
1346 - Following the death of Ralph de Ufford, Roger Darcy is appointed justiciar
1650 - Cromwell's New Model Army is victorious at Macroom, Co. Cork
1662 - A charter of Charles II replaces Cromwell's charter of Londonderry
1726 - Birth of William Brownlow, parliamentarian and Volunteer
1816 - Birth of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, nationalist, in Monaghan
1838 - Fr. Theobald Mathew, with the support of William Martin, a quaker, founds the total abstinence movement in Cork
1865 - Oliver Sheppard, sculptor, is born in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone
1866 - Campobello New Brunswick Irish-American Fenians attack Campobello Island from Eastport, Maine; they are persuaded to leave by British warships and US agents
1867 - George William Russell (pseudonym A. E. Russell); poet, painter, writer, economist and mystic, is born in Lurgan, Co. Armagh
1918 - British Parliament proposes conscription in Ireland
1923 - Liam Lynch, chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army, is mortally wounded by Free State troops in the Knockmealdown Mountains, Co. Tipperary; Frank Aiken takes over as IRA chief of staff
1940 - Gloria Hunniford, TV personality, is born in Portadown, Co. Antrim
1966 - The widespread and prolonged commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising begins throughout the island
1990 - Death of Wexford hurling legend, Nicky Rackard
1992 - A huge IRA bomb explodes in London's financial district; three people are killed and 91 injured
1998 - The Peace Agreement comes under fire with both unionist and republican camps facing internal revolt, as the battle to sell the deal intensifies
1998 - A bronze bust of world-renowned Irish aviator, Colonel James 'Fitz' Fitzmaurice who, along with two Germans, made the first east-west transatlantic crossing in 1928, is unveiled in his hometown of Portlaoise
1998 - The Northern Ireland peace talks end with an historic agreement. The accord - dubbed the Good Friday Agreement - is reached after nearly two years of talks and 30 years of conflict.

April 11
1603 - In the revolt of the towns, or recusancy revolt, Catholic worship is re-established in Kilkenny and the main Munster towns between this date and 10 May, in the hope that James I will grant religious toleration; Mountjoy marches south and forces the towns to submit
1700 - Richard Levinge, an Irish MP and later a prominent Tory, who had been committed by the English House of Commons to the Tower of London on 16 January for speaking ill of his fellow Commissioners of Forfeited Estates is released on this date
1878 - Kathleen Daly Clarke, Irish patriot, is born
1966 - Herbert Asquith introduces the third Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons
1971 - The GAA lifts its ban on members playing or attending 'foreign' sports such as soccer or rugby
1986 - Brian Keenan is taken hostage in Beirut
1999 - The Northern Ireland peace process faces collapse as politicians prepare to return to Stormont, with agreement on the key issue of disarmament as distant as ever
1999 - Despite reports to the contrary, manager Louis Walsh insists pop group Boyzone will stay together for at least another year
2000 - In a dramatic end to the two-month trial, a jury at the Central Criminal Court finds Catherine Nevin guilty of all four charges against her arising out of the shooting death of her husband in 1996
2000 - The newspaper known as The Examiner is re-launched as The Irish Examiner
2000 - Nelson Mandela receives a hero's welcome as spectators turn out in droves in Dublin to honour the former president of South Africa prior to his receiving an honorary degree at Trinity. He is the first African leader to be so honoured. He already is a Freeman of the City, an honour granted shortly after being freed from jail
2002 - During a remembrance ceremony at St Colman's Cathedral, candles are lit for each of the 79 people who boarded the Titanic on her maiden and final voyage which departed from Cobh, then known as Queenstown, on this date in 1912.

April 12
1654 - The Ordinance of Union comes into effect, uniting Ireland and Scotland with England 1816 - Sir Charles Gavan Duffy is born in Co. Monaghan. He is self-educated as a journalist and founds the Nation, a nationalist weekly journal with Thomas Davis and John Dillon in 1842; ultimately, he emigrates to Australia and while determined to avoid politics, he is induced to enter the Victorian Parliament where he fills in succession the position of minister of public works and minister of public lands; for a brief period he is prime minister 1824 - An Act establishes free trade in manufactured articles between Britain and Ireland 1837 - Birth in Galway of Patrick Ford, journalist in the USA and fund-raiser for Irish causes 1847 - The American relief ship, Jamestown, lands supplies in Cork for famine victims 1861 - The American Civil War begins; 150,000 Irishmen will serve with the Union forces, and 40,000 with the Confederacy 1889 - Patrick McGilligan, pro-Treaty nationalist and politician, is born in Coleraine, Co. Derry/Londonderry
1914 - George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion" opens in London with Mrs. Patrick Campbell as Eliza Doolittle and Sir Herbert Tree as Professor Higgins
1923 - The Shadow Of A Gunman by Sean O'Casey premieres at the Abbey Theatre
1960 - The Broadcasting Authority Act grants Radio Éireann authority to provide and maintain national radio and television service
1999 - The country's biggest building project, the giant Citibank site in Dublin's financial services centre, is hit when 600 workers walk off the job in solidarity with striking scaffolders 1999 - Demands for IRA disarmament are stepped up following fresh evidence that they are harbouring advanced anti-aircraft missiles
1999 - A United Nations report points to evidence of security force collusion in the murder of leading Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane
2000 - Queen Elizabeth II presents the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) with the George Cross, the highest civilian award for bravery
2000 - The Irish Red Cross launches an appeal for approximately £3 million in an effort to avert the impending famine in Ethiopia
2000 - A safety probe gets underway following an explosion at the SIFA Limited chemical plant in Co. Clare. Seven people suffering from shock and hearing difficulties are transferred to Limerick Regional Hospital and are later released
2000 - The first of two side-by-side castles on Dublin's Dalkey seafront comes up for auction. Inniscorrig, built in 1847, has a starting price of £3.5m. The Herbert Park house has a pre-auction guideline of £3m.
2001 - Ted Sweeney, the weather forecaster instrumental in saving the D Day landings from disaster, dies in his native Blacksod near Belmullet in Co Mayo. In 1944, Ted Sweeney claims a special place in world history by filing a famous weather report which delays the D Day landings in Normandy for 24 hours
2001 - Preliminary test results on a suspected foot and mouth case in Co. Tyrone are negative 2001 - The Real IRA threatens a fresh campaign of violence and vows to attack British targets in their quest for a united Ireland
2002 - A blockade by salmon fishermen at the Port of Cork passes off without incident
2003 - Hopes are raised of a breakthrough in the stalled Northern Ireland peace process, when the IRA outlines its future intentions to the Irish and British Governments. In a statement, the IRA sets out its position on the peace process, its ceasefire, and its approach to a third act of decommissioning.

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