Irish History - June 29 - July 5

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

June 29
1771 - Birth of Edward Newell, United Irishman and informer, in Downpatrick, Co. Down
1820 - The Dublin Society becomes the Royal Dublin Society
1820 - Robert Jocelyn, 2nd Earl Roden, former MP for Dundalk and a leader of the Orange Order, is alleged to have led an attack on Catholic homes in Dundalk. He is struck off the Commission of the Peace and ordered to be brought to trial, but flees to Edinburgh, where he dies suddenly on this date
1848 - A gunfight takes place between Young Ireland Rebels and police at Widow McCormack's house in Ballingarry, Tipperary
1915 - Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossna, Fenian leader, dies in the U.S.
1916 - Roger Casement is convicted of treason and sentenced to death
1920 - In response to Anglo-Irish anxiety concerning their role in a future Ireland, the Dáil Éireann issues a resolution endeavoring to stem land-grabbing and to shift focus to clearing out the foreign invader
1924 - Joss Lynam, mountaineer, is born in London
1944 - Seán Doherty, Fianna Fáil politician, is born in Co. Roscommon
1985 - Máire Ni Scolai, Irish language singer, dies
1969 - Ireland enacts exemption from income tax for creators of works of 'cultural or artistic merit'
1998 - Northern Ireland braces braced violent conflict after irate Orangemen vow not to recognise a Parades Commission order banning them from marching along the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown
1999 - The political parties in the North inch their way towards a deadlock-breaking peace deal to rescue the Good Friday Agreement based on Sinn Féin’s acceptance of a timetable for arms decommissioning
2000 - The Western Health Board launches a campaign to reduce smoking in pubs
In the liturgical calendar, today is the feast day of St. Peter & Paul.

June 30
1691 - The fall of Athlone. Despite the bravery of legendary Sergeant Custume and others, severely outnumbered, the Connacht side of the town fell. The remainder of the Irish garrison retreats to Limerick
1790 - Birth in Knockfin, Co. Laois of Arthur Jacob - noted oculist and Professor of Anatomy in the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin
1798 - Rebels break camp, Needham sends Cavalry to pursue them. The rebels ambush cavalry at Ballyellis and inflict heavy defeat on them. By evening rebels are camped at Kilcavan
1835 - Sir Samuel McCaughey, who is destined to become a sheep tycoon in Australia, is born near Ballymena, Co. Antrim
1922 - The Four Courts, Dublin, are abandoned by Anti-Treaty forces after a two-day bombardment
1932 - De Valera abolishes the oath of allegiance and withholds land annuities from the British Government
1941 - Stephen Hayes, a former IRA chief of staff, is kidnapped; he later claims to have been 'court martialled' and tortured by the IRA; Seán McCaughey is later convicted of his kidnapping
1981 - Garret Fitzgerald replaces Charles Haughey as Taoiseach
2000 - Breakaway republicans are held responsible for an explosion which halts all cross border rail services
2001 - David Trimble resigns as Northern Ireland First Minister.

July 1
1681 - Despite witnesses against him being discredited, Oliver Plunkett is hanged, drawn and quartered in London
1690 - Battle of the Boyne; the Jacobite forces (Irish, French, Germans and Walloons) are defeated by the Williamites (Irish, English, Dutch, Germans and Danes). The Williamite victory, being seen as a defeat for Louis XIV, is welcomed by Pope Alexander VIII
1701 - A public holiday is proclaimed for the inauguration of a statue of William III at College Green, Dublin
1798 - Rebels remain in camp at Kilcavan
1867 - Thomas Francis Meagher, Young Ireland leader, dies
1899 - Birth of singer Cavan O’Connor
1916 - The Somme offensive begins. The 36th (Ulster) Division suffers heavy casualties
1924 - The Irish Free State Aer Corps is established
1979 - The Boomtown Rats featuring Bob Geldof enter the British charts at no. 13 with I Don't Like Mondays, and eventually reach #1
1990 - The Republic of Ireland plays in the World Cup Finals for the first time. They are defeated 0-1 by Italy in the quarter-finals; an estimated half a million people take to the streets of Dublin to welcome the team home
1998 - Northern Ireland's new Assembly meets for the first time amid the growing crisis over the Drumcree Orange Order parade in Portadown. A new era in power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland begins with David Trimble and Seamus Mallon elected First Minister and Deputy First Minister respectively to the new Assembly. Sinn Féin delegates abstain from the first-ever vote in the Assembly, while anti-Agreement unionists vote solidly against the two appointments
2000 - More than 1,000 Westlife fans besiege Sligo City Hall when their heroes are awarded the freedom of the city
2001 - Ireland's national minimum wage increases from £4.40 an hour to £4.70 an hour.

July 2
1790 - In an election for Speaker of the Irish parliament, John Foster defeats William Brabazon Ponsonby by 145 votes to 105
1798 - Rebels defeat small force of Yeomanry at Ballraheen Hill; they move to camp at Croghan
1800 - The British Act of Union is passed
1819 - Edward Vaughan Kenealy, barrister and writer, is born in Cork
1869 - Birth of one of Ireland’s greatest ever tennis players, Joshua Prine, who won the Wimbledon singles in 1893 and 1894
1874 - Isaac Butt's Home Rule motion defeated in House of Commons 458-6
1903 - One of the greatest motoring events is held in Ireland - the Gordon Bennett Race, sponsored by James Gordon Bennett, owner of the New York Herald
1957 - Bridie Gallagher reaches no. 1 in the Irish charts with "The Boys From The County Armagh"
1958 - The Industrial Development Act is passed to encourage an influx of foreign capital
1970 - Irish Catholic bishops announce that it is no longer obligatory to abstain from eating meat on Friday
1970 - Following his arrest on May 28 for allegedly importing arms for the IRA, Neil Blaney is discharged
2000 - Joey Dunlop, motorcycle racer and humanitarian worker, dies in an accident during a race in Estonia
2000 - The 25th anniversary of St. Oliver Plunkett's canonization is celebrated in Drogheda, Co. Armagh
2000 - Navan-born jockey, Johnny Murtagh, rides Sinndar to an easy victory at the Budweiser Irish Derby
2001 - Ireland bids bon voyage to the relics of St Therese of Lisieux at the end of an 11-week tour which organisers claim drew three million onlookers.

July 3
1746 - Henry Grattan, Irish statesman, is born in Dublin
1798 - Remnants of Southern column reach Croghan. Fr. John Murphy dies at the hands of his captors
1952 - Bord Fáilte - The Irish Tourist Board, is founded
1976 - Former Boyzone band-member, Shane Lynch, is born in Dublin
1998 - Boyzone heart-throbs, Ronan Keating and Keith Duffy, throw a belated wedding bash for dozens of showbiz friends in Co. Wicklow; Hello! magazine picks up the expenses in exchange for exclusive photo coverage rights
2000 - The Taoiseach's brother, Maurice Ahern, is elected Lord Mayor of Dublin; Fine Gael's P. J. Hourican, a native of Co. Longford, is elected Lord Mayor of Cork; Sinn Féin's Sean McManus is elected Mayor of Sligo
2001 - The National Museum of Ireland launches a new range of craft and souvenir items which range in price from just £1 for a biro (pen) with the museum logo to £10,000 for a unique, hand crafted piece of jewellery.

July 4
1653 - Ireland and Scotland are represented by six and five members respectively in the 'Barebones' parliament
1690 - James II flees to France for assistance after his defeat by William of Orange
1921 - Awaiting truce with the English, Eamon De Valera orders the American flag flown in Dublin to "emphasize the principle for which we are fighting"
1798 - Rebels remain in camp at Croghan; General Needham prepares attack on Croghan camp
1878 - Birth of George M. Cohan in Providence, Rhode Island
1998 - It is announced that outgoing US Ambassador Jean Kennedy-Smith is to be made an honorary Irish citizen in recognition of her contribution to the peace process
1999 - Posh Spice Victoria Adams and England and Manchester United soccer star David Beckham are married at Dublin castle
2000 - Major international survey reveals that Irish workers pay the lowest tax rates in the European Union - even though pay rates are just barely below the EU average
2001 - The Orange order puts new proposals to the Parades Commission in an attempt to reverse the decision to divert next Sunday’s Orange Order march from the Garvaghy Road.

July 5
1790 - The Irish mail coach makes its first run from Dublin to Waterford
1798 - Rebels break camp and march north. They collide with a government force led by General Duff. They retreat south and turn to fight Duff at Ballygullen, near Craanford. The battle is indecisive but with three other Government columns converging on them, the rebels divide into two columns and retreat south. The smaller column moves west and into the hills near Carnew. It eventually makes its way to Glenmalure where it joins up with a group of Wicklow rebels. The main column retreats south to Carrigrew; that evening it marches north and camps in the Wicklow Mountains
1812 - Frederick Maning, judge and writer among the Maori, is born in Johnville, Co. Dublin 1828 - Daniel O’Connell wins the Clare election
1838 - The Board of Trinity College decrees the establishment of a Chair of Irish
1936 - Brendan Halligan, economist, Labour politician and Europhile, is born in Dublin
1950 - Veronica Guerin, crime journalist, is born in Dublin
1993 - U2 releases "Zooropa" worldwide, except in North America which will get the album a day later
1998 - All bus services in Belfast are suspended as riots spread across the city
2000 - Storms cause tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage and leave thousands of homes without power
2001 - A two-year project to transcribe the official records of Dáil debates since 1919 is completed; the entire archive is available at Ireland Gov.
2002 - A new EU survey shows that electricity costs for the Irish consumer are among the cheapest in Europe, but gas users are paying some of the highest rates 2002 - Over €2 billion is wiped off the value of companies on the Irish stock exchange as markets around the world continue to see sharp falls amid concerns about improper accounting standards.

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