Irish History - January 6

This day in Irish History the following occurred:

January 6
1562 - Shane O'Neill submits to Queen Elizabeth at Whitehall, but rebels again within months
1654 - Commissioners are appointed to allot the land of Oliver Cromwell's Connacht plantation to transplanted Irish
1794 - Frances Ball who, as Mother Mary Teresa founded the Sisters of Loretto, is born in Dublin
1800 - Author Anna Maria Hall, née Fielding, is born in Dublin
1839 - On this date, the Night Of The Big Wind or Oiche na Gaoithe Moire takes place; the most damaging storm in Irish history, some winds are estimated in excess of 130 m.p.h
1898 - Colonel James Fitzmaurice, Ireland's greatest aviator, is born in Dublin
1931 - Birth of novelist P.J. Kavanagh
1939 - First publication of the newspaper Irish Freedom
1940 - Johnny Giles, footballer and Republic of Ireland manager, is born in Dublin
1941 - Birth of Noel Pearson, theatre impresario and film producer
1998 - Embattled Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam receives the full backing of SDLP leader John Hume in her efforts to maintain the faltering peace process
2000 - Residents in counties in the west and midlands, coping with the effects of the most devastating floods to have hit the region in fifty years, brace themselves for another rainstorm
2000 - Families from all over Ireland join President Mary McAleese and her family in A´ras an Uachtaráin in Dublin to celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. Bay laurels from Bethlehem are planted to mark the 2000th anniversary since the birth of Christ
2003 - According to a study published today, the Irish language is on the brink of extinction unless radical measures are taken to arrest its decline
2003 - Farmers put 1,000 tractors on the country’s roads and head for Dublin at the start of the IFA’s five-day family farm survival campaign.
2003 - The campaign against the construction of a motorway near the ruins of Carrickmines Castle in South Dublin is stepped up as protesters re-erect a blockade to prevent large diggers moving onto the site.
In the liturgical calendar, today is Epiphany and the Feast of the Holy Family.

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