Irish History - November 2 - 8

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

November 2
1719 - The Toleration Act for Protestant Dissenters is passed
1752 - Philip Twisden, Bishop of Raphoe and son-in-law of the politician Thomas Carter, dies bankrupt on this date, having been shot while allegedly masquerading as a highwayman
1797 - Tyrone Power, actor and great-grandfather of the Hollywood movie star of the same name, is born near Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford
1800 - Thomas (Buck) Whaley, MP for Enniscorthy, dies at Knutsford, apparently on his way from Liverpool to London. It is rumoured ‘that he was stabbed in a fit of jealousy by two sisters to whom he was paying marked attentions at a time when each of them was in ignorance of his concealed attachment to the other. Sarah, or Sally Jenkinson is stated to be the lady from whom he received his death wound.’ She is said to have been won by Whaley from the Prince of Wales in a wager
1826 - Birth of Henry Smith, mathematician, in Dublin
1903 - Samhain Festival held in Dublin
1950 - Death of George Bernard Shaw
1978 - Launch of RTÉ 2 television
1986 - Sinn Féin Poblachtach founded in Dublin
1999 - In Ireland’s Marian village of Knock, a decision to replace the familiar Cnoc Mhuire road signs with An Cnoc creates major protests among residents
2002 - A commuter aircraft, with 40 passengers on board, including rock group Aslan, overshoots the runway and ends up with its nose in the sea; no-one is injured.

November 3
1380 - Edmund Mortimer, 6th Earl of Ulster, holds a parliament at Dublin, which confirms the Statutes of Kilkenny
1692 - The only session of the exclusively Protestant Irish parliament of William III and Mary ends on this date
1717 - Henry Luttrell, soldier and suspected betrayer of the Jacobites, is assassinated in Dublin
1788 - Thomas Steele, landlord and supporter of Daniel O'Connell is born in Derrymore, Co. Clare
1815 - Birth in Dungiven, Co. Derry of John Mitchel, patriot and founder of the newspaper the United Irishman
1854 - The Catholic University of Ireland is opened with J. H. Newman as its first rector
1903 - Tomas O Fiaich, Irish language author and Cardinal-Archbishop of Armagh is born
1917 - Birth of Conor Cruise O'Brien, diplomat, political commentator and writer
1932 - Birth in Rooskey, Co. Roscommon of Albert Reynolds, politician and businessman, Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach from 1992-1994
1969 - Introduction of the breathalyser into Ireland
1999 - A two-shilling book of Irish stamps, forgotten since being bought in the 1930s, is set to fetch £1000 at auction. The stamps - six at two pence, nine at a penny and six at a halfpenny - were almost certainly bought for use when they were purchased some time between 1931 and 1940.The orange coloured front cover bears the word STAMPAI and an advert proclaiming: McCairns for Vauxhalls and Bedfords, Showrooms, 2 Dawson Street, Dublin
1999 - Former US Senator George Mitchell says he has no intention of imposing a deadline on the peace negotiations with Northern Ireland’s political leaders
2000 - Sinn Féin is given the go ahead to legally challenge David Trimble’s contentious ban on the party’s ministers attending North South Ministerial Council meetings
2000 - The country’s first graduates of Science in Electronics Manufacturing are conferred with their degrees
2000 - The first All Ireland Food Safety Campaign is launched. It is aimed at reducing the number of food poisoning cases on both sides of the border
In the liturgical calendar, today is the feast day of Maél Máedoc Úa Morgair - St. Malachy of Armagh.

November 4
1802 - Birth of novelist Lady Rosina Lytton, née Wheeler, in Co. Limerick
1884 - Birth in Hillsborough, Co. Down of Harry Ferguson, engineer, inventor, and pioneer of the modern tractor
1908 - Six women meet at the home of women's activists Hanna and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington to establish the Irish Women's Franchise League
Photo of Hanna:Limerick.com.
Photo of Francis:Island Ireland.
1927 - Birth in Waterford of comedian, Hal Roach
1951 - Debut of the Wexford Opera Festival
2001 - Riverdeep founder Pat McDonagh is named Ireland's wealthiest businessman by the Sunday Times
2002 - Delivery of up to a half million letters grounds to a halt with the 24-hour closure of sorting facilities
2002 - Sonia O'Sullivan finishes 12th in NYC marathon
2002 - King of skiffle Lonnie Donegan dies after collapsing midway through a UK tour
2002 - Gerry Adams and David Trimble hold a face to face meeting at Stormont in an attempt to break the deadlock in the peace process.

November 5
1688 - William of Orange arrives in England with 15,000 men
1878 - The New York Gaelic Society is formed
1987 - Death of broadcaster Eamon Andrews
1991 - Charles Haughey's leadership of Fianna Fáil is challenged
1999 - Reinforcing Manchester United’s historic ties with Ireland, the first official Irish club shops open in Dublin, Tallaght and Cork. In Dublin, United legend, Sir Bobby Charlton is on hand to meet and greet the hundreds of fans. For those who can't get to Old Trafford, the stores will offer greater access to the club’s merchandise, information and promotions. The club’s soccer schools will also be run through the shops
1999 - History is made when 22 newly-qualified air traffic controllers are presented with certificates in the first graduation ceremony held by the Irish Aviation Authority
2000 - The army and Civil Defence are on standby as a further 36 hours of heavy rainfall are predicted for parts of the country. Flood damage costs from the weekend deluge and high winds are expected to run into the millions
2001 - Politicians from all parties join hundreds of mourners on Achill Island to pay tribute to former Gaeltacht Minister and Mayo Fianna Fáil TD, Denis Gallagher
2002 - A large area of Dublin’s northside is engulfed by a huge cloud of smoke caused by a massive fire at a scrapyard at Dunsink Lane, Finglas
2002 - Matt Cooper resigns as Sunday Tribune editor to replace Eamon Dunphy as presenter of the Last Word show on Today FM
2002 - Mick McCarthy steps down as Republic of Ireland soccer manager.

November 6
1628 - Founding of the Irish College in Rome. Among its former students was St Oliver Plunkett, who attended in the late 17th century
1649 - Owen Roe O'Neill - Catholic military leader against Cromwell - dies
1812 - Charles Graves, bishop and mathematician, is born in Dublin
1887 - Birth at sea of Edward McLysaght, genealogist and writer
1929 - The Gaelic League announces expulsion for anyone who attends 'foreign jazz dances'
1940 - Michael John Giles, "Johnny Giles", footballer and pundit, is born in Dublin
1948 - The first ball-point "Biro" pen goes on sale in Dublin
1974 - A proscenium ceiling collapses at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin
1981 - Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald and british Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decide to set up an Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council
1998 - Jobless level reaches a 14-year low
2000 - High winds and torrential rain continue in much of the East, South and South West causing widespread flooding, power outages and major disruptions in public and private transportation services
2001 - Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy admits there is no end in sight to the downturn as the economy suffers a further jobs blow
2002 - Thousands of people, including 600 seriously ill children, face disappointment as the Winter Wonderland project in the Curragh is cancelled
2002 - Green Party TDs chain themselves to trees in Dublin’s O’Connell Street in a last-ditch attempt to save landmarks from the axe
2003 - Death of writer and historian Risteard Ó Glaisne in Dublin. He was the author of biographies of two former Presidents, Douglas Hyde and Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh.
2005 - At a historic ceremony in memory of Irish and British soldiers killed at the Battle of Messines in 1917, the Tricolour of the Republic and the Union Jack are flown alongside one another at the war memorial in the Diamond of Derry City.

November 7
1366 - Lionel of Clarence, third son of Edward III and king's lieutenant in Ireland, leaves the country
1730 - The Danish East India Company ship, Golden Lyon, is stranded near Ballyheige, Co. Kerry
1771 - Funeral of Charles Lucas in Dublin attracts 'the most numerous crowds of people ever known in this Kingdom'
1791 - The Customs House opens
1854 - The first public performance of Fion Boucicault's Arrah-na-pogue is given at Dublin's Theatre Royal
1878 - Margaret Cousins, née Gillespie, suffragist and India's first female magistrate, is born in Boyle, Co. Roscommon
1881 - Birth near Dundalk of Peadar Ó Dubhda, teacher of Irish and translator
1900 - George Wyndham becomes Chief Secretary for Ireland
1968 - Death of Margaret Mary Pearse, Irish language educator
1970 - Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy is born
1971 - The Official IRA murders Senator John Barnhill near Strabane
1975 - Dr Tiede Herrema, a Dutch industrialist kidnapped by the IRA,is freed
1976 - Crosses are planted in Belfast for lives lost in Northern Ireland since 1969 -1,662 in all
1963 - 12 people are arrested at a Beatles concert in the Adelphi, Dublin
1980 - Death of Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary
1983 - Garret FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher meet for the first session of the Anglo-Irish Governmental Council
1990 - Death of Tom Clancy of the Clancy Brothers
1999 - Dublin's Millennium pedestrian bridge is put into position over the River Liffey
2000 - A call is made to ban Red Bull, the stimulant soft drink
2000 - Geraldine Mills from Galway wins the Hennessy New Irish Writer award
2001 - Dublin commuters face a 60% rise in taxi fares under recommendations by an independent assessor
2001 - Central Bank governor Maurice O'Connell warns that Ireland has probably seen the end of the Celtic Tiger, as the number of jobs lost this year reaches 13,000
2002 - The National Roads Authority denies protesters’ claims of victory after archaeologists resume work on the controversial Carrickmines Castle site
2002 - Allegations that a civil servant was spying on David Trimble for the IRA plunges the Northern Ireland peace process deeper into crisis.

November 8
1847 - Birth in Dublin of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula
1887 - Birth of Sir Arnold Bax, composer, writer and Hibernophile
1960 - An Irish peacekeeping force is ambushed in the Congo, causing the first overseas combat deaths of the Irish Republic. Nine are killed by Baluba tribesmen - one of these, Anthony Browne, will be awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry
1984 - Charles Mitchel, RTÉ's first newsreader, reads his last bulletin
1987 - Eleven people are killed after a bomb explodes during a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen in Co. Fermanagh
1990 - The Republic elects their first woman president, Mary Robinson, who defeats Brian Lenihan and Austin Curry
1998 - A well-placed loyalist source claims that a renegade loyalist terror group, is plotting to target Government Ministers here and launch cross-border bombing raids in the run up to Christmas
1998 - The Provisional IRA announces that it will decommission large amounts of Semtex to allow Sinn Féin to take its seats in the new Northern Executive
1998 - Flights at Shannon Airport are brought to a standstill for several hours after a Boeing 767 jet, with 250 passengers and 11 crew aboard, leaves the runway and becomes stuck in soft ground shortly after landing
1998 - President Mary McAleese says it is time to acknowledge that the 50,000 Irishmen killed in the Great War came from all parts of the country and from both sides of the political divide
1998 - Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy declares war on farmers, telling them that he is not responsible for their problems
1999 - Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Mandelson comes under fire as talks on the peace process enter another crucial phase
2001 - An EU survey shows dancing is the favourite pastime of young Irish people
2001 - Senior IRA leaders meet in Co. Louth to discuss further arms decommissioning
2001 - In a meeting at the White House, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern assures President Bush he will do everything possible to ensure Ireland's international banking services are not used to fund Osama Bin Laden and his followers
2001 - The Poulnabrone portal dolmen in the Burren, Co. Clare is bought for £300,000 by the State to protect it from vandalism
2002 - Mail in rural areas is delivered despite industrial action by the Irish Postmasters’ Union which closes sorting facilities at over 500 sub post offices.

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