Irish History - May 18 - 24

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

May 18
1401 - John de Stanley is told that he is to be replaced as lieutenant by Thomas of Lancaster (duke of Clarence and second son of Henry IV), who is 12 or 13 years old. Lancaster's deputy, Sir Stephen le Scrope, will effectively govern Ireland for the next few years
1613 - James I's Irish parliament opens in Dublin
1825 - The House of Lords rejects the Catholic Emancipation Bill which would disenfranchise Irish forty-shilling free-holders and put clergy on state salaries
1873 - James Fagan, actor, producer and playwright, is born in Belfast
1798 - The 2nd Earl of Kingston is tried amid great pomp by the Irish House of Lords for the murder of Colonel Henry FitzGerald. An executioner stands beside Kingston with an immense axe, painted black except for two inches of polished steel, and held at the level of the defendant's neck. However, no witnesses appear for the prosecution, and Kingston is acquitted. The Directory of the United Irishmen had planned to use the occasion to kill the entire government and all the lords, but one vote cast against this scheme (by the informer Francis Magan) causes it to be abandoned
1896 - The City and Suburban Ground now known as Croke Park, hosts a soccer match for the first time. The teams are a combination of Irish and Scots women versus England. The combined team beats England 3-2
1897 - Oscar Wilde is released from prison; he goes to live in France, where he writes his famous poem, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"
1897 - The first Irish Music Festival is held in Dublin
1928 - Death of writer Standish O'Grady on the Isle of Wight. Under the influence of John O'Donovan, he studies the Old Irish myths and legends, and his works, which influence the Irish literary revival of the 1890's, popularise the Irish sagas
1939 - The first aircraft lands at the newly opened Rineanna Airfield which is later to become Shannon International Airport
1947 - Former Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, John Bruton, is born
1949 - Birth in Co. Mayo of Pat Rabbitte, leader of the Labour Party
1999 - The Church of Ireland's annual synod calls on the authorities at Drumcree to conditionally withdraw a long-standing invitation to the Orangemen to use their church ahead of the order's controversial annual march through nationalist parts of Portadown
2000 - Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble decides to accept the IRA’s offer to put arms beyond use and backs a return to the Stormont Executive with Sinn Féin
2001 - Gardenia St. George, an early 20th-century portrait by William Orpen, becomes the most expensive Irish painting of all time when it sells at Sothebys for the hammer price of £2.29 million
2004 - Clare O'Leary becomes the first Irishwoman to successfully climb Mount Everest. She is accompanied by veteran mountaineer Pat Falvey who also sets a record by becoming the first Irishman to climb Everest from both sides.
2006 - Michael O'Riordan dies in Dublin. A key figure in the Irish Communist Party, Mr O'Riordan was one of just two surviving Irish veterans of the Spanish Civil War. He was shot in Spain while with the 'Connolly Column', named after socialist leader James Connolly, which fought against General Franco's fascists from 1936-39.

May 19
1660 - An Act by the British Parliament forbids the export of Irish wool
1710 - John Forster is unanimously elected Speaker of the House of Commons, replacing Alan Brodrick
1798 - Lord Edward Fitzgerald, a leader of the United Irishmen, is betrayed by Francis Magan; he's arrested and is shot while being apprehended; he dies of his wounds on June 4
1821 - Anna Maria Odell, the second wife of William Odell (former MP for Co. Limerick), gives birth to a stillborn child in the Marshalsea debtors' prison, where she had accompanied her husband
1832 - Standish Hayes O'Grady, scholar, is born in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick
1862 - Máire Ni Aodáin (Mary Hayden), Irish historian, is born
1869 - Birth of Henry Dixon, botanist
1870 - Sir Isaac Butt invents the term "Home Rule". The first meeting of the "Home Government Association" (later to become the "Home Rule League") is held in a Dublin hotel. A resolution is passed "that the true remedy for the evils of Ireland is the establishment of an Irish Parliament with full control over our domestic affairs"
1939 - John Sheahan, fiddle player with the Dubliners, is born
1961- Birth of composer, Ronan Hardiman
1966 - Seamus Heaney's first volume of poetry, "Death of a Naturalist" is published
1998 - European finance ministers reject Ireland's call for a study into the consequences of abolishing duty-free shops
1998 - SDLP leader John Hume and his Unionist counterpart, David Trimble, join U2 on stage at a concert in Belfast's Waterfront Hall to drum up support for a massive Yes vote in Friday's referendum on the Stormont agreement
1998 - Abortion is opposed in all circumstances by 58% of people as against 24% in favour, according to a Pro Life Campaign opinion poll, carried out by Irish Marketing Surveys
1999 - A five-stone lump of butter, estimated to have been buried in a bog over 300 years ago, is discovered in the Poll na gCapaill bog near Barnaderg in Co. Galway by turf cutters Tom Burke and Vincent Roche
2000 - British Airways launches its first daily flight service to Glasgow from Cork
2000 - Westlife tops the Guinness British Hit Singles book writers’ league table, with a value of £18.8 million. Their net worth is based on points scored for Number Ones, singles sold and the number of weeks spent in Britain’s Top 75 in the past year
2001 - Fleadh Ceoil celebrates its 50th anniversary as musicians throughout the country battle for their place in the provincial finals of Galway, Meath, Tipperary, Antrim, Kildare, Kilkenny, Monaghan and Wexford
2003 - Clare O’Leary, 31, a doctor at Cork University Hospital, and a member of Ireland's Everest team, decides to turn back when it becomes clear an infection has made her too weak to continue.

May 20
1311 - The war of the O'Briens of Thomond escalates as the Norman-Irish become involved on both sides: the de Burghs support Dermot O'Brien and Richard de Clare supports Donough O'Brien. There is a pitched battle at Bunratty on this date, with heavy losses on both sides; de Burgh and others are imprisoned
1648 - Truce between the confederates and Inchiquin; its adherents are excommunicated by Giovanni Rinuccini, papal nuncio to the confederates
1759 - Birth of Sir Eyre Coote, the younger; soldier, MP, and governor of Jamaica
1836 - An Act amalgamates the county constabulary and Peace Preservation Force into a centralized police force - the Irish Constabulary - which will later become the Royal Irish Constabulary
1922 - De Valera and Collins agree to a pact whereby a national coalition panel of candidates will represent the pro- and anti-Treaty wings of Sinn Féin throughout Ireland in the forthcoming general election
1927 - The opening hours of Irish public houses are restricted by the Intoxicating Liquor Act
1932 - Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland for Ireland on the anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's famous flight; she lands near Londonderry/Derry and becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
1969 - Students stage a sit-in at University College in Dublin to protest conditions in Northern Ireland
1998 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern assures unionists there is no hidden agenda in the Belfast Agreement and promises to stamp out dissident paramilitary groups who want to wreck the accord
1999 - 24th Biennial Conference of Irish Historians is held at University College in Cork
2001 - More than half a million people line the streets to watch the postponed St Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin
2001 - Former US president Bill Clinton begins a four-day trip to Ireland with a round of golf at Ballybunion
2003 - The Irish Government restricts alcohol adverts. The ads are banned from buses, trains, cinemas and sporting events and not permitted before 10 p.m. on television
2003 - Thousands of Irish-based Celtic fans fly to Spain to cheer on the Glasgow club in their first European final in 33 years tomorrow
2003 - Dundalk garden designer Paul Martin wins a silver medal at London's Chelsea Flower Show.

May 21
1639 - Lord Deputy Thomas Wentworth imposes the Black Oath of loyalty to Charles I on all Ulster Scots over the age of 16
1745 - Count Daniel O'Connell, a soldier in French and British services, is born in Derrynane, Co. Kerry
1917 - Birth of tenor and comedian, Dennis Day, to Irish parents in New York, NY
1916 - Clocks and watches go forward one hour as the Daylight Saving Act (Summer Time) is introduced
1920 - James Plunkett, pseudonym of James Plunkett Kelly; novelist, is born in Dublin
1944 - Mary Robinson, lawyer, youngest ever Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin; President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997; and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is born in Ballina, Co. Mayo
1980 - Taoiseach Charles Haughey and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher meet in London (and later in Dublin on December 8), and agree to consider 'the totality of relationships within these islands'
1981 - At 2:11 am, Raymond McCreesh dies on hunger strike in the Maze Prison. Later, the same day at 11:29 pm, he is joined in death by his friend and fellow hunger-striker, Patsy O'Hara
1999 - Bono and Larry appear on RTE's "The Late Late Show" to present long-time host Gay Byrne with a black Harley Davidson as a going away present on his retirement
1999 - The Jack Lynch Tunnel, described as the most challenging civil engineering project in the history of the state, is unveiled by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the entrance of the tunnel in Mahon, Co. Cork
2000 - Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams sparks a new political storm when he makes it clear he could not call on republicans and nationalists to join the North’s proposed new police service
2000 - Demonstrators picket Drogheda Heritage Centre as the death mask of Oliver Cromwell is put on display where he is reputed to have massacred thousands of defenceless civilians
2000 - Thousands of Christians celebrate the jubilee year by coming together in parishes throughout the country for National Pilgrimage Day
2001 - The EU blue flag quality mark is awarded to 111 beaches around the coast for the cleanliness of the water. Ireland, at 91.7%, ranks fourth overall in the EU when it comes to blue flag beaches. The Netherlands comes first with 96%, followed by Greece with 95% and Italy, 92%
2001 - Former US president, Bill Clinton, is rumored to have been paid £100,000 by the chairman of Independent News and Media Sir Anthony O'Reilly to talk to a select gathering at Trinity College on this date
2002 - Bono kicks off a 10-day four- nation tour of Africa in the company of US Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill
2003 - According to a new survey published in the Wall Street Journal, the Irish remain among the most contented races on Earth. The statistics on our generally sunny disposition appear to confirm the findings of another recent study - the World Happiness Survey - which places Ireland sixth in a league of 68 countries.

May 22
1805 - Michael Doheny, poet and Young Irelander, is born near Fethard, Co. Tipperary
1849 - Novelist, Maria Edgeworth, dies in Mostrim, Co. Longford. She is laid to rest in a vault at Edgeworthstown Church. The Great Famine which decimates the people she loves mars her last years. Even though in her late seventies, she worked strenuously for the relief of the stricken peasants at the height of the famine. She shows the same involvement and generosity throughout her entire life and devotes her best talents to the betterment of the people of her adoption. Her books on the Irish people bring her world fame and the acclaim of such writers as Sir Walter Scott, Jane Austen, Byron and the Russian writer Turgenev.
1859 - Birth in Edinburgh of Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle was the eldest son of 10 siblings born to Irish parents Charles Doyle and Mary Foley
1870 - Birth of Eva Gore-Booth, poet, trade unionist and feminist, on the Lissadell Estate in Co. Sligo
1920 - Birth of Oliver J. Flanagan, Fine Gael politician
1932 - Death of Augusta Persse, better known as Lady Augusta Gregory, Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre director; also a co-founder of the Abbey Theatre
1941 - Caitlin Maude, Irish language activist, is born
1944 - Birth of Betty Williams, former peace activist and 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner
1946 - George Best, the greatest player of his generation and the world's first superstar footballer, is born in Belfast
1950 - Bill Whelan, musician and composer, is born in Limerick; he is best known for composing the music to Riverdance
1955 - Mary Black, singer, is born in Dublin
1971 - Members of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement defy the law by bringing contraceptives bought in Belfast into Connolly railway station in Dublin
1972 - Death of Laois man Cecil Day-Lewis, one of the English language's leading poets of the early part of the 20th century, and father of actor Daniel Day-Lewis
1995 - U.S. President Bill Clinton approves a visa for Irish nationalist leader Gerry Adams to enter the United States
1997 - Pneumonia causes the quiet passing of Dr. Noel Browne in the University College Hospital Galway at the age of 81. As Minister of Health, Dr. Browne had lain the foundation stone of the same Hospital almost fifty years before
1998 - The Good Friday Agreement is overwhelmingly endorsed in referendums North (71%) and South (94%)
2000 - A survey shows that half of Ireland's small and medium-size businesses have their own website
2003 - Hurling reaches its highest peak when Gerard McDonnell from Limerick brought the spirit of the GAA to Mount Everest; he sent a ball flying above 29,000 feet
2003 - The Official Languages Bill 2002, introduced by the Minister for the Gaeltacht, Mr Ó Cuív, will give citizens the right to conduct their business with any State agency or Government department, in Irish.

May 23
1561 - The first court of High Commission, a group of officials and Protestant clergy, is set up to enforce the Reformation in Ireland
1754 - Birth of Dr. William Drennan in Belfast; physician, poet, educationalist political radical and one of the chief architects of the Society of United Irishmen. Drennan's poetic output included some powerful and moving pieces. He is chiefly remembered today for "Erin" written in 1800, in which he penned the first reference in print to Ireland as "the Emerald Isle":
"Nor one feeling of vengeance presume to defile
The cause, or the men, of the Emerald Isle."
Interestingly, he himself is quoted as saying that this expression was first used in a party song called “Erin, to her own Tune,” written in 1795. The song appears to have been anonymous
1794 - As part of a crack-down on seditious activity during Britain's war with France, the Dublin United Irishmen are supressed
1798 - United Irish Rebellion begins in Wexford
1798 - United Irish rebellion begins in Leinster
1903 - Shelah Richards, actress and producer, is born in Dublin
1920 - Oliver Plunkett is beatified by Pope Benedict XV
1920 - Railway workers refuse to transport troops from this date
1934 - Birth of former rugby international, Syd Millar
1951 - Lord Henry Mount Charles, Slane Castle impresario, is born
1954 - Former soccer international, Gerry Armstrong, is born
1966 - Birth of GAA footballer, Paul McGrath
1998 - Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, welcomes the resounding "yes" vote in the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement on Northern Ireland, calling it "a day for joy"
1998 - Thousands flock to Ennis for the 29th Fleadh Nua Traditional Music Festival
1999 - Rural post offices are thrown a life-line when the Government gives its strongest commitment yet to preserving regional services
2002 - The long simmering division between Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy erupts into a huge row and Keane is expelled from the World Cup squad.

May 24
1487 - Lambert Simnel (aged 10), the Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is brought to Ireland. It is claimed that he is Edward, Earl of Warwick (Clarence's son), but in fact, he is a baker's son - the real Warwick is a prisoner in the Tower of London and will be executed in 1499. Most of the Anglo-Irish believe that Simnel's claim is genuine and support him (exceptions are the Butlers, Waterford city and the Archbishop of Armagh, Octavian del Palatio); Simnel is crowned King of England as Edward VI in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin on this date. Walter FitzSimons, Archbishop of Dublin, is present at the crowning; he will be imprisoned in the Tower because of this
1628 - 51 'graces' to Irish interest groups by Charles I are promised but various excuses are used not to grant these concessions
1798 - Archibald Hamilton Jacob conducts the Enniscorthy Yeomen Cavalry to the village of Ballaghkeen where they flog a man to death
1813 - A Catholic Relief Bill is introduced by Grattan in the House of Commons, and is narrowly defeated 251 to 247
1818 - John Foley, sculptor, is born in Dublin
1830 - Anthony Durnford, soldier, is born in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim
1882 - Creighton Hale, actor, is born in Cork
1921 - 1st parliament for Northern Ireland is elected
1923 - Actress, Siobhan McKenna is born
1928 - William Trevor (Cox), prolific short story-writer and novelist is born in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. He has written over 30 works including 'The Story of Lucy Gault' which was short-listed for the 2002 Booker Prize
1956 - Sean Kelly, cyclist, ranked world number one (1984-1989) is born in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary
1987 - A referendum in the Republic approves the Single European Act
1998 - Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams signals that the terrorist war is over and that the gun can finally be removed from Irish politics
1998 - Less than 24 hours after people on both sides of the border gave a resounding Yes to the Stormont peace agreement, dissident republican terrorists cause widespread disruption on the Belfast-Dublin railway line after a suspicious object is found on the line near Lurgan
1998 - Director John Boorman wins the Best Director prize for The General, about real life Dublin gang leader, Martin Cahill
1999 - As part of a £4.5m tourism project, Waterford Treasures on the city's quayside, is opened to the public. On display are an impressive range of Viking artefacts from settlements dating back to 853 and discovered during excavations in the city over the last six years
2000 - According to a report published on this date, 1 in 10 homeless people in London are Irish
2000 - Two more members of David Trimble’s Ulster Unionist Assembly team are to oppose his plan to return to power sharing with Sinn Féin
2002 - European parliament president Pat Cox is awarded the freedom of Limerick city. The former Progressive Democrats TD is presented with the award by Mayor Dick Sadlier at a reception in City Hall. Previous recipients of the award include John F Kennedy, The Pope and Charles Stewart Parnell
2003 - Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, meet Sinn Féin's chief negotiators Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness in Dublin for talks.

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