Irish History - January 4

This day in Irish History the following occurred:

January 4
1581 - James Ussher, scholar and Archbishop of Armagh and Dublin is born
1792 - The Northern Star, newspaper of the Belfast United Irishmen, first appears on this date
1921 - Martial law is extended to counties Clare, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford from this date
1937 - Mick O'Connell, Kerry Gaelic footballer, is born on Beginish Island, Co. Kerry
1969 - On a march from Belfast to Derry, the civil rights group People's Democracy is attacked at Burntollet Bridge
1975 - Eleanor Krott, Irish language scholar and lexicographer, dies
1998 - The LVF appoints a new commanding officer to take over from murdered godfather Billy Wright and in a chilling warning vows it will do all in its power to wreck the teetering peace process
1998 - The governments of Austria and Finland offer their countries as potential neutral grounds for the next wave of Northern Ireland peace talks
1999 - Venerable Archdeacon Patrick Lyons, who, aged 105 years was the world's oldest priest and who died on New Year's Day, is laid to rest in the grounds of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Ballingarry, Co. Limerick
2000 - Hundreds are evacuated as west and midland farmlands are flooded
2000 - Top RTÉ broadcaster Maxi is set to win a host of new listeners in her new role as presenter/producer of Radio One’s Risin’ Time
2002 - According to a new survey, two out of every three people in Northern Ireland aged between 18-25 say they have no meaningful contact with opposing communities while, generally, people feel more segregated than they did before the North's first ceasefire in 1994
2002 - Irishmen under 25 are the worst-hit by rising unemployment, according to the latest European Union figures
2003 - A group of women begin an anti-war protest at a roundabout close to Shannon Airport against US Air Force landings there.

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