Irish History - January 21

This day in Irish History the following occurred:

January 21
1600 - Charles Blount, 8th Lord Mountjoy, becomes Lord Deputy of Ireland
1684 - Chidley Coote, future MP for Kilmallock, is granted £500 for the upkeep of six lighthouses
1793 - Louis XVI is executed in Paris; he is attended by an Irish priest, Fr. Edgeworth. Lord Edward FitzGerald is the only member of the Irish parliament not to appear in mourning following the execution
1861 - Katherine Tynan, poet, novelist and journalist, is born
1876 - James Larkin, organizer of Irish Transport and General Workers' Union and socialist politician, is born in Liverpool
1919- Daíl Éireann, chaired by Sean T. O’Kelly meets for the very first time at Mansion House in Dublin
1919 - Two members of Royal Irish Constabulary are shot dead by Irish Volunteers including Seán Treacy and Dan Breen in an ambush at Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary: this is regarded as the first incident in the 'War of Independence' (Anglo-Irish War). Attacks on policemen continue for the rest of the year
1998 - A controversialL deal is agreed by the British and Irish governments to transfer the IRA gang which carried out the Guildford and Woolwich bombings to Portlaoise prison
1998 - The North is plunged into a new crisis after Benedict Hughes, a Catholic, is shot dead in south Belfast in the latest murder aimed at wrecking the peace process
1998 - The IRA dramatically rejects the Anglo-Irish Stormont settlement plan
2002 - Sinn Féin MPs will never sit in the British parliament, Gerry Adams vows as they move into Commons offices for the first time. Party policy is also changed to allow MPs to sit in the Dáil.

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