Ireland

• January 1, 1602 - Hugh O'Neill, 2nd earl of Tyrone, defeated at Kinsale

• January 1, 1710 - Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, an Irish writer, is born

• January 1, 1767 - Maria Edgeworth, Irish author, is born

• January 1, 1790 - James Wills, clergyman and writer, is born in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon

• January 1, 1801 - Act of Union goes into Effect, merging the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland

• January 1, 1801 - George Benn, businessman and historian of Belfast, is born in Tandragee, Co. Armagh

• January 1, 1862 - Harland & Wolff Shipyard founded - built the RMS Titanic

• January 1, 1871 - Gladstone's Irish Church Act which disestablishes the Church of Ireland takes effect

• January 1, 1880 - Gretta Bowen, artist, is born in Dublin

• January 1, 1892 - Annie Moore, 15, of County Cork, 1st Irish Immigrant through Ellis Island

• January 2, 1602 - Aguila surrenders Kinsale to Mountjoy

• January 2, 1793 - Catholic Committee petition is presented to the king

• January 2, 1880 - Parnell begins his tour of the United States

• January 2, 1910 - James Joyce and Eileen Joyce leave Dublin for Trieste, Italy

• January 2, 1920 - Recruitment begins for the Black and Tans

• January 3, 1905 - Pádraic Fallon, poet and playwright, is born in Athenry, Co. Galway

• January 4, 1581 - James Ussher, scholar and Archbishop of Armagh and Dublin is born

• January 4, 1792 - The Northern Star newpaper is published

• January 4, 1875 - Thomas Stephens, died

• January 4, 1921 - Martial law is extended to counties Clare, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford

• January 4, 1965 - T.S. Eliot, died

• January 5, 1787 - John Burke, born

• January 5, 1871 - 33 Fenian prisoners are released by the British

• January 5, 1922 - Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer, died

• January 5, 1929 - Playwright Brian Friel, author of Dancing at Lughnasa, is born

• January 6, 1562 - Shane O'Neill submits to Queen Elizabeth at Whitehall, but rebels again within months

• January 6, 1654 - Commissioners are appointed to allot the land of Oliver Cromwells Connacht plantation to transplanted Irish

• January 6, 1794 - Frances Ball who, as Mother Mary Teresa founded the Sisters of Loretto, is born in Dublin

• January 6, 1800 - Author Anna Maria Hall, née Fielding, is born in Dublin

• January 6, 1839 - Night Of The Big Wind

• January 26, 1898 - Colonel James Fitzmaurice, Irelands greatest aviator, is born in Dublin

• January 6, 1931 - P.J. Kavanagh, born

• January 6, 1939 - Irish Freedom 1st published

• January 6, 1940 - Johnny Giles,Irish footballer, born

• January 6, 1941 - Noel Pearson, born

• January 7, 1878 - General John O'Neill, died

• January 7, 1922 - Anglo Irish Treaty Ratified - creating Free State

• January 8, 1547 - Henry VIII suppresses the Chapter of St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin

• January 8, 1860 - The Church of St Andrew in Suffolk Street, Dublin, is destroyed by fire

• January 8, 1871 - James Craig, Ist Viscount Craigavon, born

• January 8, 1876 - Lucien Bul, born

• January 8, 1918 - Arthur Griffin is elected second president of Ireland by Dáil Éireann

• January 9, 1642 - The Island Magee massacre occurred in 1642

• January 9, 1904 - George Henry Perrott Buchanan, born

• January 9, 1922 - Arthur Griffith is elected Taoiseach

• January 9, 1929 - Brian Friel, born

• January 10, 1751 - Cornelius Bolton, born

• January 10, 1814 - Aubrey Thomas De Vere, born

• January 10, 1900 - Harry Kernoff, born

• January 11, 1836 - George Sigerson, born

• January 11, 1925 - David Wylie Bleakley, born

• January 12, 1709 - Benjamin Burton, born

• January 12, 1729 - Edmund Burke, born

• January 12, 1765 - Kinsale by-election was triggered by the death of John Folliott

• January 12, 1885 - Thomas Ashe, born

• January 12, 1885 - Molly Allgood, born

• January 12, 1930 - Jennifer Johnston, born

• January 12, 1947 - Matt Molloy of the Chieftains, born

• January 13, 1695 - Jonathan Swift becomes Dean of St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin

• January 13, 1800 - Daniel O'Connell makes his first public speech, opposing Union with England

• January 13, 1880 - Herbert Brenon, film director of Peter Pan and Beau Geste, born

• January 13, 1935 - Eibhin Nic Choill, prominent Irish Celtic scholar and linguist, died

• January 13, 1941 - James Joyce, died

• January 14, 1753 - George Berkeley, died

• January 14, 1775 - John Hely-Hutchinson, Provost of Trinity College duels with William Doyle

• January 14, 1871 - Alexander Sullivan, the last King's Serjeant of Ireland born

• January 14, 1937 - Eamon de Valera new 1937 Irish Constitution

• January 15, 1775 - Thomas Dermody, classical scholar and poet is born

• January 15, 1798 - Thomas Crofton Croker, antiquarian and folklorist, is born in Cork

• January 15, 1800 - Last session of the Irish Parliament begins

• January 15, 1821 - Thomas Clarke Luby, Fenian, is born in Dublin

• January 15, 1835 - Patrick Guiney, soldier and politician, born in Parkstown, Co. Tipperary

• January 15, 1860 - Eleanor Hull, Irish Celtic Scholar is born

• January 15, 1861 - Terence MacManus, the Young Irelander, dies in San Francisco

• January 15, 1920 - Sinn Féin takes control of most borough and urban councils in local elections

• January 15, 1939 - IRA Army Council declare war on England

• January 15, 1961 - Dave MacAuley, boxer, born

• January 15, 1973 - Neil M Gunn, author, died

• January 15, 1988 - Sean McBride, Irish patriot and human rights activist, dies

• January 16, 1816 - Frances Browne, writer, is born in Stranorlar, Co. Donegal

• January 16, 1822 - Thomas Clark Luby, co-founder of the Fenian Brotherhood, is born

• January 16, 1900 - Frank Devlin, badminton player, is born in Dublin

• January 16, 1904 - Michael Davitt condemms attacks on Jews in Limerick

• January 16, 1913 - Home Rule bill passes in the House of Commons

• January 16, 1922 - Michael Collins takes over control of Dublin Castle

• January 16, 1935 - Gobnaitt NiBhruadair (Albinia Broderick), Irish republican activist, dies

• January 17, 1649 - Marquis of Ormond James Butler negotiated a peace treaty

• January 17, 1856 - Joseph Haydn, Irish journalist, dies

• January 17, 1860 - Douglas Hyde, playwright, born

• January 17, 1861 - Lola Montez (Marie Gilbert), dancer and courtesan dies in New York

• January 17, 1866 - George Petrie, folk music collector, dies

• January 17, 1873 - T.C. Murray, playwright, born

• January 18, 1414 - John Stanley, first Lord of Mann, dies

• January 18, 1667 - Irish Cattle exports to England are prohibited

• January 18, 1671 - Catholic gentry present petition to Charles II

• January 18, 1779 - Cement Patent No. 1207 is issued to Sligo-man Bryan Higgins

• January 18, 1811 - Charles Kean, actor, is born in Waterford

• January 18, 1831 - Daniel O’Connell is convicted of conspiracy

• January 18, 1913 - The Irish Transport and General Workers Union strike ends

• January 18, 1928 - Birth of Daniel Bradley, physicist

• January 18, 1930 - Breandán Ó hEithir, writer and broadcaster, is born

• January 18, 1934 - Joseph Devlin, Irish nationalist dies

• January 18, 1964 - Birth of Richard Dunwoody, jockey, in Comber, Co. Down

• January 19, 1643 - Battle of Braddock Downs, Cromwellian army defeated by Cornish Royalists

• January 19, 1739 - Birth of Arthur Wolfe

• January 19, 1787 - Mary Aikenhead, born, founder of the Irish Sisters of Charity and St. Vincent’s Hospital Dublin

• January 19, 1793 - Hugh Cane, MP for Tallow, dies from a fall down stairs

• January 19, 825 - Iona raided for second time by Norsemen

• January 20, 1621 - Patents are granted for plantations in parts of Leitrim, Kings County, Queens County and Westmeath

• January 20, 1763 - Birth of Theobald Wolfe Tone

• January 20, 1841 - James Armour, Presbyterian minister and political activist, is born

• January 20, 1902 - Kevin Barry, medical student and nationalist revolutionary, is born

• January 20, 1902 - John Redmond criticizes the use of concentration camps by the British in South Africa

• January 20, 1916 - Secret negotiations result in alliance of the Irish Citizen Army with the Irish Republican Brotherhood

• January 20, 1964 - Alfred Chester Beatty, Irish library and art patron, died

• January 21, 1290 - Sweetheart Abbey, near Dumfries, founded by Devorguilla, mother of John Balliol.

• January 21, 12600 - Charles Blount, 8th Lord Mountjoy, becomes Lord Deputy of Ireland

• January 21, 1864 - Chidley Coote, granted £500 for the upkeep of six lighthouses

• January 21, 1793 - Louis XVI is executed in Paris, attended by an Irish priest, Fr. Edgeworth Lord Edward FitzGerald

• January 21, 1861 - John Keats writes his poem - On a Lock of Miltons Hair

• January 21, 1876 - James Larkin, organizer of Irish Transport and General Workers Union, is born

• January 21, 1919 - Irish War of Independence begins with raid at Soloheadbeg - Tipperary

• January 21, 1919 - Dáil Éireann, meets for the very first time in Dublin

• January 21, 1919 - Two members of Royal Irish Constabulary are shot dead by Irish Volunteers in an ambush, Tipperary

• January 20, 1920 - IRA attacks Drombrane barracks, Co. Tipperary

• January 22, 1689 - William of Orange and Mary become joint sovereigns of the UK

• January 22, 1761 - Henry Welbore Agar-Ellis, 2nd Viscount Clifden, born

• January 22, 1788 - Scottish Author George Gordon (Byron) was born

• January 22, 1856 - Alfred Denis Godley, classical scholar and writer, is born in Ashfield, Co. Cavan

• January 22, 1901 - Queen Victoria dies; Edward VII accedes to the throne

• January 22, 1913 - Cardinal William Conway, Primate of All Ireland from 1963-1977, is born

• January 22, 1925 - Raymond Crotty, radical economist, is born in Co. Kilkenny

• January 23, 1647 - Scottish Presbyterians sell captured Charles I to English parliament

• January 23, 1774 - Dudley Cosby (Baron Sydney), former MP for Carrick, commits suicide

• January 23, 1803 - Arthur Guinness, brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery, dies

• January 23, 1861 - Katherine Tynan, poet, novelist and journalist, is born

• January 23, 1881 - William O'Brien, trade unionist, is born

• January 23, 1893 - Dr. William Price self styled Welsh Druid and Chartist, dies

• January 23, 1898 - The United Irish League, a nationalist electoral organization, is founded by William OBrien

• January 23, 1969 - Willie Clancy, Irish folklorist and traditional Uilleann bagpiper, died

• January 24, 1851 - Charles Plummer, Irish language scholar and editor of Lives of the Irish Saints, is born

• January 24, 1920 - Percy French, writer of many popular Irish songs, dies

• January 24, 1921 - Patrick Scott, artist, is born in Kilbrittain, Co. Cork

• January 24, 1933 - Fianna Fáil wins a general election

• January 25, 1327 - King Edward III accedes to British throne

• January 25, 1356 - The 1st Earl of Desmond dies; Kildare is his replacement as justiciar

• January 25, 1627 - Robert Boyle, physicist, chemist and alchemist, is born in Lismore, Co. Waterford

• January 25, 1759 - Robert Burns - Scottish Poet - born.

• January 25, 1777 - The Earl of Buckinghamshire, is sworn in as lord lieutenant

• January 25, 1831 - Edmund Hogan, Jesuit and scholar, is born in Cork

• January 25, 1924 - Charles McCarthy, trade unionist, is born in Cork

• January 25, 1924 - Tomás Mac Giolla, republican and socialist, and later, Workers Party leader, is born near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary

• January 26, 1316 - Edward the Bruce and Irish allies engage English forces at the Battle of Ardscull, Ireland

• January 26, 1699 - The second session of William IIIs second Irish parliament ends on this date

• January 26, 1716 - Lord George Sackville, soldier, politician and MP for Portarlington, born

• January 26, 1799 - Thomas Charles Wright, officer in Bolivars army, is born in Drogheda, Co. Louth

• January 26, 1861 - One O'Clock gun fired for the first time from Edinburgh Castle

• January 26, 1871 - Sir Arthur du Cros, pioneer of pneumatic tyre industry, is born in Dublin

• January 26, 1878 - Kirkpatrick McMillan, Scottish inventor of the bicycle, died

• January 26, 1904 - Seán MacBride, IRA leader, politician, head of Amnesty International, born

• January 26, 1907 - Synges Playboy of the Western World is performed for the first time at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, riot ensues

• January 26, 1908 - The 1st Glasgow Scout troop was registered, the first to be formed

• January 27, 1550 - Sir Humphrey Arundell - leader of the Cornish Prayer Book Rebellion - executed.

• January 27, 1783 - Glasgow Herald newspaper first published. It is the longest continuously published daily newspaper in Britain.

• January 27, 1784 - Their enlistments expired, the men of the 77th Highland Infantry mutiny against their English officers

• January 27, 1885 - Charles Stewart Parnell turns the first sod for the West Clare Railway

• January 27, 1926 - First public demonstration of TV by John Logie Baird.

• January 27, 1944 - Birth of Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, founder of NI Peace Movement

• January 27, 1975 - Mother Mary Martin, founder of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, dies in Drogheda

• January 28, 1610 - The crown and the Irish Society of London, agree to carry out the plantation of Derry, Coleraine and part of Tyrone

• January 28, 1635 - The City of London and the Irish Society of London are found guilty of mismanagement and neglect

• January 28, 1742 - Clotworthy Skeffington, 2nd Earl of Massereene, is born in Co. Antrim

• January 28, 1786 - By charter, the Irish Academy becomes the Royal Irish Academy

• January 28, 1807 - Sir Robert McClure, polar explorer and discoverer of the North-West Passage, born in Co. Wexford

• January 28, 1818 - The Iberno-Celtic Society is founded to preserve and publish the best ancient Irish literature

• January 28, 1829 - William Burke, murderer and body snatcher of Burke and Hare fame, executed.

• January 28, 1852 - Louis Brennan, inventor, is born in Castlebar, Co. Mayo

• January 28, 1873 - Patrick Malley is killed by his son William Malley at Calla

• January 28, 1877 - George Fitzmaurice, Irish Renaissance playwright, is born

• January 28, 1892 - Birth in Limerick of David Mary Tidmarsh , WWI Ace

• January, 28 1908 - Jimmy Shand, Scottish country dance band leader, born.

• January 28, 1935 - W.B. Yeats - Irish writer - died

• January 28, 1939 - Death of William Butler Yeats

• January 28, 1941 - The Emergency Powers Act provides for the censorship of press messages to places outside the Free State

• January 29, 1967 - The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) is formed

• January 30, 1845 - Birth of Kitty O'Shea, mistress and later, the wife of Parnell

• January 30, 1859 - Edward Martyn, playwright, co-founder of Irish Literary Theatre, and Sinn Féin president, is born

• January 30, 1864 - The National Gallery of Ireland, opens

• January 30, 1865 - Birth of John Hughes, sculptor, in Dublin

• January 30, 1900 - The Irish Party reunites ten years after it split

• January 30, 1920 - Tomás MacCurtain is elected Lord Mayor of Cork for Sinn Féin

• January 30, 1947 - Jim Larkin, Irish labor leader dies

• January 30, 1968 - Bloody Sunday, Derry City, North Ireland

• January 30, 1984 - Death of Luke Kelly, lead vocalist and 5-string banjo member of the Dubliners

• January 30, 1998 - Ship-wrecked Elizabeth McClean emerges in sand

• January 31, 1864 - Matilda Knowles, born

• January 31, 1881 - Anna Parnell sets up the Committee of the Ladies Land League in Dublin

• January 31, 1913 - The Ulster Volunteer Force is founded by the Unionist Council, posing a threat to the legitimate government

• January 31, 1953 - The Princess Victoria, a British Railways car ferry steamer, sinks in the Irish Sea

• Februay 1 - Feast of goddess Brigit, also known as Imbolc, Candlemasm, Groundhogs Day, Celtic fertility day

• February 1, 1177 - John de Courcy invades Ulster and seizes Down

• February 1, 1754 - Denis O'Neal, convicted of a footpad robbery and sentenced to death, is executed

• February 1, 1796 - Theobald Wolf Tone, arrives in France seeking assistance

• February 1, 1815 - Daniel O'Connell, having kills Norcot d'Esterre in a duel fought on this date

• February 1, 1878 - Thomas MacDonagh, patriot, poet, critic and scholar, is born in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary

• February 1, 1918 - Muriel Spark, author, born

• February 1, 1919 - Tanks and army patrol the streets of Glasgow after Bloody Friday

• February 2, 1172 - Last day King Henry II holds his court in Dublin

• February 2, 1172 - The Synod of Cashel - the Bishops of Ireland, under duress, pledge allegiance to Henry II of England

• February 2, 1194 - Churches of St Andrew's and Durham struck a deal confirming their respective rights in Scotland and England

• February 2 1424 - James I married Lady Jane Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, in London.

• February 2 1645 - Battle of Inverlochy, one of the Duke of Montroses victories over the Covenanters, killing 1,300.

• February 2, 1806 - Daniel Maclise, painter, born in Co. Cork

• February 2, 1880 - Charles S. Parnell addresses the U.S. Congress

• February 2, 1882 - James Joyce, Irish Author born

• February 2 1987 - Alistair Maclean, novelist, dies

• February 2, 2005 - Feast and legal Quarter Day of Candlemass

• February 3, 1537 - Revocation of the Breton Assembly by the French

• February 3, 1744 - Lord Netterville, indicted for the murder of Michael Walsh, is acquitted by his Parlimentary Peers

• February 3, 1790 - Revocation of the Breton Assembly by the French

• February 3, 1801 - Prime Minister William Pitt resigns over royal veto on Catholic emancipation

• February 3, 1881 - Irish Land League organizer Michael Davitt is arrested again in Dublin

• February 3, 1896 - Lady Jane Wilde (Spiranza), poet, nationalist and the mother of Oscar, dies in London

• February 3, 1911 - Robert Noonan, author of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, dies

• February 3, 1919 - Harry Boland and Michael Collins engineer Eamon de Valeras escape from Lincoln Jail in England

• February 4, 1649 - Charles II proclaimed king in Edinburgh but not in England.

• February 4, 1685 - King Charles II died and James VII crowned.

• February 4, 1775 - Robert Emmett, Irish patriot, born

• February 4, 1868 - Countess Constance Markievicz, Irish patriot and revolutionary, born

• February 5, 1811 - Maurice Lenihan, journalist and historian, is born in Waterford

• February 5, 1820 - William Drennan, physician, poet, educator and political radical, dies

• February 5, 1880 - The Irish Rugby Football Union is founded in Dublin

• February 5, 1881 - Thomas Carlyle, writer and historian, died in London

• February 6, 1665 - Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, the last British sovereign of the House of Stuart was born

• February 6, 1853 - Arthur William Moore, Manx historia, died

• February 6, 1877 - John O'Mahoney, Irish patriot, dies in New York City

• February 6, 1952 - King George VI dies and Queen Elizabeth II becomes monarch.

• February 7, 1592 - Earl of Moray murdered at Donibristle.

• February 7, 1873 - Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, Journalist, novelist, and short story writer, dies

• February 7, 1875 - Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, the first honorary citizen of Ireland, is born in NY"

• February 8, 1622 - King James I disbands the English parliament

• February 8, 1872 - Captain John Philip Nolan, a supporter of home rule and tenant rights, in a Co. Galway by-election

• February 9, 1731 - Sir Lucius O'Brien, opposition politician, born

• February 10, 1844 - Daniel O'Connell is convicted of conspiracy, fined and sentenced to 12 months in prison

• February 10, 1852 - William O'Brien, writer and nationalist, is born in Mallow, Co. Cork

• February 10, 1868 - David Brewster, scientist, inventor (including the kaleidoscope) died

• February 10, 1889 - Richard Piggott is exposed as forger of Times Phoenix Park letters

• February 10, 1907 - Sir William Howard Russell, Dublin born journalist, died

• February 11, 1774 - Jacob Poolem antiquary, died in Growtown, Co. Wexford

• February 11, 1800 - William H Fox Talbot, pioneering photographer, born

• February 11, 1926 - Rioting greets the Abbey Theatre performance of Sean O'Caseys The Plough and the Stars

• February 12, 1782 - The right of habeas corpus is introduced in Ireland

• February 12, 1820 - The ships East Indian & Fanny, with about 350 Irish emigrants aboard, leave Cork for Cape Colony, carrying some of the 1820 settlers

• February 12, 1848 - John Mitchel publishes first United Irishmen

• February 12, 1923 - James Chichester-Clark, Northern Ireland Prime Minister, born in Castledawson, Co. Derry

• February 13, 1462 - Treaty of Westminster-Ardtornish between the Lord of the Isles and Edward IV, the King of England

• February 13, 1864 - Stephen Lucius Gwynn, writer and nationalist, is born in Dublin

• February 13, 1871 - Joseph Devlin, Belfast Nationalist, is born

• February 13, 1898 - Frank Aiken, revolutionary and politician from Co. Armagh, is born

• February 14, 1489 - Treaty of Dordrecht, Henry VII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Maxmillian agree to uphold Breton independence

• February 14, 1629 - Valentine Greatrakes, a physician who is known as the touch doctor, is born in Affane, Co. Waterford

• February 14, 1700 - A subsidy is authorized to Louis Crommellin for establishing a linen industry

• February 14, 1792 - Pianist and composer John Field gives his first public performance at the Rotunda in Dublin

• February 14, 1853 - The Queen Victoria sinks in a storm off Howth, with the loss of 55 lives

• February 14, 1856 - Frank Harris, writer and journalist, is born in Galway

• February 14, 1876 - Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone (Patent 174461). Two hours after it was lodged, his rival, Elisha Gray, applied for a similar patent. Bells was granted.

• February 14, 1878 - Daniel Corkery, writer, critic and Irish cultural enthusiast, is born in Cork

• February 15, 1782 - The first Dungannon Convention of the Ulster Volunteers calls for an independent Irish parliament

• February 15, 1793 - A third convention of Dungannon a gathering of Volunteers from Ulster is held

• February 15, 1794 - The United Irishmen publish a plan for parliamentary reform

• February 15, 1850 - Sophie Bryant, Irish patriot and womens rights advocate, is born

• February 15, 1874 - Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer, born in Kilkea, Co. Kildare

• February 15, 1901 - Viscount Brendan Bracken, politician, born in Templemore, Co. Tipperary

• February 16, 1768 - The Octennial Act limits Irish parliaments life to eight years

• February 16, 1822 - James Thomson, engineer, is born in Belfast

• February 16, 1886 - The Irish Catholic Hierarchy formally endorses Home Rule

• February 16, 1902 - Birth of singer Delia Murphy in Ardroe, Claremorris, Co. Mayo

• February 16, 1932 - Fianna Fáil wins the general election

• February 16, 1992 - George Mann MacBeth, Journalist and poet, died.

• February 17, 1896 - In the House of Commons, Horace Plunkett and W.E.H. Lecky, Irish Unionists, support John Redmonds plea for clemency for Irish political prisoners

• February 17, 1903 - Joseph Parry, composer of the Welsh Opera Blodwen, died

• February 17, 1945 - Brenda Fricker, actress, born

• February 18, 1366 - The Statutes of Kilkenny are passed

• February 18, 1899 - Mervyn Johns, actor, was born

• February 18, 1958 - Ian Banks, writer is born in Dunfermline, Fife

• February 19, 1904 - Muiris Ó'Suilleabhain, writer, born

• February 19, 1939 - De Valera states his intention to preserve Irish neutrality in the event of a second world war

• February 19, 1987 - A general election in the Republic returns a Fianna Fáil government with Haughey as Taoiseach

• February 19, 1992 - US government deports Joseph Doherty, volunteer Oglaigh na hÉireann

• February 20, 1436 - James I of Scotland is murdered

• February 20,1794 - William Carleton, one of the most graphic writers about the Famine, born near Clogher, Co. Tyrone

• February 20, 1874 - Gladstone resigns, a Conservative administration under Disraeli takes over

• February 20, 1882 - Padraic Ó'Conaire, writer and poet, born in Galway

• February 20, 1892 - First performance of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan

• February 20, 1941 - Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire, died

• February 20 1951 - Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, born

• February 21, 1760 - François Thurot lands French forces at Carrickfergus in Belfast Lough

• February 21, 1775 - Edward Denny, MP for Tralee, Ireland, commits suicide

• February 21, 1803 - Edward Despard, Irish republican, executed for attempted overthrow of British Crown

• February 21, 1804 - Richard Trevithick Cornish inventor and engineer demonstrated the first steam driven, died.

• February 21, 1822 - Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, Viceroy and Governor-General of India, born

• February 21, 1893 - Peadar O'Donnell, revolutionary and writer, is born in Co. Donegal

• February 22, 1371 - King David II, son of King Robert the Bruce, died

• February 22, 1772 - Thomas Eyre, MP for Fore, dies in the House of Commonsn suddenly taken with an apoplectic fit

• February 22, 1797 - The last invasion of England, Small French force commanded by Irishman William Tate lands in Wales

• February 22, 1886 - Lord Randolph Churchill gives his destructive speech which includes the incendiary comment, Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right

• February 22, 1888 - John Reid of Scotland demonstrates golf to Americans, Yonkers, NY

• February 22, 1900 - Sean O'Faolain, short story writer, born

• February 22, 1921 - Cecil King, painter, is born in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow

• February 22, 1933 - Archibald Knox, Manx Celtic artist, died

• February 22, 1958 - Matilin Meheut, Breton painter, died

• February 23, 1317 - Bruces army marches south and reaches Castleknock, within sight of Dublin

• February 23, 1649 - Giovanni Battista Rinuccini returns to Rome

• February 23, 1713 - Nicola Hamilton, widow of Tristram Beresford MP, dies on her 47th birthday

• February 23, 1908 - Sinn Fein contests its first election, County Leitrim

• February 23, 1935 - Thomas Murphy, a playwright, is born

• February 23, 1948 - John Robert Gregg, Irish Inventor of Gregg Shorthand, died

• February 23, 1995 - James Heriot, author of All Creatures Great and Small, died

• February 24, 1582 - Pope Gregory XIII announces the new Gregorian calendar, replacing the Julian calendar

• February 24, 1692 - The Treaty of Limerick is ratified by William of Orange

• February 24, 1780 - A British Act opens colonial trade to Irish goods

• February 24, 1797 - Samuel Lover, Dublin writer, artist, musician and songwriter, born

• February 24, 1841 - John Philip Holland, inventor and developer of the modern submarine, born in Co. Clare

• February 24, 1850 - Paul Cullen is consecrated Catholic archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland

• February 24, 1852 - George Moore, novelist, playwright and critic, is born in Ballyglass, Co. Mayo

• February 25, 1841 - John Philip Holland - Irish inventor and developer of the modern submarine, born

• February 25, 1852 - Death of Thomas Moore, popular poet and editor of Irish Melodies

• February 25, 1891 - Edward Ned Daly, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising, is born in Limerick

• February 26, 1551 - Thomas Arundell, died

• February 26, 1672 - Philip van der Straten, a Fleming, was granted Scots naturalization and set up a factory in Kelso, thus starting the Border woolen industry.

• February 26, 1797 - The Bank of Ireland suspends gold payments

• February 26, 1854 - William Smith O'Brien, leader of the 1848 rebellion, is pardoned

• February 26, 1935 - Robert Watson Watt demonstrated radar for the first time

• February 27, 1495 - Garret More Fitzgerald, Eighth Earl of Kildare, is arrested in Dublin by Sir Edward Poynings, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

• February 27, 1760 - François Thurot holds the castle and the town of Carrickfergus until this date

• February 27, 1792 - The Irish House of Commons is partly destroyed by fire

• February 27, 1841 - William Bruce, Sr., the last surviving member of the Ulster Volunteer convention of 1783, dies

• February 27, 1883 - Caradar (A.S.D. Smith) Cornish pioneer in language revival author of Cornish Simplified and Welsh Made Easy Born

• February 27, 1907 - Coslett Quin, clergyman, scholar and linguist, is born in Derriaghy, Co. Antrim

• February 28, 1713 - Henry Pyne, MP for Dungarvan, aged about 24 and the father of three children, is killed in a duel

• February 28, 1790 - The Northern Whig Club is founded in Belfast

• February 28, 1799 - William Dargan, railway engineer and philanthropist, is born in Carlow

• February 28, 1830 - Whitley Stokes, jurist and Celtic scholar, is born in Dublin

• February 28, 1884 - Seán MacDiarmada, revolutionary, is born in Kiltycolgher, Co. Leitrim

• February 28, 1929 - John Montague, best known for his volume, The Rough Field, is born

• February 28, 1946 - Robin Cook, Foreign Secretary, born

• March 1, 1546 - George Wishart, a Protestant martyr, was burned at the stake in St Andrews.

• March 1, 1682 - The Advocates Library (known as the National Library of Scotland since 1925) opened by its founder, Sir George Mackenzie, the Lord Advocate, electorate not voting.

• March 1, 1703 - Birth of Philip Tisdall, politician and Attorney General noted for his lavish hospitality

• March 1, 1726 - Abraham Shackleton, a Quaker, opens a school at Ballitore, Co. Kildare. Edmund Burke will later be a pupil

• March 1, 1794 - Statutes of Dublin University amended to allow Catholics to take degrees

• March 1, 1848 - Augustus St. Guadens, Irish sculptor of Dublins Parnell monument, is born

• March 1st - St. Davids Day - The patron Saint of Wales

• March 2, 1316 - Birth of Robert II of Scotland ensures royal succession of Robert the Bruce

• March 2, 1718 - Birth of John Gore. Baron Annal, lawyer, politician and Chief Justice of the Kings Bench from1764 to 1784

• March 2, 1838 - Clydesdale Bank founded in Glasgow.

• March 22, 1841 - The Irish Emigrant Society is founded in New York

• March 2, 1871 - Gladstone gives his first speech in the House of Commons on Home Rule

• March 2, 1888 - Birth in Dublin of Cyril Bentham Falls, military historian and journalist

• March 2, 1990 - The Queen officially inaugurated Glasgows year as Cultural Capital of Europe.

• March 3, 1592 - A charter incorporates the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, near Dublin, later to become known as Trinity College

• March 3, 1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Castle of Inverness

• March 3, 1766 - Four pirates are found guilty in Dublin of murdering on the high seas Captain Cochrane, Captain Glass and others, and of plundering and scuttling the Lord Sandwich; they are executed in St Stephens Green on this date and later hanged in chains near the L

• March 3, 1792 - Robert Adam, Scottish architect, died.

• March 3, 1831 - In the tithe war, 120 police move in to Graiguenamanagh to seize cattle in payment of the tithe

• March 3, 1847 - Alexander Graham Bell - Scottish Inventor of telephone - born

• March 4, 1461 - King Henry VI of England is deposed.

• March 4, 1704 - Penal law to prevent the further growth of popery restricts landholding rights for Catholics; gavelkind is reimposed on Catholics (unless the eldest son converts to Protestantism, in which case he inherits the whole); a sacramental test for public off

• March 4, 1756 - Sir Henry Raeburn, renowned for painting the portraits of many of the citizens of Edinburgh, born.

• March 4, 1771 - John Ponsonby resigns as Speaker of the Irish parliament for political reasons; Edmond Sexton Pery is elected to replace him

• March 4, 1778 - Robert Emmet, one of Irelands most famous revolutionaries, is born in Dublin

• March 4, 1794 - William Carleton, novelist, is born in Prillisk, Co. Tyrone

• March 4, 1800 - Dr. William Price - self styled Welsh Druid and Chartist who introduced cremation to the British Isles - born

• March 4, 1864 - Daniel Mannix, Archbishop of Melbourne and advocate of Irish independence, is born in Charleville, Co. Cork

• March 4, 1867 - Fenian national uprising begins in Ireland

• March 4,1888 - Grace Gifford Plunkett, Irish patriot, is born in Rathmines, Dublin

• March 4, 1890 - Forth Rail Bridge opened by Prince of Wales.

• March 4, 1902 - Ancient Order of Hibernians is revived at unity council

• March 4, 1916 - First Irish Race Convention is held in New York City. Serves as immediate call for the Easter Rebellion in Dublin

• March 4, 1936 - Jim Clark, Formula I World motor racing champion, born Fife.

• March 5, 1133 - King Henry II of England, born.

• March 5, 1323 - King David II Bruce of Scotland, born.

• March 5, 1389 - Thomas Mortimer is appointed justiciar, Ireland

• March 5, 1716 - Martin Bladen, soldier, politician, civil servant, gambler and writer, is given leave in the British House of Commons to bring in a bill to continue the privilege of exporting Irish linen cloth to British plantations without the duty payable by exporters

• March 5, 1790 - Flora MacDonald, who helped to save Prince Charles Edward Stewart during his flight after the defeat at the Battle of Culloden, died in Kingsburgh, Skye

• March 5, 1867 - Fenian Rising begins in Co. Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Clare and Tipperary

• March 5, 1911 - Birth in Portaferry, Co. Down of actor Joseph Tomelty

• March 5 1929 - David Dunbar Buick, founder of the Buick Manufacturing Company which later became General Motors, died in Detroit. He was born in Arbroath in 1854.

• March 5, 2005 - St. Iran’s Day Patron Saint of Cornwall Cornwalls national day

• March 6, 1457 - King James II decreed in an Act of Parliament that there should be regular target practice and military parades and that football and golf be utterly cried down and not used. This was the first time that the games had been mentioned in Scottish document

• March 6, 1725 - Last claimant to the Stuart throne - Henry I of Scotland - (Henry IX of England) - younger brother of Charles Edward born

• March 6, 1791 - John McHale, Archbishop of Tuam; nationalist campaigner and writer, is born in Trawler, Co. Mayo

• March 6, 1831 - Philip Sheridan, general on Federal side in American Civil War and Commander-in-Chief of the US army, is born in Clinkered, Co. Cava

• March 6, 1861 - Patrick McCall, songwriter, is born in Dublin

• March 6, 1918 - Death of John Redmond, Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party

• March 6, 1923 - BBC Scotland founded.

• March 7, 1777 - Sir Philip Crampon, surgeon, is born in Dublin

• March 7, 1864 - Archbishop Paul Cullen issues a pastoral for St. Patricks Day denouncing Fenianism

• March 7, 1905 - Creation of the Blue-Burg, a Breton cultural organization.

• March 7, 1905 - Francis MacManus, novelist, is born

• March 7, 1920 - Ellis Dillon, novelist and childrens writer, is born in Galway

• March 7, 1921 - Limerick Mayor George Clancy is shot and killed in his home by disguised members of the Black and Tans

• March 7, 1923 - Eight republican prisoners are executed by use of a mine at Ball seedy, Co. Kerry

• March 7, 1936 - Freddie Gillen, amateur boxer, is born in Belfast

• March 7, 1937 - Tomas O Criomthain, Irish author of An t-Oileanach (The Islandman), died

• March 7, 1966 - Nelson Pillar blown up, Dublin

• March 7, 851 - Nominee, ruler of Brittany, died

• March 8, 1574 - Captain William Martin lays siege to Grace OMalley in Rockfleet castle

• March 8, 1594 - English expedition sets out from Galway to kill pirate queen, Grace OMalley

• March 8, 1700 - Year is uncertain, but it is on this date that Anne Bonny, née Cormac, pirate, is born in Co. Cork

• March 8, 1702 - William III dies when his horse stumbles on a molehill; Anne accedes to the throne of Britain and Ireland. She was the daughter of King James VII.

• March 8, 1742 - William Crotty, outlaw of the Comeragh mountains, is tried in Waterford on this date and later hanged, drawn and quartered

• March 8, 1770 - Mary Anne McCracken, radical and philanthropist, is born in Belfast

• March 8, 1834 - General John ONeill, Irish Fenian leader, is born

• March 8, 1854 - Birth in Co. Cork of Tom Horan, the greatest of the many top class Australian cricketers to be born in Ireland

• March 8, 1859 - Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows born in Edinburgh.

• March 8, 1899 - Novelist Eric Linklater, son of an Orkney master mariner, born in Wales.

• March 8, 1903 - Charles Gavan Duffy, Young Irelander, is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

• March 8, 1921 - Sir James Comyn, lawyer, is born in Dublin

• March 8, 1925 - Paddy Devlin, socialist politician, is born in Belfast

• March 8, 1942 - Mary MacSwiney, Irish patriot, dies

• March 9, 1566 - David Rizzio, Italian singer-secretary of Mary Stuart, murdered by Ruthven in the Palace of Holyrood.

• March 9, 1770 - Haggis was served on board Captain James Cooks ship Endeavour, anchored off New Zealand

• March 9, 1771 - Birth in Dublin of Thomas Reynolds, United Irishman whose information enables authorities to arrest Leinster Committee in 1798 1825. The Catholic Association is dissolved in accordance with the Unlawful Societies Act.

• March 9, 1776 - Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith published

• March 9, 1895 - Soprano Dame Isabella Baillie, opera star, born in Hawick.

• March 9, 1914 - Prime Minister Asquith offers a compromise on Home Rule electors in the North could vote to be excluded from an independent Ireland for six years

• March 9, 1932 - Éamon de Valera is elected President of the Executive Council of Ireland

• March 10, 1478 - John De La Pole, the Duke of Suffolk, is appointed lieutenant of Ireland for 20 years on this date, but does not take office

• March 10, 1615 - St John Ogilvie, a Banffshire-born Jesuit priest, was hanged for refusing to renounce the supremacy of the Pope. He was the only Roman Catholic martyr in Scotland and was canonized in 1976.

• March 10, 1653 - Sir Phelim ONeill is executed by Parliament forces in Dublin, after refusing to state that Charles I authorized the 1641 rebellion

• March 10, 1748 - John Playfair, clergyman, geologist, mathematician, born.

• March 10, 1810 - Birth in Belfast of Sir Samuel Ferguson, Celtic scholar and a poet best known for his rendering of Irish legends in English verse

• March 10, 1883 - Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha, writer under the pseudonym An Seabhac and promoter of the Irish language is born in Dingle, Co. Kerry

• March 10, 1888 - Birth in Dublin of William Joseph Shields, aka Barry Fitzgerald, actor

• March 10, 1894 - Ireland collects its first ever Triple Crown, defeating Wales in Belfast

• March 10, 1916 - Birth of James Heriot, author of All Creatures Great and Small

• March 10, 1932 - IRA prisoners in the Free State are released

• March 10, 1945 - Birth of Donal Lunny, the founder of Planxty, the Bothy Band, and Moving Hearts

• March 10, 1951 - Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin, died.

• March 10, 560 - St Kessog Day - the patron saint of Scotland prior to the adoption of St Andrew

• March 11, 1605 - A proclamation declares all persons in the realm to be free, natural and immediate subjects of the king and not subjects of any lord or chief

• March 11, 1747 - Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams), Welsh Poet, antiquarian, druid, founder of the modern Eisteddfod, born

• March 11, 1812 - Composer William Vincent Wallace, best known for his opera, Maritana, is born in Co. Waterford

• March 11, 1858 - Irish revolutionary Thomas James Clarke is born of Irish parents on the Isle of Wight

• March 11, 1880 - On the last day of his tour of the United States, Parnell launches the Irish National Land League of the USA

• March 11, 1926 - Eamon de Valera resigns as head of Sinn Féin

• March 11, 1954 - Margaret (Gretta) Cousins, Irish womens rights activist, died.

• March 12, 1286 - Queen Margaret, Maid of Norway (daughter of King Erik II) crowned.

• March 12, 1295 - Richard de Burgh is released by the council in parliament at Kilkenny

• March 12, 1685 - George Berkeley - Irish philosopher and Anglican bishop- born

• March 12, 1689 - James II lands at Kinsale and proceeds to Dublin

• March 12, 1708 - French Jacobite invasion of Scotland aborts landing at Firth of Forth

• March 12, 1798 - Having been betrayed by Thomas Reynolds, the Leinster Directory of United Irishmen leaders is arrested

• March 12, 1832 - Birth of Capt. Charles Boycott, despised English estate manager in Ireland, from whose name the word boycott is taken

• March 12, 1873 - Gladstones Irish University Bill is defeated

• March 12, 1875 - After being barred as an undischarged felon from taking his seat as elected MP for Tipperary, John Mitchel is re-elected on this date. He dies eight days later

• March 12, 1937 - Blitz of Clydebank by German Luftwaffe

• March 13, 1708 - French fleet abandons attempted Jacobite invasion of Scotland

• March 13, 1784 - Reform Bill in Irish House of Commons

• March 13, 1791 - Thomas Paines The Rights of Man (part 1) a reply to Burkes Reflections on the Revolution in France and a major influence on Irish radicals is published

• March 13, 1865 - Birth of Patrick Nally in Balla, Co Mayo. An athlete, he was a major inspiration in the founding the GAA in 1884 by Michael Cusack. The Nally stand in Croke Park is named after him

• March 13, 1873 - Scottish Football Association founded. The initial clubs were Queens Park, Clydesdale, Vale of Leven, Dumbreck, Third Lanark, Eastern, Granville and Kilmarnock.

• March 13, 1922 - George Bernard Shaws Back to Methusaleh V premieres in New York

• March 13, 1947 - The classic Lerner and Loewe, Broadway musical Brigadoon opened at the Ziegfeld in New York.

• March 13, 1973 - Scotland played Brazil to mark centenary of Scottish Football Association.

• March 13, 1974 - Billy Fox, Prostestant Irish Nationalist senator from Monaghan, assassinated

• March 13, 1996 - Sixteen primary school children and their teacher murdered in Dunblane.

• March 14, 1689 - Convention of Estates without royal representation meets in Edinburgh

• March 14, 1705 - An English act permits direct export of Irish linen to American colonies

• March 14, 1732 - Birth of Sackville Hamilton, politician and civil servant

• March 14, 1738 - John Beresford, unionist politician, is born in Cork

• March 14, 1822 - Richard Boyle, civil engineer, is born in Dublin

• March 14, 1894 - William Earle Moley Molesworth, WWI Ace, is born

• March 14, 1902 - The Irish Association of Women Graduates and Candidate-Graduates, an organization open to those interested in promoting womens education, is launched

• March 14, 1952 - First television program broadcast in Scotland.

• March 15, 1672 - The first Declaration of indulgence; suspending penal laws against Catholics and dissenters is issued by Charles II

• March 15,1689 - Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh founded Advocates Library equipped with works written by lawyers.

• March 15, 1764 - Charles OConor, antiquary and historian, is born in Belanagare, Co. Roscommon

• March 15, 1773 - Oliver Goldsmiths She Stoops to Conquer is performed at Covent Garden Theatre, London

• March 15, 1774 - Isaac Weld, author, is born in Dublin

• March 15, 1813 - In the British House of Commons, Sir Eyre Coote (the younger), MP for Ballynakill and Maryborough, proposes the abolition of flogging in the army

• March 15, 1852 - Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory (née Persse), playwright, folklorist and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, is born in Roxborough, Co. Galway

• March 15, 1878 - Sir Robert McCarrison, medical scientist and honorary physician to King George V from 1928 to 1935 is born in Portadown, Co. Armagh

• March 15, 1879 - F. Jaffrennou (Taldir), Breton writer, born

• March 15, 1886 - Low-level platforms at Glasgows Queen Street Station opened.

• March 15, 1904 - Birth of George Brent, actor, in Dublin

• March 15, 1921 - First women jurors in Glasgow Sheriff Court.

• March 16, 1309 - King Robert the Bruce convened his first parliament, at St Andrews.

• March 16, 1618 - Richard Archdekin, Jesuit, educator and missioner to Ireland, is born in Louvain

• March 16, 1640 - Charles Is second Irish parliament meets

• March 16, 1690 - French king Louis XIV sends troops to Ireland

• March 16, 1789 - Francis Rawdon Chesney, soldier and explorer, is born in Annalong, Co. Down

• March 16, 1815 - William Reeves, Church of Ireland bishop and antiquary, is born in Charleville, Co. Cork

• March 16, 1828 - Patrick Cleburne, American Civil War Confederate General, is born in Cobh, Co. Cork

• March 16, 1839 - John B. Yeats, painter and father of William Butler and Jack B. Yeats, is born in Tullylish, Co. Down

• March 16, 1864 - Richard Roberts Welsh inventor and developer of textile machinery died

• March 16, 1935 - John J R Macleod, Scottish-Canadian physiologist and winner of Nobel Prize (in 1923) died.

• March 17, 1328 - Treaty of Edinburgh between King Robert I and Edward III which recognised Scotlands independence, ending the 30 years of Wars of Independence.

• March 17, 1473 - King James IV born.

• March 17, 1746 - Lord George Murray and Cluny Macpherson (chief of the clan) fell upon the Campbell militia posts in the Braes of Atholl, at the head of Strathtay, and wiped them out. A brilliant feat of arms, it aroused a blaze of Jacobite optimism.

• March 17, 1777 - Patrick Brontë, originally Brunty; clergyman and father of Charlotte, Emily and Anne, is born in Ballynaskeagh, Co. Down

• March 17, 1794 - Sir Thomas Maclear, astronomer, is born in Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone

• March 17, 1800 - Charles James Patrick Mahon, high-ranking soldier in Russia, Turkey, South America and France; duellist; & politician, is born in Ennis, Co. Clare

• March 17, 1820 - Patrick Edward Connor, Union General, is born in Co. Kerry

• March 17, 1852 - Patrick Sheehan, Canon Sheehan, priest and writer, is born in Mallow, Co. Cork

• March 17, 1853 - The Ossianic Society is founded to preserve and publish manuscripts of the Fionn cycle

• March 17, 1858 - James Stephens founds the Irish Republican Brotherhood in Dublin

• March 17, 1864 - Charlotte Milligan Fox, collector of folk music, is born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone

• March 17, 1877 - Michael OHanrahan, author and revolutionary, is born in New Ross, Co. Wexford

• March 17, 1889 - Harry Clarke, artist, known chiefly for stained-glass work, is born in Dublin

• March 17, 1899 - First issue of Gaelic Leagues An Claidheamh Soluis is published

• March 17, 1903 - St Patricks Day becomes a bank holiday

• March 17, 1951 - The cartoon character Dennis the Menace appeared for the first time in the Beano comic.

• March 17, 1969 - Longhope lifeboat sank in the Pentland Firth with the loss of eight men on board, all from the small island of Hoy.

• March 17, 1984 - Scotland won Rugby Grand Slam at Murrayfield the first time in 59 years.

• March 17, 1990 - Scotland beat England 13-7 at Murrayfield to win the rugby Grand Slam.

• March 17th - Happy St. Patricks Day - Patron Saint of Ireland and Mann

• March 18, 1258 - Scottish earls pledge common cause with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd against the English

• March 18, 1689 - Earl of Leven raises a Border regiment to hold Edinburgh against the Jacobites. It later becomes the Kings Own Scottish Borderers.

• March 18, 1736 - The Irish House of Commons condemns tithe of agistment on pasturage for dry and barren cattle

• March 18, 1800 - Harriet Smithson, actress and wife of the composer Hector Berlioz, is born in Ennis, Co. Clare

• March 18, 1801 - Ambrose OHiggins, Viceroy of Peru, dies in Lima

• March 18, 1825 - In accordance with the Unlawful Societies Act, the Grand Orange Lodge advises its members that further meetings would be in violation of the law

• March 18, 1857 - William Henry Playfair, architect, died.

• March 18, 1932 - The order outlawing the IRA is allowed to lapse

• March 18th - Sheelahs Day

• March 19, 1286 - Alexander III of Scotland died after crossing the river Forth to Fife at Queensferry.

• March 19, 1641 - Foundation stone of Hutchesons Grammar School laid by Thomas Hutcheson as a residential school for the poor in Glasgow.

• March 19, 1642 - Charles Is Adventurers Act offers confiscated Irish land in return for investment in the reconquest

• March 19, 1721 - Novelist Tobias Smollett born. Books included The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker.

• March 19, 1813 - David Livingstone, missionary and explorer, born Blantyre.

• March 19, 1821 - Birth in Dublin of Sir Richard Francis Burton, adventurer, writer, swordsman, scholar and explorer

• March 19, 1824 - William Allingham, poet and diarist, is born in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal

• March 19, 1861 - Joseph MacRory, Catholic Primate of all Ireland and cardinal, is born in Ballygawley, Co. Tyrone

• March 19, 1920 - Tomás MacCurtain, Lord Mayor of Cork for Sinn Féin and inventor of the famous Flying Column, is killed by Black & Tans disguised as policemen. The inquest into his death returns a verdict of willful murder against the RIC, and indicts Lloyd George and th

• March 19, 1921 - Tom Barry and the West Cork Flying Column routs a superior force from the Essex Regiment at Crossbarry

• March 20, 1141 - Malcolm IV, King of Scotland, was born

• March 20, 1724 - Duncan Bain Macintyre, Scottish Gaelic poet, born

• March 20, 1729 - John Law, financier and founder of New Orleans, died aged about 57.

• March 20, 1761 - Robert Simms, a founder of the United Irishmen and proprietor of the Northern Star, is born

• March 20, 1780 - The firm of James Watt and Co was established to manufacture the worlds first duplicating machines.

• March 20, 1780 - Miles Byrne, United Irishman and officer in Napoleons Irish Legion, is born in Monaseed, Co. Wexford

• March 20, 1814 - Birth of Dr John Goodsir in Anstruther, Fife, who showed in 1842 that bacteria was the cause of disease and that it could be eliminated with selective poisons 18 years before Louis Pasteur, who is usually credited with the discovery.

• March 20, 1884 - Tomás MacCurtain, revolutionary and Lord Mayor of Cork is born in Ballyknockane, Co. Cork

• March 20, 1914 - After 60 cavalry officers at the Curragh resign their commissions an incident known as the Curragh mutiny the War Secretary states that the army will not be used to coerce Ulster into Home Rule

• March 20, 1927 - Birth in Dublin Zoo of Cairbre, the lion used to introduce Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer films

• March 21, 1181 - John Cumin (or Comyn) is elected archbishop of Dublin and consecrated by the pope at Velletri on this date. He is the first Englishman to be appointed to an Irish see

• March 21, 1656 - Death of Bishop James Ussher. The Dublin-born cleric deduced from biblical studies the exact date of the Creation (October 23rd,4004 BCE), and the date of the end of the world - November 4, 1996. The Bishop had a cult following until then

• March 21, 1689 - Derry-Londonderry declares allegiance to William III

• March 21, 1763 - William James McNeven, physician, United Irishman and writer, is born in Aughrim, Co. Galway

• March 21, 1859 - National Gallery of Scotland opened in Edinburgh.

• March 21, 1881 - The Peace Preservation Act, controlling possession and importation of arms, is enacted

• March 21, 1993 - Pope John Paul sanctifies John Duns Scotus, philosopher, theologian (but the first dunce).

• March 21st - ALBAN EILIR - Welsh bardic name for Spring Equinox

• March 22, 1421 - Scottish and French troops under the command of the Earl of Buchan defeated English forces at Baugé in Anjou, France.

• March 22, 1686 - With the return of a Catholic monarchy James II payments to the Catholic hierarchy are authorized; Catholics are appointed to government positions; replacement of Protestant by Catholic soldiers intensifies

• March 22, 1727 - Neil Gow, first of a famous family of Fiddle players and composers, born Strathearn, Ross & Cromarty.

• March 22, 1768 - Melasina Trench, writer, is born in Dublin

• March 22, 1829 - Sir Richard Sankey, soldier and engineer, is born in Cashel, Co. Tipperary

• March 22, 1848 - Birth of artist Sarah Purser in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin

• March 22, 1868 - Last fully public hanginghanging in Scotland that of Joseph Bell at Perth.

• March 22, 1899 - Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh, The Manx Gaelic Society, Formed

• March 22, 1912 - Birth of actor Wilfrid Brambell in Dublin

• March 22, 1929 - Sixty-six horses run in Irish Grand National Sweepstakes; Alike wins the race

• March 23, 1402 - Yann V becomes Duke of Brittany and his forty three year reign provides a period of economic prosperity and artistic creativity.

• March 23, 1847 - Choctaw Indians collect money to donate to starving Irish Hunger victims

• March 23, 1848 - First Scottish settlers arrive in Dunedin, New Zealand.

• March 23, 1889 - Robert Gibbings, illustrator and writer, is born in Cork

• March 23, 1893 - Birth in Dublin of Cedric Gibbons, designer of the coveted Oscar statuette

• March 23, 1917 - Birth of singer Josef Locke (Joe McLaughlin) in Derry

• March 24, 1603 - Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland on the death of Queen Elizabeth I and the succession of King James VI of Scotland.

• March 24, 1796 - The Insurrection Act imposes curfews, arms searches, and the death penalty for oath-taking

• March 24, 1866 - Birth in Co. Cork of light-heavyweight boxing champion, Jack McAuliffe

• March 24, 1909 - Death in Dublin of John Millington Synge. The plays of Irish peasant life on which his fame rests are written in the last six years of his life. In 1904, Synge, Yeats and Lady Gregory found the famous Abbey Theatre. Two Synge comedies, The Well of the Sai

• March 24, 1939 - Erith Gwyn Nicholls, Welsh star rugby player and author of The Modern Rugby Game and How to Play it, died.

• March 25, 1306 - Robert the Bruce crowned at Scone

• March 25, 1437 - Coronation of King James II.

• March 25, 1635 - A shower of hailstones, with stones as large as four inches in circumference, is reported in Castletown, Co. Offaly; a hen is killed and a woman is injured

• March 25, 1735 - Birth of James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden and politician

• March 25, 1738 - Irish harpist and composer, Turlough OCarolan, dies at Alderford House, the home of his patron Máire MacDermott Roe, in Ballyfarnan, Co. Roscommon

• March 25, 1810 - The Commercial Bank of Scotland was founded in Edinburgh by John Pitcairn, Lord Cockburn and others.

• March 25, 1831 - Arthur Kavanagh, politician and progressive landlord, is born in Borris, Co. Carlow

• March 25, 1840 - Birth of Myles Keogh in Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow. Soldier in the US army, it is said by the Sioux that he is the last man killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn, where his horse is the only US survivor

• March 25, 1846 - Michael Davitt, known universally as The Father of the Land League, is born in Straid, Co. Mayo

• March 25, 1847 - Pope Pius IX issues an encyclical called On aid for Ireland

• March 25, 1876 - First Scotland v Wales football international. Scotland won 4-0.

• March 26, 1787 - The Tumultuous Risings Act imposes penalties for rioting and for interference with the collection of tithes

• March 26, 1838 - William Edward Hartpole Lecky, historian and philosopher, is born in Blackrock, Co. Dublin

• March 26, 1854 - Harry Furniss, caricaturist, is born in Wexford

• March 26, 1856 - William Massey, New Zealand statesman and Prime Minister from 1912 to 1925 is born in Limavady, Co. Derry-Londonderry

• March 26, 1922 - An IRA anti-treaty army convention announces it will no longer accept the authority of Free State Minister for Defense Richard Mulcahy

• March 26, 1934 - Car driving tests introduced in Scotland for the first time.

• March 27, 1306 - King Robert I (The Bruce) crowned at Scone.

• March 27, 1351 - The Combat of the Thirty

• March 27, 1371 - King Robert II crowned at Scone.

• March 27, 1599 - Robert Devereux becomes Lieutenant-General of Ireland

• March 27, 1625 - Charles 1 becomes king of England, Scotland and Ireland

• March 27, 1650 - Kilkenny surrenders to Cromwell

• March 27, 1725 - The first number of Faulkners Dublin Journal is published

• March 27, 1766 - First publication of The Vicar Of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith

• March 27, 1782 - A Whig administration comes to power in Britain

• March 27, 1839 - Birth in Glenavy, Co. Antrim, of John Ballance, Prime Minister of New Zealand. The eldest son of a tenant farmer, John is not interested in farming and goes to Belfast to stay with his uncle. At eighteen, he goes to Birmingham and earns a living in the ir

• March 27, 1871 - First Scotland-England rugby international, 20 a side, played at Raeburn Place. (Scotland won).

• March 27, 1872 - Mary MacSwiney, Maire Nic Shuibhne, Irish patriot, is born. Educated in the Ursuline Convent, she later trains as a teacher at Cambridge University. She teaches in Cork where she becomes a founding member of the Munster Womens Franchise League and a memb

• March 27, 1943 - Aircraft carrier HMS Dasher blew up and sank off the island of Arran in the Firth of Clyde with the loss of 350 crew; there were 149 survivors.

• March 28, 1318 - King Robert the Bruce captured Berwick on Tweed

• March 28, 1646 - Peace between the confederates and James Butler, the Marquis of Ormond and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, leads to a split within the confederation, i.e. between confederates and royalists

• March 28, 1719 - John Cairnes, son of David Cairnes, former MP for the city of Londonderry, is killed in a duel in Newcastle, England

• March 28, 1772 - An Act to repress Steelboy disturbances in five Ulster counties is passed

• March 28, 1820 - Sir William Howard Russell, war correspondent, is born in Tallaght, Co. Dublin

• March 28, 1874 - Joseph McGarrity, Irish patriot, is born in Carrickmore, Co. Tyrone

• March 28, 1879 - Terence MacSwiney, Irish patriot and Lord Mayor of Cork, is born

• March 28, 1881 - Birth of Martin Sheridan, the world’s greatest athlete, in Bohola, Co. Mayo. Although largely unpublicised, Sheridan’s achievements in field athletics undoubtedly put him amongst the greats - in three successive Olympics he wins 5 gold medals, 3 silver a

• March 28, 1932 - Birth of Richard Burke, Fine Gael politician and EC Commissioner

• March 29, 1613 - A charter incorporates Derry as the city of Londonderry and creates the new county of Londonderry

• March 29, 1783 - The Royal Society of Edinburgh incorporated by charter.

• March 29, 1793 - Charlotte Brooke, author of Reliques of Ancient Irish Poetry, dies

• March 29, 1850 - The SS Royal Adelaide sinks in a storm with the loss of 200 lives

• March 29, 1859 - First publication of The Irish Times

• March 29, 1869 - James MacNeill, Governor-General of the Irish Free State from 1928 to 1932, in Glenarm, Co. Antrim(May have been March 27)

• March 29, 1873 - Peig Sayers, Blasket Island storyteller, is born in Dunquin, Co. Kerry

• March 29, 1898 - The Registration Act allows women and peers to vote in local government elections

• March 29, 1901 - James Stephens, Fenian leader, dies

• March 29, 1913 - Birth in Dublin of actor Niall MacGinnis

• March 29, 1915 - Jazz trombonist George Chisholm born.

• March 29, 1924 - Charles Villiers Stanford, composer-writer, dies

• March 29, 1960 - Cheapside docks fire, Glasgow, 19 firemen killed.

• March 30, 1406 - King James I captured by English near Flamborough Head on his way to France.

• March 30, 1493 - Kildare, who has been suspected of supporting Perkin Warbeck, is given a general pardon

• March 30, 1603 - After a long battle against English rule, Hugh ONeill, the Earl of Tyrone, submits to Lord Mountjoy at Mellifont. ONeill is pardoned; the Treaty of Mellifont ends the Nine Years War

• March 30, 1798 - Privy Council proclaims Ireland in state of rebellion and imposes martial law

• March 30, 1824 - Thomas Devin Reilly, journalist and editor, is born in Co. Monaghan

• March 30, 1851 - A 1851 census shows the population of Ireland to be 6,552,385 - it has declined by one-fifth since 1845.

• March 30, 1873 - Richard Church, of Co. Cork, soldier and liberator of Greece, dies in Athens

• March 30, 1880 - Birth of playwright Sean OCasey in Dublin

• March 30, 1896 - An Irishman wins an Olympic gold medal for the first time, when John Pius Boland triumphs in tennis

• March 30, 1920 - Jack White, journalist and author, is born in Cork

• March 30, 1922 - Craig-Collins Pact is signed in London. Irish Free State formally recognizes Northern Ireland government

• March 31, 1652 - Scottish Regalia were saved from invading army of Oliver Cromwell after being smuggled from Dunnottar Castle.

• March 31, 1711 - Seven women from Island Magee, Co. Antrim are imprisoned and pilloried for bewitching a woman named Mary Dunbar, who has experienced strange fits and visions

• March 31, 1790 - A quarrel between John Philpot Curran (MP for Kilbeggan) and Robert Hobart (MP for Portarlington) results in a duel in which Hobart allows Curran to fire and then refuses to return fire

• March 31, 1855 - Charlotte Bronte, daughter of an Irish-born father (Patrick) and eldest of the Bronte sisters, dies during pregnancy

• March 31, 1859 - The independent Irish party splits and the Tenant League breaks up

• March 31, 1871 - Birth in Dublin of Arthur Griffith, founder of Sinn Féin and co-signatory of Anglo-Irish treaty

• March 31, 1896 - Women become qualified for election as poor law guardians (welfare administrators) under the Poor Law Guardians Act

• March 31, 1901 - A census on this date shows the population of Ireland to be 4,458,775; this is the last census to be taken on the basis of baronies

• March 31, 1903 - Jack Doyle, boxer and singer, is born in Cóbh, Co. Cork

• March 31, 1920 - British parliament accepts Irish Home Rule-law

• March 31, 1938 - David Steel, (Lord Steel of Aikwood), politician and former leader of the Liberal party, born.

• March 31, 1950 - The actor Robbie Coltrane was born.

• April 1, 1295 - Robert Bruce, The Great Competitor and grandfather of King Robert the Bruce, died.

• April 1, 1329 - From April onwards there are risings by the native Irish in various parts of Munster and Leinster, and reprisals against them. This will continue into 1330

• April 1, 1571 - Dumbarton Castle, under siege since January 1570, captured by Captain Thomas Crawford scaling the walls.

• April 1, 1716 - The first Doggett Coat and Badge sculling race takes place on the Thames; one of the oldest sporting fixtures in the British sporting calendar, it is founded by Thomas Doggett, an Irish actor and theatre manager

• April 1, 1730 - Samuel Boyse, MP for Bannow, dies as a result of a duel at the age of 33

• April 1, 1776 - Irish-born Edward Hand is appointed a Brigadier General in the Continental Army

• April 1, 1839 - St. Clair Mulholland, Union Civil War General and Medal of Honor winner, is born in Lisburn, Co. Antrim

• April 1, 1848 - Augustus Saint-Gaudens, sculptor, is born in Dublin, Ireland

• April 1, 1911 - The Titanic is launched in Belfast, Ireland

• April 1, 1919 - DeValera is elected president of the first Dáil Éireann

• April 1, 1935 - Death of Francis Arthur Fahy from Kinvara, Co Galway, who wrote the ballad Galway Bay

• April 1st - Hunt the Gowk - Scottish equivalent of April Fools Day (gowk is a cuckoo).

• April 2, 1593 - Marischal College, second University in Aberdeen, founded.

• April 2, 1902 - Premiere of Yeats Cathleen ni Houlihan starring Maud Gonne

• April 2, 1970 - Several days of rioting following Easter rising commemorations in Ireland end on this date

• April 3, 1401 - Murder of Duke of Rothesay, heir of Robert III.

• April 3, 1603 - Banning of the Clan MacGregor by act of James IV of Scotland

• April 3, 1793 - Dionysius Lardner, scientific writer and lecturer, is born in Dublin

• April 3, 1798 - Writer John Banim, who was praised by Yeats as a writer who tried to make one see life plainly, is born in Kilkenny

• April 3, 1807 - Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co. Kerry, resigns as Commissioner of the Treasury (UK) over the issue of Catholic relief

• April 3, 1825 - Thomas DArcy McGee, Young Irelander, journalist and promoter of Canadian Federation, is born

• April 3, 1843 - Birth of James McCudden, WWI ace

• April 3, 1846 - Death of Michael Moran, aka Zozimus, balladeer and storyteller

• April 3, 1900 - Queen Victoria arrives at Kingstown for a three-day visit to Ireland

• April 4, 1373 - Parliament held by King Robert II at Scone, resolved that his son, the Earl of Carrick should succeed his father as King (as Robert III although he was baptised John).

• April 4, 1384 - John of Gaunt, son of Edward III attacks Scotland.

• April 4, 1406 - King Robert III died and James I ascended the throne (but was not crowned until 1424 as he was a prisoner of the English).

• April 4, 1617 - John Napier, inventor of logarithms, died in Edinburgh.

• April 4, 1689 - Scottish Parliament declared that James VII had forfeited the Scottish throne.

• April 4, 1774 - Oliver Goldsmith, Irish author of Deserted Village died.

• April 4, 1818 - Mayne Reid, pseudonym of Thomas Mayne; soldier, journalist, and writer of boys stories, is born in Ballyroney, Co. Down

• April 5, 1603 - King James VI leaves Edinburgh to travel to London.

• April 5, 1806 - William Dool Killen, ecclesiastical historian, is born in Ballymena, Co. Antrim

• April 5, 1818 - Bernardo OHiggins defeats the Spanish at the battle of Maipo River, Chile

• April 5, 1830 - Birth at Lesmahagow of composer Alexander Muir, creator of Maple Leaf Forever.

• April 5, 1855 - The Dublin-Belfast railway line is completed

• April 5, 1869 - Birth in Dublin of Margaret Tennant, née Abraham; trade unionist and campaigner for improved working conditions

• April 5, 1900 - Spencer Tracy, the son of an Irish father, is born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• April 5, 1902 - Disaster at English-Scottish football match at Ibrox Stadium when part of the flooring collapsed, killing 20, and injuring 200.

• April 5, 1916 - Patrick Pearse denies rumors of a possible rising to Irish Volunteer Chief of Staff Eoin MacNeill

• April 5, 1994 - Celebration of Tartan Day approved by the US Senate, in recognition of the monumental achievements and invaluable contributions made by Scottish Americans.

• April 6, 1282 - Welsh Parliament declares war on England.

• April 6, 1320 - Declaration of Arbroath, For we fight not for glory nor for riches nor for honor, but only and alone for freedom, which no good man surrenders but with his life.

• April 6, 1830 - James Augustine Healy, the first black Roman Catholic bishop in America, was born to an Irish planter and a slave on a plantation near Macon, Georgia

• April 6, 1889 - Actor Barry Macollum is born

• April 6, 1926 - Birth in Armagh of Ian Paisley, clergyman and Unionist politician[

• April 7, 1941 - A Luftwaffe bomb kills 13 people in Belfast. Ultimately, the city is devastated by air raids; 700 people are killed and 400 seriously injured in what becomes known as Belfasts Blitz.

• April 6, 1944 - Pay As You Earn Income Tax introduced for the first time in Scotland

• April 6, 1947 - Death of Henry Ford, automobile production pioneer and son of Irish immigrants

• April 7, 1381 - Second treaty of Guerande between Yann IV of Brittany and Charles VI of France recognizes Breton Independence.

• April 7, 1720 - The Declatory Act defines the right of the British Parliament to legislate for Ireland and denies the appellate jurisdiction of the Irish House of Lords

• April 7, 1801 - The trial of United Irishman, Napper Tandy, begins

• April 7, 1861 - A census shows the population to be 5,798,967. Only 393 Jews are recorded

• April 7, 1922 - Special Powers Act is introduced in Northern Ireland

• April 7, 1926 - Mussolinis Irish wife breaks his nose

• April 7, 1927 - The world’s first ever paid te

• April 8, 1719 - Birth of Viscount Edmond Pery, speaker of the House of Commons from March 1771 to September 1785

• April 8, 1805 - Sir William Rowan Hamilton, mathematician and astronomer, is born in Dublin

• April 8, 1816 - Sir Frederick Burton, painter, is born in Corofin, Co. Clare

• April 8, 1834 - Sir Jonah Barrington - the Irish Parliaments leading opponent of the Union with Britain and author of The Rise and Decline of the Irish Nation, dies

• April 8, 1861 - John George Adair evicts 244 tenants on his estate at Derryveagh, Co. Donegal

• April 8, 1867 - A. E. (George Russell), pivotal Irish Renaissance poet, painter, journalist and mystic, is born

• April 8, 1886 - Home Rule Bill introduced in English Parliament by Gladstone

• April 8, 1923 - Edward Mulhare is born in Co. Cork; he grew up to become an actor and starring roles include Capt. Daniel Gregg in the 1968 release of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

• April 8, 1923 - Gretta Bowen, artist known as the Irish Grandma Moses, died.

• April 9, 1139 - Second Treaty of Durham in which David I is recognised as King of an independent Scotland by King Stephen of England.

• April 9, 1346 - Death of Ralph de Ufford, justiciar

• April 9, 1747 - Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat was beheaded for High Treason, at the age of Eighty, on Tower Hill, the last person to be so in Britain.

• April 9, 1793 - The Relief Act grants Catholics parliamentary franchise and certain civil and military rights

• April 9, 1807 - After resigning as Commissioner of the Treasury (UK) over the issue of Catholic relief, Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co. Kerry states on this date that their war effort alone merits concessions to Irish Catholics

• April 9, 1837 - Edward Hallaran Bennett, surgeon, is born in Cork

• April 9, 1916 - The merchant ship Aud leaves Germany for Ireland with arms for the Irish Republican Brotherhood

• April 10, 1346 - Following the death of Ralph de Ufford, Roger Darcy is appointed justiciar

• April 10, 1512 - King James V was born at Linlithgow Palace, son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor

• April 10, 1650 - Cromwells New Model Army is victorious at Macroom, Co. Cork

• April 10, 1662 - A charter of Charles II replaces Cromwells charter of Londonderry

• April 10, 1726 - Birth of William Brownlow, parliamentarian and Volunteer

• April 10, 1816 - Birth of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, nationalist, in Monaghan

• April 10, 1838 - Fr. Theobald Mathew, with the support of William Martin, a quaker, founds the total abstinence movement in Cork

• April 10, 1865 - Oliver Sheppard, sculptor, is born in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone

• April 10, 1866 - Campobello New Brunswick Irish-American Fenians attack Campobello Island from Eastport, Maine; they are persuaded to leave by British warships and US agents

• April 10, 1867 - George William Russell (pseudonym A. E. Russell); poet, painter, writer, economist and mystic, is born in Lurgan, Co. Armagh

• April 10, 1917 - Yann Ber Kalloch, a great Breton poet dies in the First World War

• April 10, 1918 - British Parliament proposes conscription in Ireland

• April 10, 1988 - Sandy Lyle becomes the first Scottish (and British) golfer to win the US Masters tournament.

• April 11, 1240 - Llywelyn the Great died.

• April 11, 1603 - In the revolt of the towns, or recusancy revolt, Catholic worship is re-established in Kilkenny and the main Munster towns between this date and 10 May, in the hope that James I will grant religious toleration; Mountjoy marches south and forces the towns

• April 11, 1700 - Richard Levinge, an Irish MP and later a prominent Tory, who had been committed by the English House of Commons to the Tower of London on 16 January for speaking ill of his fellow Commissioners of Forfeited Estates is released on this date

• April 11, 1700 - Scottish settlement in Darien, Panama, abandoned.

• April 11, 1839 - John Galt, author, traveller, founder of Guelph, Ontario, died.

• April 11, 1878 - Kathleen Daly Clarke, Irish patriot, is born

• April 11, 1882 - Battle of the Braes in which crofters in Skye fought 50 policemen during a dispute over land rights.

• April 12, 1606 - Union flag adopted as the flag of England, Wales and Scotland.

• April 12, 1654 - The Ordinance of Union comes into effect, uniting Ireland and Scotland with England

• April 12, 1700 - Abandonment of Scotlands only New World Colony, Caledonia, at Darien, Isthmus of Panama

• April 12, 1816 - Sir Charles Gavan Duffy is born in Co. Monaghan. He is self, educated as a journalist and founds the Nation, a nationalist weekly journal with Thomas Davis and John Dillon in 1842; ultimately, he emigrates to Australia and while determined to avoid politi

• April 12, 1824 - An Act establishes free trade in manufactured articles between Britain and Ireland

• April 12, 1837 - Birth in Galway of Patrick Ford, journalist in the USA and fund-raiser for Irish causes

• April 12, 1847 - The American relief ship, Jamestown, lands supplies in Cork for famine victims

• April 12, 1861 - The American Civil War begins; 150,000 Irishmen will serve with the Union forces, and 40,000 with the Confederacy

• April 12, 1889 - Patrick McGilligan, pro-Treaty nationalist and politician, is born in Coleraine, Co. Derry-Londonderry

• April 12, 1913 - Flyweight boxing champion Benny Lynch born.

• April 12, 1928 - Madeleine Smith, found not proven for murder in 1857, died peacefully in New York.

• April 12, 1945 - The Scottish National Party gained their first electoral victory when they won the by-election in Motherwell and Wishaw by a majority of 617 votes.

• April 13, 1203 - Arthur I of Brittany assassinated by his uncle, John of England.

• April 13, 1593 - Birth of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford-Viceroy of Ireland

• April 13, 1722 - Charles Leslie, Irish controversialist, dies

• April 13, 1728 - Samuel Molyneux, former MP for the University of Dublin and son of the writer William Molyneux, collapses in the British House of Commons and dies on this date, aged 38

• April 13, 1742 - Handels Messiah is performed for the first time, conducted by the composer, at Mr. Neales Great Musick Hall, Fishamble Street, Dublin, before an audience of 700

• April 13, 1780 - Alexander Mitchell, civil engineer and inventor, is born in Dublin

• April 13, 1825 - Thomas DArcy McGee, Nationalist, writer, and Canadian politician is born in Carlingford, Co. Louth

• April 13, 1829 - The Catholic Emancipation Act receives royal assent on this date; it permits Catholic men who can afford the poll tax to enter Parliament and hold civil and military offices

• April 13, 1906 - Birth of Samuel Beckett in Foxrock, Co. Dublin

• April 13, 1920 - Liam Cosgrave, Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach, is born

• April 13, 1951 - The Stone of Destiny, which had been removed from underneath the Coronation Chair by Scottish nationalists on 25 December 1950, was returned to Westminster Abbey after being found at Arbroath Abbey.

• April 13, 1996 - George Mackay Brown, poet and novelist, died.

• April 14, 1582 - University of Edinburgh founded.

• April 14, 1661 - Birth in Dublin of Sir Thomas Molyneux, scientist, archaeologist, physician and MP; first to assert that the Giants Causeway is a natural phenomenon

• April 14, 1736 - Porteous Riots in Edinburgh take place after the hanging of a smuggler by the City Guard led by Captain Porteous. The Guard killed several people in the ensuing riot.

• April 14, 1848 - In Dublin, the tricolor national flag of Ireland is presented to the public for the first time by Thomas Francis Meagher and the Young Ireland Party

• April 14, 1886 - Jack Beattie, socialist politician and trade unionist, is born in Belfast

• April 14, 1903 - Aberdeen Football Club was founded.

• April 14, 1905 - An Oige, Irish Youth Hostel Association is established. At the end of that year, it has just 215 members and 2 hostels. Today, An Óige has well over 30 youth hostels located throughout Ireland

• April 14, 1912 - The Titanic, the worlds largest ship built at Belfasts Harland and Wolfe, hits an iceberg

• April 14, 1917 - Birth of actress Valerie Hobson in Larne, Co. Antrim

• April 14, 1919 - Limerick Soviet commences general strike in protest against English militarism in Ireland; for three weeks in April, the citys Trades Council takes over the entire running of the city, publishes their own newspapers and issues their own currency. The Sov

• April 14, 1922 - Led by Rory OConnor, forces against the Anglo-Irish Treaty seize the Four Courts in Dublin. The provisional government later attacks the garrison, which starts the civil war

• April 15, 1642 - Ormond defeats insurgents at Kilrush, Co. Kildare

• April 15, 1642 - A Scottish army under Robert Munroe lands at Carrickfergus

• April 15, 1707 - Birth of Sir Henry Cavendish, MP and incompetent Teller of the Exchequer who left chaos in his wake

• April 15, 1710 - Physicist William Cullen born.

• April 15, 1784 - First unmanned balloon in Ireland is launched by Richard Crosbie

• April 15, 1799 - Prof Joseph Black chemist, researcher, teacher, first to identify carbon dioxide, died.

• April 15, 1840 - The Repeal Association is founded by Daniel OConnell

• April 15, 1848 - On Abbey Street in Dublin, the tricolor national flag of Ireland is presented to the public for the first time by Thomas Francis Meagher and the Young Ireland Party

• April 15, 1864 - The first Dublin Horse Show is held

• April 15, 1882 - Mary Swanzy, painter, is born in Dublin

• April 15, 1908 - Birth in Greenock, Scotland of Dennis Devlin, poet, translator and diplomat

• April 15, 1912 - The Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage with the loss of 1,513 souls, many of them Irish; 732 survive

• April 15, 1912 - The Aud arrives at Banna Strand, Co. Kerry, from Germany with 20,000 rifles for use of the Volunteers in the Easter Uprising

• April 15, 1924 - Actor and comedian Rikki Fulton born in Glasgow. He was best known for his double act with Jack Milroy as Francie and Josie and as the Rev I M Jolly in Scotch and Wry.

• April 15, 1961 - Scotland defeated 9-3 by England at Wembley, a record score for a football match between the two countries.

• April 16,1660 - Sir Hans Sloane, physician and naturalist, is born in Killyleagh, Co. Down

• April 16, 1701 - Some MPs and gentlemen of Co. Carlow petition against the return and residence of Mark Baggot, a violent Papist, in that county, of which he was titular High Sheriff in 1689

• April 16, 1746 - Charles Edward Stewart defeated at Battle of Culloden, Scotland

• April 16, 1752 - The first regular stage-coach service between Dublin and Belfast commences

• April 16, 1782 - Irish Parliament declares its independence from the English Parliament

• April 16, 1850 - Samuel Butcher, scholar, is born in Dublin

• April 16, 1871 - John Millington Synge, poet, playwright, and student of Irish language and culture, is born in Dublin

• April 16, 1953 - Royal yacht Britannia launched at John Browns shipyard, Clydebank.

• April 17, 1172 - Henry II returns to Britain on this date, having granted a charter to Dublin, the first granted to an Irish town

• April 17, 1341 - Edinburgh Castle taken from English - reversing English encroachments against independent Scotland.

• April 17, 1656 - William Molyneux, statesman, philosopher and scientist, is born in Dublin

• April 17, 1766 - James Craigs winning entry for development of Edinburgh New Town was approved.

• April 17, 1783 - The British Renunciation Act acknowledges the exclusive right of the Irish parliament and courts to make and administer laws for Ireland

• April 17, 1847 - The Educational Institute of Scotland was founded to promote sound learning and advance the interests of education in Scotland.

• April 17, 1895 - Scotlands first cremation at Glasgows Western Necropolis.

• April 17, 1909 - Riot by fans after replay of Scottish Cup Final between Rangers and Celtic at Hampden Park.

• April 17, 1937 - A British record attendance at a football match was set when 149,547 watched Scotland play England at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Until 1950, this was a world record.

• April 17, 1969 - Everyone in Britain over the age of 18 was allowed to vote in parliamentary elections. The minimum age of 21 had been set in 1928.

• April 18, 1608 - Sir Cahir ODoherty of Inishowen revolts and sacks Derry

• April 18, 1689 - Siege of Derry begins

• April 18, 1690 - Five regiments of Irishmen sail for France and form the nucleus of Frances Irish Brigade

• April 18, 1768 - Daniel Murray, Archbishop of Dublin, is born in Arklow, Co. Wicklow

• April 18, 1778 - William Bunbury, MP for Co. Carlow, dies after being thrown from his horse

• April 18, 1792 - Langrishes Catholic Relief Act allows Catholics to practice law, and Protestants and Catholics to intermarry

• April 18, 1802 - Robert Patterson, naturalist, is born in Belfast

• April 18, 1817 - Michael Roberts, Irish mathematician and author of the theory of invariants, covariants and hypereliptic functions, is born in Cork

• April 18, 1870 - Birth in Dublin of Robert Tressell, born Noonan, author of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

• April 18, 1874 - Remains of David Livingstone interred in Westminster Abbey.

• April 18, 1875 - Novelist Katherine Cecil Thurston,née Madden, is born in Cork

• April 18, 1930 - Victor Conlon, Irish activist, is born

• April 18, 1949 - Ireland declared a full republic and withdrawn from British Commonwealth.

• April 18, 1992 - Final performance at the Grassmarket, Edinburgh premises of the Traverse Theatre comp

• April 19, 1689 - The Statute of Kilkenny

• April 19, 1390 - Robert II, grandson of Robert the Bruce, died at Dundonald Castle.

• April 19, 1689 - Earl of Angus forms the Cameronians into a regiment.

• April 19, 1780 - Henry Grattan moves resolutions in favor of legislative independence in Irish House of Commons

• April 19, 1798 - The Earl of Clare begins a 3-day visit to Trinity College, Dublin to purge United Irishmen; 19 are expelled

• April 19, 1825 - Robert Byron (later Lord Byron) died at Missolinghi, Greece.

• April 19, 1875 - Charles Stewart Parnell is elected MP for Co. Meath

• April 19, 1905 - Aviator Jim Mollinson who married Amy Johnson, was born in Glasgow.

• April 20, 1176 - Strongbow, Anglo-Norman lord, dies in Dublin

• April 20, 1608 - James I grants a license to the Old Bushmills distillery in Co. Antrim which is thought to date from at least 1276, the oldest distillery in the world

• April 20, 1696 - The Guild of Brewers and Maltsters is founded in Dublin; Richard Forster, former MP for Swords and a Dublin brewer, is a member

• April 20, 1772 - William Lawless, surgeon, United Irishman and general in Napoleon Bonapartes revolutionary army, is born in Dublin

• April 20, 1791 - William Tone, soldier, author and son of Theobald Wolfe Tone is born in Dublin

• April 20, 1809 - James David Forbes, physicist who devised first form of seismograph, born.

• April 20, 1812 - Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co. Kerry, presents the Irish Protestant petition for Catholic relief and calls for measures against grain scarcity in Ireland

• April 20, 1829 - Margaret Anna Cusack, Irish Revolutionary Feminist nun and scholar, born

• April 20, 1857 - Sir Thomas Myles, surgeon, is born in Limerick

• April 20, 1879 - Robert Lynd, essayist and critic, is born in Belfast

• April 20, 1896 - A demonstration of the cinématographe is held in Dublin at Dan Lowreys Star of Erin theatre of varieties, now the Olympia Theatre

• April 20, 1912 - Death of Dublin writer Bram Stoker, creator of Dracula

• April 20, 1934 - Scottish National Party founded with the amalgamation of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party.

• April 22, 1671 - An English Navigation Act prohibits direct importation of sugar, tobacco and other produce from the colonies to Ireland; act expires in 1681 but is renewed in 1685 and extended in 1696

• April 21, 1703 - Edinburgh Fire Brigade, one of the first in Scotland, formed.

• April 21, 1738 - A Mr Lorimer, receiver of Sir Arthur Acheson (MP for Mullingar), is killed in a duel

• April 21, 1816 - Daughter of an Irish father, Charlotte Bronte, eldest of the three Bronte Sisters and author of Jane Eyre, is born

• April 21, 1838 - John Muir, pioneering conservationist and founder of Yosemite National Park, born in Dunbar.

• April 21, 1871 - John Fitzpatrick, Labor leader and Irish nationalist is born in Athlone, Co. Westmeath

• April 21, 1874 - Walter Wilson, mechanical engineer, designer of cars and tanks, is born in Blackrock, Co. Dublin

• April 21, 1875 - Michael, The ORahilly, Irish Volunteers leader, is born in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry

• April 21, 1879 - Birth of novelist Maurice Walsh in Listowel

• April 21, 1901 - Death of James Stephens, Kilkenny-born founder of the Irish Republican Brotherhood

• April 21, 1907 - The nationalist groups, Cumman na nGaedheal and Dungannon Clubs, combine to form the Sinn Féin (Ourselves) League

• April 21, 1926 - The future Queen Elizabeth II born. Her parents at that time were the Duke and Duchess of York.

• April 22, 1365 - Lionel returns to England, leaving Ormond as his deputy

• April 22, 1717 - John Marshall, a successful attorney and father of Robert Marshall, a future MP for Clonmel and an executor of Hester Vanhomrigh (Vanessa), commits suicide in Boate Street, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

• April 22, 1834 - Daniel OConnell introduces debate on Repeal of Union bill in the House of Commons

• April 22, 1838 - The 703-ton Sirius, built in Leith and carrying 90 passengers, reached New York, the first ship to cross the Atlantic entirely under steam. Shortage of fuel resulted in spars and furniture being burned towards the end of the 18-day voyage. Brunels steams

• April 22, 1869 - Rev Patrick Bell , inventor of mechanical reaper, died.

• April 22, 1905 - Capt. William OShea, politician and accuser of Parnell, dies in Hove

• April 22, 1918 - A general strike takes place throughout Ireland against the British governments attempts to introduce conscription

• April 23, 1014 - The Dublin Norse and the king of Leinster, with Viking allies from overseas, are defeated by Brian Borus army at Clontarf. Brian, now an old man, is killed.

• April 23, 1124 - King Alexander I died at Stirling Castle, succeeded by David I.

• April 23, 1357 - Four days after the end of his campaign against the O'Tooles, O'Byrnes and O'Nolans in Leinster, justiciar Thomas Rokeby dies in Kilkea, Co. Kildare

• April 23, 1661 - Charles II crowned at Westminster Abbey.

• April 23, 1723 - Mervyn Archdall, antiquary, is born in Dublin

• April 23, 1727 - Actress George Anne Bellamy is born in Fingal, Co. Dublin. The illegitimate daughter of Lord Tyrawley, British ambassador at Lisbon, her mother marries a Captain Bellamy and the child receives the name George Anne, by mistake for Georgiana. She grows up t

• April 23, 1792 - Thomas Romney Robinson, astronomer and physicist, is born in Dublin

• April 23, 1805 - James Henthorn Todd, scholar, is born in Dublin

• April 23, 1914 - Cumann na mBan - Irish womens republican movement founded

• April 23, 1918 - The Military Service Act18 April threatens conscription for Ireland - there is a one-day general strike in protest (except in Ulster) on this date

• April 23, 1926 - Son of irish immigrants, J.P. Donleavy, author of The Ginger Man, is born in New York; he emigrates to Ireland during World War II and becomes an Irish citizen. He now lives in Westmeath

• April 23, 1945 - Blackout restrictions in Scotland lifted as World War II heads to a conclusion.

• April 23, 1949 - 15 year-old John Burgess wins 2 senior and 2 juvenile

• April 23, 1968 - The new 5p and 10p decimal coins were introduced in anticipation of decimalization (in 1971). They were used as one shilling and two shilling coins until then.

• April 24, 1558 - Mary, Queen of Scots, married French Dauphin, Francis Valois (he was aged 14) at Notre Dame in Paris.

• April 24, 1567 - First printed book ever published in Gaelic. It was Forms of Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Catechism of the Christian Faith, translated from English by Bishop John Carsewell of the Isles.

• April 24, 1596 - Pacificatie of Ireland drawn

• April 24, 1633 - Warrant issued by the Privy Council to Sir John Hepburn to raise a regiment of 1,200 men to fight in the French service. The corps ultimately became the First Regiment of Foot, The Royal Scots.

• April 24, 1718 - Nathaniel Hone, portrait painter, is born in Dublin

• April 24, 1764 - Thomas Emmet, nationalist and brother of Robert Emmet, is born in Dublin

• April 24, 1825 - Novelist R M Ballantyne, who wrote 90 books, the best known of which was The Coral Island, was born in Edinburgh.

• April 24, 1857 - William Thompson, journalist, is born in Derry-Londonderry

• April 24, 1906 - Son of an Irish father, William Joyce aka Lord Haw-Haw; fascist and broadcaster of Nazi propaganda in World War II is born in Brooklyn, New York

• April 24, 1912 - Irish novelist, historian and politician, Justin McCarthy, dies

• April 24, 1913 - Large supply of guns from Germany are landed at Larne for the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)

• April 24, 1916 - On Easter Monday, the Irish Volunteers and Citizen Army seize the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin and demand Irish sovereignty

• April 24, 1949 - Chocolate and sweets were no longer rationed, a measure introduced at the start of World War 2. However, demand was so great that it had to be re-introduced.

• April 25, 1058 - Malcolm III (Canmore) crowned.

• April 25, 1185 - Henry II sends his son John to Ireland; John lands at Waterford on this date to assert control over Hugh de Lacy, but he fails to achieve this. Henry still suspects that de Lacy wants to be king of Ireland

• April 25, 1284 - At Caernarfon - Edward I of England declares his day old son as the Prince of Wales and thus the first pretender to the Welsh throne

• April 25, 1681 - Count Redmond OHanlon (outlawed chief) is shot dead by his foster-brother

• April 25, 1707 - Thomas Erle, MP for Cork city, commands the centre at the Battle of Alamanza and loses his right hand on this date; David Dunbar, later MP for Blessington, is wounded and captured in the same battle, and John Upton, later MP for Co. Antrim, distinguishes

• April 25, 1819 - Vere Foster, philanthropist and educationist, is born in Copenhagen; he is the inventor of copy books used in schools throughout Ireland until the 1950s

• April 25, 1861 - William Ford, who crossed the Atlantic from Ireland by steerage, marries fellow country woman Mary OHern. Their son Henry Ford, pioneered the mass manufacturing of the automobile

• April 25, 1877 - Ralph Henry Byrne, architect, is born in Dublin

• April 25, 1918 - Irish Labour Party declares one-day strike in protest over conscription act Anglo-Irish agreements on defense, finance and trade (25 April) end the Economic War - the Treaty ports are ceded by Britain; the Irish Government pays £10 million to settle fi

• April 26, 1711 - Philosopher David Hume born.

• April 26, 1718 - Thomas St Lawrence, 13th Baron of Howth, receives £215 14s 1 1-2d for the expense he incurs in building a quay at Howth for landing coals for the lighthouse

• April 26, 1745 - On this date, John Allen (3rd Viscount Allen), former MP for Carysfort, kills a dragoon in a street brawl. ‘His Lordship was at a house in Eustace Street. At twelve in the night, three dragoons making a noise in the street, he threw up the window and thre

• April 26, 1756 - John Ponsonby is unanimously elected Speaker of the Irish parliament

• April 26, 1784 - Death of Nano Nagle, Gods Beggar, founder of the Order of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary

• April 26, 1808 - Benjamin Burton, son of William Burton (former MP for Gowran and Co. Carlow) fractures his skull in a fall from his horse while hunting but, having apparently recovered, goes out again with the hounds and dies from brain fever

• April 26, 1826 - Robert Adamson, who collaborated with D O Hill to produce early portrait photography, born.

• April 26, 1881 - Robert Williams Buchanan - a poet, novelist and dramatist, diet

• April 26, 1895 - The trial of Oscar Wilde for homosexuality, then a crime, begins at the Old Bailey

• April 26, 1904 - Edward VII begins a visit to Ireland on this date

• April 26, 1916 - Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, writer, suffragist, pacifist and patriot, is apprehended while trying to stop Easter Rising looting and is later executed by the British without a trial

• April 26 1923 - Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon married the Duke of York at Westminster Abbey, the first Royal wedding to take place there since 1383. The couple later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

• April 27, 1296 - Scots defeated by Edward I at Battle of Dunbar.

• April 27, 1650 - Battle of Carbisdale, Montroses last battle.

• April 27, 1696 - Act for encouraging the linen manufacture of Ireland - Irish linen gains duty-free access to the British market on this date

• April 27, 1739 - Lord Barry of Santry is tried by his peers in the parliament house for the murder of his former servant Laughlin Murphy in August 1738. They unanimously find him guilty, but recommend him to the royal mercy. The Lord Lieutenant endorses this plea, and San

• April 27, 1794 - James Bruce, explorer and author of Travels to Discover the Sources of the Nile died.

• April 27, 1827 - Mary King Ward, Irish naturalist and astronomer is born

• April 27, 1852 - Robert Lochore, Scots poet, died

• April 27, 1880 - The Royal University of Ireland is founded by charter

• April 27, 1891 - The first ever Irish musical comedy, The Irish Girl, written by Percy French and William Collisson, is staged at the Queen’s Theatre, Dublin

• April 27, 1904 - Cecil Day-Lewis, poet, novelist, critic, and Irelands poet laureate from 1968 to 1972, is born in Ballintogher, Co. Sligo

• April 28, 1197 - Rhys ap Gruffydd - King of South Wales, died.

• April 28, 1714 - Sir Wentworth Harman, MP for Lanesborough, coming in a dark night from Chapel-Izod, his coach overturning, tumbled down a precipice, and he dies in consequence of the wounds and bruises he received

• April 28, 1742 - Henry Dundas, powerful politician, known as Uncrowned King of Scotland, born.

• April 28, 1794 - Rev. William Jackson, agent of French revolutionary government, is arrested in Dublin

• April 28, 1864 - Birth of William Ellison, clergyman and the sixth director of the Armagh Observatory. On his appointment in 1918, he donates the original late nineteenth-century telescope to the Observatory, an 18-inch Newtonian reflector, made by the famous English tele

• April 28, 1875 - Teresa Kearney, better known as Mother Kevin, missionary and founder of Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Africa, is born in Knockenrahan, Co. Wicklow

• April 28, 1898 - Poet William Soutar born in Perth.

• April 28, 1912 - Encircled by larger English forces, Pearse and Connolly agree to ceasefire after being forced ot of the Dublin General Post Office by artillery fire.

• April 28, 1922 - Nicky Rackard, Wexford hurler, is born in Killane, Co. Wexford

• April 28, 1936 - The Daíl introduces a bill awarding pensions to the Connaught Rangers who mutinied in India in 1920

• April 29, 1653 - Birth of John Whally, necromancer and charlatan

• April 29, 1665 - Birth of James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde and an ancestor of Princess Diana. The Dublin-born Irish general becomes one of the most powerful men in the Tory administration, governing England in the early part of the 18th century from 1710 to 1714

• April 29, 1680 - The first stone of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham is laid by the Duke of Ormonde

• April 29, 1758 - Wide Streets Commission for Dublin is appointed by the Irish Parliament

• April 29, 1769 - Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, soldier and statesman, is born in Dublin

• April 29, 1803 - Paul Cullen, prelate, is born in Prospect, Co. Kildare

• April 29, 1874 - Conal ORiordan (pseudonym F. Norris Connell), writer and theatre manager, is born in Dublin

• April 30, 1428 - Sir John Sutton, Lord Dudley, is appointed lieutenant for two years from this date; he has some success against the various rebels

• April 30, 1728 - Royal Bank invents first overdraft, Wm Hogg overdraws by £1,000 (£66,000 at todays money).

• April 30, 1795 - Rev. William Jackson of the United Irishmen returns from France, unaware that his traveling companion, John Cockayne, is a spy; Jackson is arrested and found guilty of high treason; he commits suicide in the dock by taking poison

• April 30, 1891 - An Comunn Gaidhealach was formally instituted as a vehicle for the preservation and development of the Gaelic language.

• April 30, 418 - Pelagius - champion of Celtic view of Christianity, banned by Roman political enemies in the Church.

• May 1 - Beltaine (Cetshamain) feast of Celtic god Belenos

• May 1, 1169 - First Normans land in Ireland.

• May 2, 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter

• May 2, 1316 - Edward Bruce, brother of King Robert the Bruce, crowned High King of All Ireland.

• May 2, 1332 - Sir Anthony Lucys campaign in Munster, Ireland ends on this date

• May 2, 1424 - King James I crowned at Scone.

• May 2, 1568 - Mary Queen of Scots escaped from Loch Leven castle.

• May 2, 1656 - Birth of Sir Richard Levinge, Tory politician and Speaker of the House of Commons

• May 2, 1788 - An Act on this date repeals tests imposed on Protestant Dissenters

• May 2, 1794 - United Irishman Archibald Rowan escapes from custody and eventually makes his way to America

• May 2, 1806 - John Jones, sculptor, is born in Dublin

• May 2, 1858 - Birth of Edith Oenonne Somerville, novelist most famous for Some Experiences Of An Irish R.M written in collaboration with her cousin Violet Martin (also known as Martin Ross); in 1903, she becomes the first female Master of Foxhounds in Corfu

• May 2, 1882 - Charles Stewart Parnell is released under the terms of the Kilmainham Treaty; writing off the debts of tenants in arrears. A landmark in the land agitation movement (and Parnells career).

• May 2, 1884 - Birth of William Casey, dramatist and Times editor

• May 2, 1901 - Glasgow International Exhibition in Kelvingrove opened.

• May 2, 1921 - Lord FitzAlan of Derwent becomes the first Catholic lord lieutenant since the 17th century; he will be the last lord lieutenant

• May 2, 1929 - The story of the Loch Ness Monster first appeared in the press

• May 3, 1557 - John Knox began the Reformation in Scotland.

• May 3, 1714 - Sir Wentworth Harman, MP for Lanesborough, dies from the wounds he receives in a carriage accident on April 28

• May 3, 1785 - The Irish Academy, later to become the Royal Irish Academy, meets for the first time

• May 3, 1814 - Death of missionary Welsh Thomas Coke. A Methodist cleric and missionary, Thomas Coke was a close friend and associate of John Wesley, founder of Methodism. He was also the former superintendent of the Churchs missions to North America.

• May 3, 1903 - Bing Crosby, descendant of Irish immigrants, is born in Tacoma, Washington, as Harry Lillis Crosby

• May 3, 1915 - Birth in Galway of novelist Walter Macken

• May 3, 1916 - Patrick Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh executed by firing squad in Kilmainham jail

• May 3, 1921 - IRA troops under Tom Maguire fight off 600 English troops in Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo

• May 3, 1926 - General Strike began at midnight, the first in British history. It lasted until 12 May.

• May 4, 1471 - Wars of the Roses - The Battle of Tewkesbury, Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales.

• May 4, 1645 - Marquis of Montrose victorious at Battle of Auldearn

• May 4, 1658 - General George Monk proclaimed the Protectorate at Mercat Cross.

• May 4, 1699 - According to Jonathan Swifts book, Gullivers Travels, it was on this day that Lemuel Gulliver sets sail on board the Antelope from Bristol

• May 4, 1715 - Joseph Deane, Justice of Assize for Munster and MP for Co. Dublin, dies of a fever resulting from a cold he caught (allegedly caused by a total eclipse of the sun) while returning from circuit on horseback

• May 4, 1773 - Art Ó Laoghaire, the subject of Eileen OLearys lament Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire, is killed by soldiers near Millstreet, Co. Cork

• May 4, 1773 - The Dublin Journal of 4-6 May reports that Thomas Burton (former MP for Ennis) met with the melancholy accident of being overturned in his chaise, by which he was killed on the spot, in his return home, in company with a gentleman who was to have been ma

• May 4, 1782 - Second and third Catholic Relief Acts (4 May, 27 July) allow Catholics to own land outside parliamentary boroughs, to be teachers, and to act as guardians

• May 4, 1782 - Acts establish the Bank of Ireland, and validates marriages by Presbyterian ministers

• May 4, 1836 - The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America is founded in New York City

• May 4, 1838 - Charles Williams, war correspondent, is born in Coleraine, Co. Derry-Londonderry

• May 4, 1916 - Edward Daly, Michael OHanrahan, William Pearse (brother of Padraic Pearse) and Joseph Mary Plunkett are executed by firing squad in Kilmainham jail

• May 5, 1646 - King Charles I surrenders to Lord Leven and was later passed to the Parliamentary forces.

• May 5, 1758 - James Taylor who developed the steamboat was born.

• May 5, 1795 - House of Commons rejects Grattans Catholic relief bill

• May 5, 1864 - Birth in Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford of Sir Henry Wilson, soldier; chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1918 to 1922; establishes British Intelligence Cairo Gang in Dublin

• May 5, 1881 - Richard Downey (youngest ever Catholic archbishop in 1928, who reduces his weight from 18 stone to 9 stone in the 1930s) is born in Kilkenny

• May 5, 1916 - Irish patriot and a leader of the 1916 Easter Uprising, John MacBride, is executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol

• May 5, 1977 - Bobby Sands dies at Long Kesh prison on the 66th day of his hunger strike

• May 06, 1074 - Donatus (or Dunan), the first Bishop of Dublin, dies

• May 6, 1074 - Donatus (or Dunan), the first Bishop of Dublin, dies on this date and is buried in Christ Church Cathedral. Patrick, his successor, is sent to Canterbury for consecration (records are unreliable, the date of his death is also recorded as November 23)

• May 6, 1249 - Reginald II assumes Manx throne.

• May 6, 1384 - Philip de Courtenay lands at Dalkey and campaigns in the midlands and the Leinster mountains

• May 6, 1728 - Act of Parliament removes the right to vote from Catholics

• May 6, 1763 - Mary Molesworth, widow of Richard Molesworth (3rd Viscount Molesworth, MP for Swords 1715-26), and her daughters Melosina and Mary die in a fire at their London house

• May 6, 1820 - Birth in St. Cleran’s, Co. Galway of Robert O’Hara Burke, explorer

• May 6, 1830 - Birth of Irish naturalist and librarian, William Archer in Magherahamlet, Co. Down. Archer did work on protozoa and was the first librarian of the National Library of Ireland

• May 6, 1870 - Sir James Young Simpson advocate of chloroform, died.

• May 6, 1882 - Phoenix Park murders, The assassination of the British chief secretary of Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and his under secretary, T.H. Burke. Both are stabbed to death as they walk in Dublins Phoenix Park by members of a nationalist secret society,

• May 6, 1884 - Birth of painter William Conor in Belfast

• May 6, 1916 - The U-20, a German U-boat commanded by Captain Schweiger, sinks the Centurion off the south-east Irish coast; the next day, the U-20 sinks the Lusitania

• May 6, 1925 - Máire de Paor (née McDermott) archaeologist and arts activist, is born in Buncrana, Co. Donegal

• May 6, 1941 - Last major bombing attack on the Clyde area by the Luftwaffe; Greenock was badly hit with 280 dead.

• May 6, 1959 - Icelandic gunboats fired live rounds at British fishing trawlers, many of them from Scottish ports, during the Cod War over fishing rights.

• May 6, 1999 - Election for the new Scottish Parliament. Results were Labour 56, SNP 35, Conservatives 18, Liberal Democrats 16, Greens 1, Scottish Socialists 1, and Independent 1.

• May 7, 1544 - Earl of Hereford invaded Scotland on behalf of Henry VIII in an attempt to force the Scots to agree to the marriage of Mary to Henrys son, Edward. This is known as the Rough Wooing.

• May 7, 1689 - James II arrives from exile in France and addresses the Irish Parliament. Thanking them for support, applauding their courage and vowing to venture my life...in defense of your liberties. Thus begins the events leading up to the Battle of the Boyne

• May 7, 1716 - John Medcalf, previously dismissed as Church of Ireland curate of Powerscourt for conducting clandestine marriages, is excommunicated for refusing to appear in the Consistory Court when cited by a woman for conjugal rights

• May 7, 1720 - James Cotter is executed for high treason in supporting the Jacobite cause - his son, Sir James Cotter, will later be MP for Askeaton

• May 7, 1741 - Anthony Tanner, perpetual curate for Holmpatrick, who has been married for less than six months, is murdered near Rush, Co. Dublin

• May 7, 1838 - Charles Owen OConor, politician, is born in Dublin

• May 7, 1865 - John MacBride, revolutionary, is born in Westport, Co. Mayo

• May 7, 1890 - James Naysmith, engineer and inventor of steam hammer, died

• May 7, 1906 - Historian Henry Gray Graham, author of Social Life of Scotland in the 18th Century died.

• May 7, 1915 - The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat off the Old Head of Kinsale, Co. Cork with the loss of more than 1,100 lives

• May 8, 1567 - Shane ONeills army crosses the Swilly estuary at Farsetmore, and is defeated in a pitched battle by Hugh ODonnell. Many drown while trying to escape; ONeill loses1,300 men

• May 8, 1597 - Execution of Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne

• May 8, 1701 - Scottish-born pirate Captain William Kidd - tried for piracy at Londons Old Bailey. He was hanged on 23 May.

• May 8, 1796 - John Pitt Kennedy, civil engineer; road and railway pioneer in India, is born in Carndonagh, Co. Donegal

• May 8, 1879 - Sir William Wheeler, surgeon, is born in Dublin

• May 8, 1899 - The first production of the Irish Literary Theatre, The Countess Cathleen is performed. Like many of Yeats plays, it is inspired by Irish folklore. In a time of famine, demons sent by Satan come to Ireland to buy the souls of the starving people. The sai

• May 8, 1916 - Irish patriots, Michael Mallin, Eamonn Ceannt, Cornelius Con Colbert and Sean Heuston are executed in Kilmainham gaol

• May 8, 1935 - Birth of Jack Charlton, footballer and manager

• May 8, 1945 - Victory-in-Europe Day, end of World War II in Europe.

• May 9, 1423 - Edmund Mortimer, 8th earl of Ulster, earl of March, the greatest Irish landowner and heir presumptive to the throne of England, is appointed lieutenant for nine years

• May 9, 1650 - The Battle of Clonmel begins with the first of two assaults. Cromwells forces are beaten back on this date by Black Hugh ONeill. Eventually, Cromwell loses up to 2,000 men, but ONeill, realizing he has a shortage of ammunition, secretly withdraws

• May 9, 1671 - Irish adventurer Colonel Thomas Blood dresses as a clergyman and attempts to steal the British crown jewels from the Tower of London. He is arrested in possession of the crown

• May 9, 1691 - Charles Chalmont (Marquis de Saint-Ruth; French general) is sent by Louis XIV to command the Irish army and arrives on this date

• May 9, 1709 - The Irish House of Lords expresses hope that union of Ireland and England will follow union of England and Scotland

• May 9, 1807 - Thomas Wyatt, architect, is born in Loughlin House, Co. Roscommon

• May 9, 1814 - Birth in Dublin of John Brougham, actor and dramatist

• May 9, 1828 - Charles Kickham, Fenian, novelist, and author of Knocknagow, is born in Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary

• May 9, 1828 - Charles Kickham, Fenian, novelist, and author of Knocknagow, is born in Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary

• May 9, 1860 - Sir James Matthew Barrie, Scottish playwright and novelist and author of Peter Pan born

• May 9, 1865 - The Dublin International Exhibition opens in Earlsfort Terrace

• May 9, 1896 - Austin Clarke, considered at his death to be the greatest poet of his generation after Yeats, is born

• May 9, 1916 - Irish Patriot, Thomas Kent, is executed at Cork Detention Barracks

• May 9, 1918 - John MacLean, socialist revolutionary, first Soviet Consul in Britain in, 1917, honorary president of the first Congress of Soviets, tried in the High Court for sedition.

• May 9, 1927 - Birth of John McDermott, Lord Justice of Appeal for Northern Ireland

• May 9, 1932 - Éamon de Valera is elected Taoiseach

• May 9, 1943 - Viscount Cunningham, British admiral and C in C in the Mediterranean, issued his command Sink, burn and destroy; let nothing pass.

• May 9, 1957 - A spectacular blaze at Bells Brae, Edinburgh, destroyed the premises of one of Britains largest theatrical costumiers; around, 90,000 costumes were lost.

• May 10, 1307 - Battle of Loudon Hill, near Darvel. King Robert I comprehensively defeated English forces under de Valence.

• May 10, 1318 - Richard de Clare, while defending his protégé Mahon OBrien, is defeated and killed by Murrough OBrien at Dysert ODea. De Clares heir is a minor; Norman,Irish power in Thomond is thus undermined

• May 10, 1603 - In the revolt of the towns, or recusancy revolt, Catholic worship is re-established in Kilkenny and the main Munster towns between 11 April and this date, in the hope that James I will grant religious toleration; Mountjoy marches south and forces the town

• May 10, 1642 - A Catholic confederacy (the Confederation of Kilkenny) is instituted to administer Catholic-controlled parts of the country pending a final settlement

• May 10, 1739 - John Thomas Troy, Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and opponent of revolution, is born in Castleknock, Co. Dublin

• May 10, 1804 - After resigning as Prime Minister following a disagreement with George III over Catholic Emancipation, William Pitt returns to office

• May 10, 1809 - Andrew Bell, co-founder of Encyclopedia Britannica with Colin MacFarquhar, died.

• May 10, 1810 - Rev Henry Duncan opened the worlds first savings bank in Ruthwell, near Dumfries.

• May 10, 1838 - James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce of Dechmount; jurist, historian and Liberal politician, is born in Belfast

• May 10, 1850 - Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of the Liptons grocery chain, who became a millionaire by the age of, 30, was born in Glasgow.

• May 10, 1870 - Jem Mace defends his heavyweight crown against Irish champ Joe Coburn; it lasts 1 hr & 17 minutes; neither is struck by a punch

• May 10, 1873 - Leslie Montgomery, comic writer; pseudonym Lynn C. Doyle, is born in Downpatrick, Co. Down

• May 10, 1886 - Richard Mulcahy, pro-Treaty nationalist and Fine Gael politician, is born in Waterford

• May 10, 1941 - Rudolf Hess, Hitlers deputy, descended by parachute into Scotland at Eaglesham.

• May 10, 1967 - Breath tests for motorists suspected of drinking and driving introduced under the Road Safety Act.

• May 11, 1745 - At the battle of Fontenoy (30 April-11 May according to the two calendars), near Tournai in modern Belgium, the Irish Brigade of the French army under Lieutenant Charles OBrien repulses the British and wins the day. Those killed include (on the British s

• May 11, 1788 - Presbyterian minister, Henry Cooke, is born at Grillagh, near Maghera, Co Derry. Cooke is famous for leading Ulster Presbyterianism away from the free-thinking radicalism which had spawned the United Irishmens rising during his childhood

• May 11, 1894 - John Roberts - Welsh harpist known as Alaw Elwy Telynor Cymru, died.

• May 11, 1916 - During the House of Commons debate on the Irish crises, John Dillon urges the cessation of executions

• May 11, 1937 - Debate on new Constitution commences

• May 12, 1641 - Thomas Wentworth, English viceroy of Ireland and Earl of Stafford is beheaded

• May 12, 1725 - The Black Watch regiment was commissioned under General Wade to police the Highlands.

• May 12, 1751 - Archibald Hamilton Rowan, nationalist and United Irishman, is born in London

• May 12, 1784 - J.S. Knowles, dramatist and Baptist preacher, is born in Cork

• May 12, 1806 - James Shields, US army general and the only person to be elected a senator by three states, is born in Altmore, Co. Tyrone

• May 12, 1823 - Daniel OConnell founds the Catholic Association, an organization dedicated to obtaining the franchise for Catholics

• May 12, 1905 - Mary Browne from Roscommon becomes the first Ban Garda - woman police officer -

• May 12, 1916 - Irish Patriots, Seán MacDiarmada and James Connolly are executed at Kilmainham Gaol

• May 12, 1937 - Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth took place at Westminster Abbey.

• May 12, 1994 - Rt. Hon. John Smith, leader of the Labour Party died.

• May 12, 563 - Community in Iona founded in Scotland by Saint Colmcille and followers from Ireland

• May 12, 563 - St Columcille establishes a community on Iona

• May 12, 563 - Community of Iona founded by Colum Cille (St Columba) from Ireland.

• May 13, 1568 - Mary, Queen of Scots, defeated at Battle of Langside

• May 13, 1787 - On this date, which is a Sunday, Alderman Exshaw, accompanied by Archdeacon Hastings, is walking in Merrion Square, Dublin, when he encounters a great number of people, leaping, wrestling, shouting, etc.. The archdeacon observes that this activity profa

• May 13, 1842 - Arthur Sullivan, the son of an Irish musician, is born. Along with William Gilbert he invented the English operetta. Sullivan’s last work is entitled The Emerald Isle

• May 13, 1848 - The Irish Confederation splits; John Mitchel starts the militant United Irishman; he is arrested on this date and is sentenced to 14 years transportation under the new Treason Felony Act

• May 13, 1852 - Anna Catherine Parnell, sister of Charles and Fanny, and co-founder of the Irish Ladies Land League, is born in Avondale, Co. Wicklow

• May 13, 1878 - Birth of Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquis Londonderry and unionist politician

• May 13, 1906 - According to his birth certificate, this is the day playwright and novelist, Samuel Beckett is born in Foxrock, Co. Dublin. Throughout his life, he insists his birth is on Good Friday , April 13, 1906

• May 13, 1919 - Dan Breen and Seán Treacy rescue their comrade Seán Hogan from a Dublin, Cork train at Knocklong, Co. Limerick; two policemen guarding him are killed

• May 13, 1945 - In a radio broadcast, Churchill accuses de Valeras government of frolicking with the Germans and Japanese

• May 13, 1995 - Alison Hargreave, a, 33-year-old mother of two from Spean Bridge became the first woman to climb Mount Everest solo and without oxygen. She died three years later while descending K2, the worlds second-highest mountain.

• May 13, 1999 - Donald Dewar elected as First Minister of the new Scottish Parliament.

• May 14, 1260 - Brian ONeill, during the assault on the Earldom of Ulster, is defeated and killed by the forces of Roger des Auters at the battle of Down (renamed by de Courcy as Downpatrick)

• May 14, 1660 - Charles II is proclaimed king in Dublin, six days after London, thus ending Cromwells reign as Lord Protector and beginning a brief and limited Catholic Restoration

• May 14, 1730 - Sir Edward Newenham, popular MP for County Dublin and strong advocate of the American colonists, is born. Newenham is introduced at the court of Louis XVI by the Marquis de Lafayette, even though Britain and France are at war

• May 14, 1752 - Colin Campbell of Glenure, known as the Red Fox, and a notorious persecutor of Jacobites after Culloden, was shot in Appin. Alan Breck (later made famous in Robert Louis Stevensons Kidnapped and Catriona) was accused (though no evidence was ever pu

• May 14, 1754 - St Andrews Society of Golfers constituted. In, 1834 it became the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

• May 14, 1755 - George Barrington (real name Waldron), writer, adventurer and pickpocket is born in Maynooth, Co. Kildare. A well-dressed pickpocket who worked in Churches and the Houses of Parliament, he is arrested and transported to Australia. Later, he becomes Aust

• May 14, 1771 - Industrialist and social reformer Robert Owen born.

• May 14, 1784 - Fosters Corn Law regulates the corn trade

• May 14, 1784 - The Irish Post Office, distinct from English and Scottish services, is established by statute

• May 14, 1853 - Hall Caine, a Manx novelist is born.

• May 14, 1865 - The last surviving member of the Irish House of Commons, Sir Thomas Staples, who had risen in his profession to be Queens Advocate for Ireland, dies in Lissan, Co. Tyrone 11 weeks short of his 90th birthday

• May 14, 1893 - George McIrish McElroy is born in Donnybrook, Co. Dublin. He is Irelands highest World War One ace, with 47 victories within 40 weeks

• May 15, 1395 - Richard II returns to England on this date, confident that Gaelic Irish power has been checked

• May 15, 1567 - Mary, Queen of Scots, married Earl of Bothwell at, 4am.

• May 15, 1600 - Sent by Queen Elizabeth to quell the rumblings of discontent in Ulster, Sir Henry Docwra lands at Culmore with a force of 4000 foot and 200 horse soldiers; modern Derry is thereby founded

• May 15, 1621 - Sir Henry Docwra is created Baron Docwra of Culmore

• May 15, 1732 - Sir John Blaquiere, Chief Secretary and politician, is born

• May 15, 1753 - Isaac Corry, opposition politician, Volunteer, and Chancellor of the Exchequer is born in Newry, Co. Down

• May 15, 1800 - King George III escaped two assassination attempts in one day. In Hyde Park, London, a bullet intended for him hit a man standing alongside. Later, at the Drury Lane Theatre, two bullets missed him and hit the wooden panel behind him. His assailant was fo

• May 15, 1808 - Michael Balfe, operatic composer, is born in Dublin

• May 15, 1829 - Elected to the office of minister of Parliament for Co. Clare by recently enfranchised Catholics, OConnell presents himself at the bar of the House of Commons, but is asked to withdraw for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy

• May 15, 1847 - Daniel OConnell, The Liberator, dies in Genoa. His body is returned to Ireland and buried in Glasnevin Cemetery

• May 15, 1867 - Eoin MacNeill, Irish nationalist, born

• May 15, 1887 - Poet and critic Edwin Muir born.

• May 15, 1940 - Proinsias de Rossa, politician and leader of Democratic Left, is born in Dublin

• May 16, 1568 - Mary Queen of Scots sailed from Port Mary across the Solway Firth to exile in England.

• May 16, 1763 - Biographer James Boswell met Samuel Johnson for the first time.

• May 16, 1907 - Birth of Robert Tisdall, gold medalist in the 400 meter hurdles at the 1932 Olympics

• May 16, 1920 - Soviets are proclaimed in 13 Co. Limerick creameries, including Knocklong

• May 16, 1926 - Eamon de Valera founds Fianna Fáil and holds its first public meeting

• May 16, 1927 - A Reserve established by Oglaigh na hÉireann, the Irish Defence Forces

• May 16, 1945 - Eamon de Valera responds to Churchills victory speech during which Churchill took one last jab at Irish neutrality. For Churchills speech and De Valeras response, please click World at War

• May 16, 1952 - Birth of Pierce Brosnan in Navan, Co. Meath

• May 16, 1975 - Local Government (Scotland) Act (1974) came into force and, 430 local authorities were replaced by nine regional,, 53 district and three islands councils.

• May 16, 1990 - British Steel announced the closure of the hot strip mill at Ravenscraig with the loss of, 770 jobs.

• May 16, 2005 - James Boswells Life of Johnson published.

• May 16, 578 - Brendan the Navigator - early Irish transatlantic voyager- died.

• May 16, 587 - St. Brendan the Navigator, early transatlantic voyager, dies. In the liturgical calendar, today is St. Brendans Feast Day

• May 17, 1532 - King James V established paid judges to sit as the Court of Session, the highest civil court in Scotland.

• May 17, 1650 - Cromwells army is defeated in the second assault on Clonmel, suffering its heaviest losses. The following day, the Mayor of Clonmel negotiates honourable terms for surrender with Cromwell, who did not realise that ONeill and his soldiers had left the to

• May 17, 1730 - Elizabeth, widow of William Molyneux, marries Nathaniel St Andre, a Swiss surgeon who wins an action for defamation on a charge of having killed Molyneux by administering opium to him in his last illness by her connivance

• May 17, 1810 - Robert Tannahill- Scottish song writer- died.

• May 17, 1855 - Birth in Bantry, Co. Cork of Timothy Michael Healy, one of the most brilliant and most controversial of Irish politicians. His career spans from Parnells leadership of the Irish Parliamentary Party in the 1880s to the foundation of the Irish Free State i

• May 17, 1865 - Shan Bullock, novelist, is born in Crom, Co. Fermanagh

• May 17, 1870 - David Octavius Hill, painter and pioneer photographer, died.

• May 17, 1880 - Charles Stewart Parnell is elected Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party

• May 17, 1908 - Birth of Vincent Barry, organic chemist, in Cork

• May 17, 1911 - Birth in Roscommon of actress Maureen OSullivan Boyle who is remembered for her role as Jane in a series of five movies opposite Johnny Weissmullers Tarzan

• May 17, 1917 - A new military viceroy, General French, acts on mistaken information that Sinn Féin is implicated in a pro-German plot and has most of the leaders arrested

• May 17, 1938 - The Marquess of Bute sold half of the city of Cardiff for £20 million, at that time the biggest-ever British property deal.

• May 17, 1949 - The British Government recognizes the Republic of Ireland

• May 18, 1313 - Robert the Bruce lands on Isle of Mann to wrest it from English Rule.

• May 18, 1313 - Robert the Bruce invades Isle of Man.

• May 18, 1401 - John de Stanley is told that he is to be replaced as lieutenant by Thomas of Lancaster (duke of Clarence and second son of Henry IV), who is 12 or 13 years old. Lancasters deputy, Sir Stephen le Scrope, will effectively govern Ireland for the next few ye

• May 18, 1613 - James Is Irish parliament opens in Dublin

• May 18, 1798 - The 2nd Earl of Kingston is tried amid great pomp by the Irish House of Lords for the murder of Colonel Henry FitzGerald. An executioner stands beside Kingston with an immense axe, painted black except for two inches of polished steel, and held at the lev

• May 18, 1825 - The House of Lords rejects the Catholic Emancipation Bill which would disenfranchise Irish forty-shilling free-holders and put clergy on state salaries

• May 18, 1843 - Break up of Church of Scotland and formation of Free Church of Scotland.

• May 18, 1873 - James Fagan, actor, producer and playwright, is born in Belfast

• May 18, 1896 - The City and Suburban Ground now known as Croke Park, hosts a soccer match for the first time. The teams are a combination of Irish and Scots women versus England. The combined team beats England 3-2

• May 18, 1897 - Oscar Wilde is released from prison; he goes to live in France, where he writes his famous poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol

• May 18, 1897 - The first Irish Music Festival is held in Dublin

• May 18, 1928 - Death of writer Standish OGrady on the Isle of Wight. Under the influence of John ODonovan, he studies the Old Irish myths and legends, and his works, which influence the Irish literary revival of the 1890s, popularise the Irish sagas

• May 18, 1939 - The first aircraft lands at the newly opened Rineanna Airfield which is later to become Shannon International Airport

• May 18, 1939 - Cosmo cinema in Rose Street, Glasgow opened its doors for the first time. Now thr Glasgow Fil Theatre it is now the oldest active cinema in the city.

• May 18, 1960 - Real Madrid beat Eintracht-Frankfurt, 7-3 at Hampden Park, Glasgow, to win the European Cup for the, 5th year in succession.

• May 19, 1660 - An Act by the British Parliament forbids the export of Irish wool

• May 19, 1710 - John Forster is unanimously elected Speaker of the House of Commons, replacing Alan Brodrick

• May 19, 1795 - James Boswell, Scottish biographer of Samuel Johnson- died.

• May 19, 1795 - Death in Auchinleck of James Boswell, biographer of Dr Johnston.

• May 19, 1798 - Lord Edward Fitzgerald, a leader of the United Irishmen, is betrayed by Francis Magan; hes arrested and is shot while being apprehended; he dies of his wounds on June 4

• May 19, 1821 - Anna Maria Odell, the second wife of William Odell (former MP for Co. Limerick), gives birth to a stillborn child in the Marshalsea debtors prison, where she had accompanied her husband

• May 19, 1832 - Standish Hayes OGrady, scholar, is born in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick

• May 19, 1862 - Máire Ni Aodáin (Mary Hayden), Irish historian, is born

• May 19, 1869 - Birth of Henry Dixon, botanist

• May 19, 1870 - Sir Isaac Butt invents the term Home Rule. The first meeting of the Home Government Association (later to become the Home Rule League) is held in a Dublin hotel. A resolution is passed that the true remedy for the evils of Ireland is the establishm

• May 19, 1939 - John Sheahan, fiddle player with the Dubliners, is born

• May 20, 1303 - France and England make peace, releasing forces to attack Scotland.

• May 20, 1311 - The war of the OBriens of Thomond escalates as the Norman-Irish become involved on both sides - the de Burghs support Dermot OBrien and Richard de Clare supports Donough OBrien. There is a pitched battle at Bunratty on this date, with heavy losses on bo

• May 20, 1648 - Truce between the confederates and Inchiquin; its adherents are excommunicated by Giovanni Rinuccini, papal nuncio to the confederates

• May 20, 1747 - James Lind began a controlled experiment which demonstrated that citrus fruits could prevent scurvy, a disease contracted by sailors on long voyages. The lime juice which eventually became standard issue to British sailors gave rise to the term limey as

• May 20, 1759 - Birth of Sir Eyre Coote, the younger; soldier, MP, and governor of Jamaica

• May 20, 1836 - An Act amalgamates the county constabulary and Peace Preservation Force into a centralized police force , the Irish Constabulary , which will later become the Royal Irish Constabulary

• May 20, 1922 - De Valera and Collins agree to a pact whereby a national coalition panel of candidates will represent the pro and anti Treaty wings of Sinn Féin throughout Ireland in the forthcoming general election

• May 20, 1927 - The opening hours of Irish public houses are restricted by the Intoxicating Liquor Act

• May 20, 1932 - Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland for Ireland on the anniversary of Charles Lindberghs famous

• May 20, 685 - Battle of Nechtansmere. Northumbrian invasion of Scotland defeated by Pictish King Bruide.

• May 20, 685 - Battle of Dunnichen (also known as Nechtansmere), south of Forfar in Angus, as a result of which the Picts stopped the advance northwards of the Angles of Northumbria.

• May 21, 1639 - Lord Deputy Thomas Wentworth imposes the Black Oath of loyalty to Charles I on all Ulster Scots over the age of 16

• May 21, 1650 - James Graham, (Montrose), Scottish royalist commander- executed by Cromwellian government.

• May 21, 1650 - James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, executed at Mercat Cross, Edinburgh.

• May 21, 1745 - Count Daniel OConnell, a soldier in French and British services, is born in Derrynane, Co. Kerry

• May 21, 1916 - Clocks and watches go forward one hour as the Daylight Saving Act (Summer Time) is introduced

• May 21, 1917 - Birth of tenor and comedian, Dennis Day, to Irish parents in New York, NY

• May 21, 1920 - James Plunkett, pseudonym of James Plunkett Kelly; novelist, is born in Dublin

• May 21, 1983 - TSB Bank Scotland (now Lloyds TSB Scotland) formed.

• May 22, 1611 - King James VI introduced the title baronet for the first time. This is the lowest hereditary titled order.

• May 22, 1805 - Michael Doheny, poet and Young Irelander, is born near Fethard, Co. Tipperary

• May 22, 1849 - Novelist, Maria Edgeworth, dies in Mostrim, Co. Longford. She is laid to rest in a vault at Edgeworthstown Church. The Great Famine which decimates the people she loves mars her last years. Even though in her late seventies, she worked strenuously for the

• May 22, 1859 - Sir Conan Doyle, Scottish author - born

• May 22, 1859 - Birth in Edinburgh of Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle was the eldest son of 10 siblings born to Irish parents Charles Doyle and Mary Foley

• May 22, 1859 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, born of Irish parents in Edinburgh.

• May 22, 1870 - Birth of Eva Gore-Booth, poet, trade unionist and feminist, on the Lissadell Estate in Co. Sligo

• May 22, 1915 - Britains worst train disaster at Quintinshill (near Gretna Green) in which three trains collided, with the loss of, 227 lives. A troop train carrying the Seventh Royal Scots Regiment hit a staionary train and the night express from London then hit the wr

• May 22, 1920 - Birth of Oliver J. Flanagan, Fine Gael politician

• May 22, 1932 - Death of Augusta Persse, better known as Lady Augusta Gregory, Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre director; also a co-founder of the Abbey Theatre

• May 23, 1561 - The first court of High Commission, a group of officials and Protestant clergy, is set up to enforce the Reformation in Ireland

• May 23, 1754 - Birth of Dr. William Drennan in Belfast; physician, poet, educationalist political radical and one of the chief architects of the Society of United Irishmen. Drennans poetic output included some powerful and moving pieces. He is chiefly remembered today

• May 23, 1794 - As part of a crack-down on seditious activity during Britains war with France, the Dublin United Irishmen are supressed

• May 23, 1798 - United Irish Rebellion begins in Wexford

• May 23, 1798 - United Irish Rebellion begins in Leinster

• May 23, 1867 - Archibald Alison, historian, died.

• May 23, 1903 - Shelah Richards, actress and producer, is born in Dublin

• May 23, 1920 - Oliver Plunkett is beatified by Pope Benedict XV

• May 23, 1967 - Merched Y Wawr (Daughters of the Dawn) Welsh language womens organization, formed.

• May 24, 1153 - King David I died at Carlisle and Malcolm IV crowned at Scone.

• May 24, 1487 - Lambert Simnel (aged 10), the Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is brought to Ireland. It is claimed that he is Edward, Earl of Warwick (Clarences son), but in fact, he is a bakers son - the real Warwick is a prisoner in the Tower of London and w

• May 24, 1628 - 51 graces to Irish interest groups by Charles I are promised but various excuses are used not to grant these concessions

• May 24, 1798 - Start of 98 Rising in Ireland

• May 24, 1798 - Archibald Hamilton Jacob conducts the Enniscorthy Yeomen Cavalry to the village of Ballaghkeen where they flog a man to death

• May 24, 1813 - A Catholic Relief Bill is introduced by Grattan in the House of Commons, and is narrowly defeated 251 to 247

• May 24, 1818 - John Foley, sculptor, is born in Dublin

• May 24, 1819 - The future Queen Victoria was born.

• May 24, 1830 - Anthony Durnford, soldier, is born in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim

• May 24, 1852 - Robert Cunningham Graham born. Son of a Scottish laird, he organised the Scottish Labour Party with Kier Hardie, wrote over, 30 travel books and was elected first president of the Scottish National Party.

• May 24, 1882 - Creighton Hale, actor, is born in Cork

• May 24, 1916 - Conscription to the armed forces began for the first time.

• May 24, 1921 - 1st parliament for Northern Ireland is elected

• May 24, 1923 - Actress, Siobhan McKenna is born

• May 24, 1928 - William Trevor (Cox), prolific short story-writer and novelist is born in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. He has written over 30 works including The Story of Lucy Gault which was short-listed for the 2002 Booker Prize

• May 24, 1928 - Actor and comedian Stanley Baxter born.

• May 24, 1972 - Rangers win the European Cup Winners Cup in Barcelona.

• May 25, 1315 - Irish Ally, Edward Bruce of Scotland, arrives in Ireland.

• May 25, 1315 - Edward Bruce (brother of Robert Bruce, king of Scots), having been invited by some Gaelic chiefs, leads an expedition to Ireland with the aim of conquering it, creating a kingdom of Ireland and driving out the Norman-Irish settlers. He lands at Larne on t

• May 25, 1705 - On this date, May Eustace Sherlock, gentleman, petitions the Commons for relief from the great oppressions he lies under, by the undue practices and power of Maurice Annesley, a Justice of the Peace. Annesley is an MP. The ensuing complicated legal case

• May 25, 1713 - John Stuart, Earl of Bute, Britains first Scottish Prime Minister, born.

• May 25, 1726 - First circulating library opened in Edinburgh.

• May 25, 1745 - Lord John Allen (3rd Viscount Allen), former MP for Carysfort, dies of a fever caused from cuts to his fingers inflicted by the sword of a dragoon

• May 25, 1830 - As a result of growing Unitarianism the General Synod reinforces subscription. Henry Montgomery, the leading Unitarian protagonist, leads a secession of Non-subscribers from the General Synod which establishes the Remonstrant Synod of Ulster. The Remonstr

• May 25, 1842 - Birth on Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, of Helen Blackburn, early leader of the movement for the emancipation of women

• May 25, 1870 - Irish Fenians raid Eccles Hill, Québec

• May 25, 1885 - Gerald Boland, nationalist politician, is born in Manchester

• May 25, 1895 - Oscar Wilde is sentenced to two years imprisonment for offences “against public decency”

• May 25, 1900 - John Hunt, expert on mediaeval art, is born in Limerick

• May 25, 1903 - Ewart Milne, poet, is born in Dublin

• May 25, 1909 - Oscar Slater found guilty of murder.

• May 25, 1912 - First issue of the weekly suffrage magazine, Irish Citizen, appears

• May 25, 1914 - British House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule for the third time

• May 25, 1921 - The Dublin brigade of the IRA attacks and sets fire to the Customs House; 120 of its men are captured and 11 are killed

• May 25, 1967 - Celtic Football Club won European Cup.

• May 25, 1971 - Invergordon aluminium works starts production.

• May 26, 1063 - England invades Wales.

• May 26, 1424 - The parliament convened by King James I approved the arrest of a number of the Scottish nobility and also banned the playing of football.

• May 26, 1562 - Following his submission to Elizabeth at Whitehall in January, Shane ONeill returns to Ireland on this date

• May 26, 1650 - Oliver Cromwell leaves Ireland on board the frigate President Bradshaw. His deputy and son-in-law, Henry Ireton takes control of the Irish campaign and captures Birr Castle

• May 26, 1798 - The rebels are defeated at Tara Hill; this marks the end of the rebellion in Co. Meath. Rebellion begins in Co. Wexford. Fr. John Murphy and local people confront the Camolin yeomanry at The Harrow. Thomas Bookey, Lieutenant of the yeomanry, is killed

• May 26, 1867 - Michael Barrett from Kesh, Co. Fermanagh is executed for his part in the explosion at Clerkenwell Gaol. From all the evidence, it is likely he is not guilty. He is the last man to be publicly hanged in England.

• May 26, 1867 - Mary is crowned queen of Gt. Britain & Northern Ireland

• May 26, 1873 - Trinity College Dublin abolishes all remaining religious restrictions for entry, with the exception of the Faculty of Divinity

• May 26, 1897 - First publication of Dracula, written by Dublin man Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker

• May 26, 1909 - Birth of football player, coach and manager Sir Matt Busby . He was manager of Manchester United Football Club, 1945-69, winner of European Cup, 1968.

• May 26, 1914 - Actor Archie Duncan (known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes) born Glasgow.

• May 26, 1950 - Petrol rationing, introduced during WW2, was ended.

• May 26, 1995 - In the opening game of their Rugby World Cup programme, Scotland defeated Ivory Coast, 89-0. Skipper Gavin Hastings scored a world record, 44 points.

• May 27, 1224 - Cathal Crovderg OConnor, king of Connacht and brother of Rory OConnor, dies at the age of 72. This finally opens the way for the Norman occupation of Connacht

• May 27, 1595 - Hugh ONeill, Earl of Tyrone, defeats the English forces of his brother-in-law, Sir Henry Bagenal, at the Battle of Clontibret, Co. Monaghan; he is proclaimed a traitor at Newry in June

• May 27, 1648 - Giovanni Rinuccini, papal nuncio to the confederates, excommunicates adherents of the truce between confederates and Inchiquin

• May 27, 1798 - Wexford rebels massacre Kingsboroughs militiamen and yeomanry at Oulart

• May 27, 1877 - Hanna Sheehy Skeffington is born in Co. Limerick. A committed suffragette, she is one of the founding members of the Irish Womens Franchise League; sexual equality remains a primary concern throughout her despite a slight shift in focus after the summary

• May 27, 1887 - Anti-Tithe Riot, Llangwm, Wales

• May 27, 1936 - Following the Free States provision for the formation of Aer Lingus as the national airline, Aer Lingus opens routes to Bristol and London, commencing with a flight from Baldonnell to Bristol on this date

• May 27, 1936 - Maiden voyage of liner Queen Mary.

• May 28, 1503 - Papal Bull signed by Pope Alexander VI confirming the marriage of King James IV and Margaret Tudor and the Treaty of Everlasting Peace between Scotland and England.

• May 28, 1590 - Hugh ONeill, Earl of Tyrone, agrees to abandon further attempts at extending his territory in the north, and undertakes to force his people to adopt English laws and customs

• May 28, 1666 - The Act of Uniformity confirms Guy Fawkes day (5 November) as an anniversary, and adds 30 January (execution of Charles I) and 29 May (the Restoration)

• May 28, 1713 - William Molyneux, the fourteen-year old son of Sir Thomas Molyneux, a former MP, is killed when a leaden image falls on him in a garden near Dublin

• May 28, 1722 - Birth of James Fitzgerald, 20th Earl of Kildare; Duke of Leinster; politician and Lord Justice

• May 28, 1779 - Thoams Moore, Irish poet and composer, born.

• May 28, 1779 - Poet and songwriter, Thomas Moore, is born in Dublin

• May 28, 1798 - In the first Battle of Enniscorthy, the rebels take the town

• May 28, 1798 - On this date, under the command of Father Murphy of Boolavogue, a priest who had been in dispute with his bishop and who had reluctantly stepped forward as leader, the Wexford insurgents, gaining strength as they advance, storm Enniscorthy. The defences o

• May 28, 1841 - Seven church ministers of the Presbytery of Strathbogie were removed from their posts by the General assembly of the Church of Scotland for obeying civil rather than ecclesiastical law.

• May 28, 1884 - Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd are married

• May 28, 1887 - 73 miners were killed in a firedamp explosion at Udston Colliery, Lanarkshire.

• May 28, 1905 - Construction of the Kings Theatre in Edinburgh commences.

• May 28, 1917 - Birth of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th US president, in Brookline, Mass

• May 28, 1937 - National Government formed under the leadership of Neville Chamberlain.

• May 29, 1205 - King John makes Hugh de Lacy Earl of Ulster

• May 29, 1630 - King Charles II born.

• May 29, 1660 - King Charles II returned to England. Royal Oak Day.

• May 29, 1687 - Order of the Thistle founded by King James VII.

• May 29, 1830 - Humphrey Davy, Cornish pioneer chemist, died.

• May 30, 1249 - Reginald II, King of Isle of Mann, assassinated.

• May 30, 1291 - Claimants to the Scottish throne met King Edward I of England at Norham on Tweed to resolve succession.

• May 30, 1546 - David Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews, assassinated.

• May 30, 1630 - Birth of Charles Stuart who will become Charles II of Great Britain and Ireland

• May 30, 1784 - Belfasts first Catholic church, St. Marys, opens for public worship

• May 30, 1798 - Following the massacre of Kingsboroughs militiamen and yeomanry at Oulart on 27 May, rebels capture Enniscorthy and Wexford town

• May 30, 1807 - During the election for Co. Wexford, two of the candidates, William Congreve Alcock and John Colclough, fight a duel in front of the county sheriff, 16 magistrates and a large crowd of spectators. Alcock shoots Colclough dead; he is elected; he is also tr

• May 30, 1817 - Micheal William Balfe, one of Ireland’s greatest composers, gives his first public performance, aged nine

• May 30, 1844 - Daniel OConnell is fined and sentenced to 12 months in prison for conspiracy

• May 30, 1847 - Death of Thomas Chalmers, first Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland.

• May 30, 1906 - Death of Michael Davitt, Father of the Irish Land League. He was born at the height of the Great Famine. At four, his family was evicted and forced to emigrate to England. He joined the Fenians in 1865, became organizing secretary and was arrested in 18

• May 30, 1944 - Eamon de Valera is returned as Taoiseach

• May 31, 1257 - Welsh forces under Meredudd - ap Rhys and Meredudd - ab Owain ambush a force of English and Welsh collaborators killing 3,000 in battle lasting three days at Pontargotto

• May 31, 1367 - King Robert III married Annabel Drummond.

• May 31, 1430 - Charges are made against Thomas Foster, Archdeacon of Glendalough, that he has sold the lands of the dignity, has kept concubines, has had offspring, is ignorant of letters and does not know the language of the country

• May 31, 1727 - The Royal Bank of Scotland was formed from a company of debenture holders.

• May 31, 1744 - Birth of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, inventor, educationist and politician

• May 31, 1798 - Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey is appointed as Commander of the insurgent forces In Wexford town, a civilian government led by four Protestants and four Catholics is established

• May 31, 1847 - Birth of Alice Stopford Green in Kells, Co. Meath. Irish historian and patriot; she is noted for proving the Irish had a rich culture before English rule. A strong supporter of the Treaty of 1921, she is nominated to the first Seanad in December 1922

• May 31, 1848 - At Grosse Ile, Canada, 40 immigrant vessels wait to unload. For more on this story, please click The Wild Geese

• May 31, 1889 - Helen Waddell, Irish scholar, translator and novelist, is born in Tokyo

• May 31, 1900 - During the Boer War, Piet de Wet captures the thirteenth battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry at Lindley. To British eyes, this mounted Battalion is the social and political show-piece of the new Volunteer Army; a company of Irish M.F.H.s known as the Iris

• May 31, 1911 - The hull of the world’s most famous ship, the Titanic , is launched

• May 31, 1922 - The Royal Ulster Constabulary is established

• May 31, 1962 - Gaumont cinema in Edinburgh destroyed by fire.

• June 1, 1679 - Covenanters defeated John Graham of Claverhouse at Drumclog.

• June 1, 1762 - Birth in Callan, Co. Kilkenny of Edmund Ignatius Rice, educator, philanthropist, and the founder of the Irish Christian Brothers Order

• June 1, 1841 - Poet and songwriter Robert Allan (born in Kilbarchan in, 1774) died in New York, six days after sailing there from Scotland to join his son. He had believed that his poetry would be better appreciated in North America.

• June 1, 1843 - Dr Henry Faulds, who established the uniqueness of fingerprints, born in Beith, Ayrshire.

• June 1, 1852 - The Magnetc Telegraph Company links Britain and Ireland via submarine telegraph cable. The company also operates lines from Donaghadee to Portpatrick, and connects major Irish cities, as far as Limerick, Killarney and Cork

• June 1, 1860 - Birth of Hugh Thomson, illustrator, in Coleraine, Co. Derry-Londonderry

• June 1, 1866 - American Fenians led by General John ONeill invade Canada and capture Fort Erie.

• June 1, 1866 - Renegade Irish Fenians invade Ft. Erie Ontario from the US

• June 1, 1878 - First Tay rail bridge opens. It was to collapse, 18 months later in the Tay Bridge Disaster.

• June 1, 1919 - Eamon DeValera begins his tour of the USA to raise money and support for the IRAs war against England

• June 1, 1946 - First TV license issued in Britain, costing £2.

• June 1, 1957 - First Premium Bond prizes were drawn by the computer Ernie (Electronic random number indicator equipment).

• June 1, 1982 - Pope John Paul II in Glasgow.

• June 2, 1398 - Prince Henry St Clair (Sinclair) landed in Nova Scotia, having sailed from Orkney.

• June 2, 1567 - The Ulster chieftain, Shane ONeill, takes refuge with the MacDonnells, and is murdered by them at Cushendun, Co. Antrim. He is succeeded by Turlough Luineach ONeill

• June 2, 1581 - James Douglas, Scottish inventor of the guillotine (the Maiden), guillotined.

• June 2, 1581 - James Douglas,, 4th Earl of Morton, beheaded in Edinburgh Grassmarket, accused of the murder of Lord Darnley.

• June 2, 1705 - The town of Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh is virtually destroyed by an accidental fire. One hundred and fourteen families and their servants suffer severe losses, and the barracks of her Majesty (Queen Anne) sustains great damage, the total loss being comput

• June 2, 1772 - An Act of Parliament allows Catholics to lease bogland

• June 2, 1774 - An act of the Irish parliament enables Catholics to testify their allegiance to the king

• June 2, 1866 - Renegade Irish Fenians surrender to US forces

• June 2, 1891 - A proposal for the penalty kick is accepted by the Football Association. It is the brainchild of Armaghs William McCrum and is championed by his colleague in the Irish Association, Jack Reid

• June 2, 1920 - Michael OHehir, sports commentator, is born in Dublin

• June 2, 1938 - Robert and Edward Kennedy, youngest sons of the American Ambassador to London, open the children’s zoo in Regent’s Park. Children are charged sixpence to watch chimpanzees have a tea party

• June 2, 1941 - Clothes rationing introduced as a war-time measure. It was not lifted until, 1949.

• June 2, 1953 - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Objectors who said that Scotland had never had a Queen Elizabeth I were told that in future the highest number will be used where there is such a conflict.

• June 2, 1994 - 25 top intelligence officers and the crew of four were killed when a Chinook helicopter in which they were traveling from Northern Ireland crashed into a hillside on the Mull of Kintyre.

• June 3, 1726 - James Hutton, founder of modern geology, born.

• June 3, 1774 - Poet Robert Tannahill born in Paisley.

• June 3, 1798 - Government reinforces Gorey and Bunclody, Co. Wexford. Rebels decide to attack Gorey

• June 3, 1836 - Barry Edward OMeara, surgeon to Napoleon, dies in London

• June 3, 1863 - Writer Neil Munro born Inveraray.

• June 3, 1866 - American Fenians led by General John ONeill defeat English crown forces at Ridgeway, Ontario, British Squarebroken.

• June 3, 1878 - Sinéad de Valera, née Flanagan; teacher and writer, is born in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin

• June 3, 1919 - The Local Government Act provides for proportional representation at local authority elections

• June 3, 1931 - The company formed by John Logie Baird televised the Epsom Derby which was then transmitted by the BBC.

• June 3, 1978 - Peru defeated Scotland, 3-1 in the football World Cup in Argentina.

• June 4, 1487 - Thomas FitzGerald, Kildares brother, accompanies Simnels army of German mercenaries and some Irishmen to England on this date

• June 4, 1651 - Ireton, Oliver Cromwells son-in-law, lays siege to Limerick city. By October, Limerick is in Iretons hands. Ireton dies of the plague shortly afterwards

• June 4, 1694 - The Merchant Maiden Hospital, later known as The Mary Erskine School, was founded by Mary Erskine in the Cowgate, Edinburgh.

• June 4, 1731 - Allegedly, the date when the robbery of the Golden Lyons cargo takes place at Ballyheige Co. Kerry. Owned by the Danish East India Company, the ship had become stranded near Ballyheige, Co. Kerry. Its valuable cargo is moved into a house and guarded by t

• June 4, 1798 - In Co. Wexford, Government troops march south out of Gorey. Rebels from Carrigrew move north, they attack and defeat Government forces at Tubberneering. Government forces withdraw north. Rebels occupy Gorey

• June 4, 1798 - Lord Edward Fitzgerald dies at Newgate prison from wounds sustained in the course of his arrest

• June 4, 1818 - First recorded inter-club golf match between Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society and Bruntsfield Links Golf Club.

• June 4, 1820 - Henry Grattan, the moving force behind the Irish Parliament at College Green before it was dissolved by the Act of Union, dies and is buried - against his wishes - in Westminster Abbey

• June 4, 1832 - Great Reform Bill, which disenfranchised rotten burghs, came into force.

• June 4, 1862 - Bob Fitzsimmons, Cornish boxer, worlds middleweight champion 1891- worlds heavyweight champion 1897- born.

• June 4, 1864 - Neilí Ni Bhriain, Irish Gaelic League activist, is born

• June 4, 1886 - Months of serious rioting begin in Belfast on this date

• June 4, 1909 - Charlotte Grace OBrien, Irish social reformer dies

• June 4, 1909 - Robert Dudley Edwards, historian, is born in Dublin

• June 4, 1940 - Evacuation of Dunkirk (which began on May 27) was completed., 338,226 soldiers were brought back to the UK by the little ships.

• June 4, 1940 - Winston Churchill made his speech to the nation saying - We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hill

• June 4, 1977 - Damage estimated to cost £15,000 caused by fans who dug up the pitch at Wembley after Scotland defeated England, 2-1.

• June 5, 1592 - An Act of the Scottish Parliament came into force concerning the Office of Lyoun King of Armes and his brother Heraldis creating the best regulated system of armorial bearings in Europe.

• June 5, 1646 - Eoghan Rua ONeill, a superb military strategist, defeats Robert Munro’s Scottish army at Benburb in Co. Tyrone. The victory is celebrated by Pope Innocent X with a Te Deum in Rome

• June 5, 1686 - Richard Talbot, the Earl of Tyrconnell, appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, (the first Catholic to hold the position since the Reformation) becomes Commander-in-Chief of the Irish army

• June 5, 1723 - Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations born Kirkcaldy.

• June 5, 1795 - An Act provides for the establishment of a Catholic seminary

• June 5, 1798 - Defeat of the rebels at New Ross, Co. Wexford

• June 5, 1798 - The Reverend William Steel Dickson, a Presbyterian minister and United Irishmen supporter is arrested and imprisoned without trial

• June 5, 1880 - Birth in Dublin of William Thomas Cosgrave, the first President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State

• June 5, 1886 - Alasdair Mac Cába, pro-Treaty nationalist, politician, and founder of the Educational Building Society, is born in Ballymote, Co. Sligo

• June 5, 1899 - Margaret Anne Cusack (Sister Mary Francis Clare), the Nun of Kenmare, dies in Leamington, Warwickshire, England

• June 5, 1916 - Death of Listowel man Lord Kitchener

• June 5, 1916 - HMS Hampshire sank off Orkney after striking a mine. Lord Kitchener, conqueror of Sudan, was drowned.

• June 5, 1920 - Cornelius Ryan, war correspondent and author of The Longest Day, The Last Battle and A Bridge Too Far, is born in Dublin

• June 5, 1921 - The first sitting of the Northern Ireland Parliament takes place

• June 5, 1932 - Birth of Christy Brown, paraplegic painter and writer. His book “Down All the Days” and the film “My Left Foot” are based on his life

• June 5, 1975 - Referendum held on British Membership of the European Community. In Scotland the vote was Yes, 1,332,286; No, 948,039. Turnout was, 61%. Only Shetland and Western Isles had majorities against.

• June 6, 1333 - William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster -the Brown Earl-is assassinated by his own knights, John de Logan and two of the de Mandevilles, at Le Ford, Belfast. The background is one of intrigue among Norman-Irish lords

• June 6, 1560 - Treaty of Edinburgh between France and England, recognizing sovereignty of Mary Queen of Scots and her first husband Francis II.

• June 6, 1592 - Red Hugh ODonnell, son of the Earl of Tyrconnell makes a dramatic escape from the Record Tower and returns to Co. Donegal and the leadership of his Clan

• June 6, 1739 - John Scott, Earl of Clonmel; Copper-Faced Jack; Chief Justice, is born in Co. Tipperary

• June 6, 1763 - William Simms, a founder and secretary of the United Irishmen, is born

• June 6, 1790 - Edmund Butler, 11th Viscount Mountgarret and former MP for Co. Kilkenny, fights a duel with a Counsellor Bushe during which Bushe is seriously injured in the stomach

• June 6, 1798 - General Needham reaches Arklow in Co. Wexford and immediately begins digging trenches

• June 6, 1798 - Rebellion breaks out in Ulster - Henry Joy McCracken issues proclamation calling United Irishmen in Ulster to arms

• June 6, 1800 - Ordination of the first priests at St Patricks College, Maynooth. The college was founded in 1795 as the National Seminary for Ireland

• June 6, 1821 - F. an Uhel, Breton writer and ethnologist was born

• June 6, 1871 - Joseph Shanahan, missionary bishop in Africa, is born near Templederry, Co. Tipperary

• June 6, 1880 - Birth of William Thomas Cosgrave , Irish statesman and father of Liam Cosgrave*. A member of Sinn Féin, he fought in the Easter Rebellion and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Freed a year later, he was elected to the British Parliament in 1918 but pro

• June 6, 1882 - In Liverpool, Mayo native-son and hero, Michael Davitt, advocates land nationalization in preference to peasant proprietorship

• June 6, 1898 - Birth of Dame Ninette de Valois, Wicklow, born founder of the Royal Ballet

• June 6, 1913 - Birth in Dublin of Patrick Campbell, author and broadcaster; he wrote sixteen books, including Life in Thin Slices, Rough Husbandry and How to Become a Scratch Golfer (he was one himself)

• June 6, 1940 - Willie John McBride, Ireland and Lions rugby captain, is born in Toomebridge, Co. Antrim

• June 6, 1982 - Caitlin Maude, Irish language activist dies.

• June 7, 1329 - Robert the Bruce of Scotland, died.

• June 7, 1420 - A parliament meets at Dublin

• June 7, 1546 - England signs Peace of Andres with Ireland and Scotland

• June 7, 1690 - The Scots Parliament ratified the establishment of a Presbyterian religious system, rejecting Episcopacy.

• June 7, 1705 - Francis Flood, grandfather of Henry Flood, is expelled from the House of Commons for abuses against Agmondisham Cuffe MP, Cuffes tenants and others in Co. Kilkenny

• June 7, 1766 - The Tumultuous Risings Act, against the Whiteboys, is passed

• June 7, 1798 - Father James Coigly is executed by hanging at Pennington Heath. A member of the United Irishmen, he had been arrested in Margate, England as he was about to embark for France. Papers found on his person indicate that his intention is to invite the French

• June 7, 1798 - In Wicklow, the Rebels burn Carnew; in Ulster, they take Larne and the Larne garrison retreats to Carrickfergus. The Rebels take Ballymena and Randalstown and then attack Antrim. They also attack Maghea in Co Derry

• June 7, 1811 - Sir James Young Simpson, pioneer of anesthetics and chloroform, born.

• June 7, 1861 - Death of Patrick Brontë from Ballynaskeagh, Co Down, father of Emily, Charlotte, Anne and Bramwell

• June 7, 1866 - Irish Fenians raid Pigeon Hill, Quebec

• June 7, 1892 - Birth of Irish statesman, Kevin Christopher OHiggins in Stradbally, Co. Laois. He attempted severe repression of the Irish Republican Army in the years of the Irish “Troubles” following the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921. A man of intellectual power, he is d

• June 7, 1899 - Birth in Dublin of Elizabeth Bowen, novelist and short-story writer. Acclaimed for her fictional representations of Anglo-Irish Big House life, she is best known in Ireland for her novel The Last September

• June 7, 1900 - Patricia Lynch, childrens author, is born in Cork

• June 7, 1921 - George V opens the first Northern Ireland Parliament. James Craig becomes Northern Irelands first Prime Minister

• June 7, 1925 - Death of Matt Talbot. With the help of a priest friend, Matt overcomes chronic alcoholism and models his life on that of the monks, who lived in Ireland in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is a tough programme of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. He gives away

• June 7, 1952 - Birth of Liam Neeson (William John Neeson) in Ballymena, Co. Antrim

• June 8, 1333 - King Edward III of England orders seizure of the Isle of Mann from the Scots.

• June 8, 1561 - Shane ONeill rebels and is proclaimed a traitor

• June 8, 1724 - Birth of John Smeaton, civil engineer and lighthouse builder.

• June 8, 1739 - Earl of Clonmell and Chief Justice John Scott, aka Copper-Faced Jack, is born in Co. Tipperary

• June 8, 1772 - Robert Stevenson, engineer, who constructed, 18 lighthouses around Scotland, born Glasgow.

• June 8, 1798 - In Co. Wicklow, the Arklow garrison is reinforced. In Co. Wexford, The rebel southern division moves camp from Carrickbyrne to Slievecoilte. In Ulster, General Nugent offers amnesty to rank and file rebels. Rebel forces in Antrim begin to disintegrate

• June 8, 1847 - Acts setting up soup kitchens and rate-aided outdoor Famine relief come to an end

• June 8, 1886 - Gladstones Home Rule Bill is defeated

• June 8, 1905 - Brian Coffey, poet and scientist, is born in Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin

• June 8, 1929 - Birth of Peter Rafferty, diplomat

• June 8, 1985 - Barry McGuigan beats Eusebia Pedrosa to become the World Featherweight Champion

• June 9, 1641 - Patrick Darcy, a prominent constitutional lawyer, argues that the Irish parliament possesses independent authority

• June 9, 1657 - The Settlement Act for the Assuming, Confirming and Settling of Lands and Estates in Ireland is passed

• June 9, 1798 - Rebels attack Arklow. They are defeated with heavy losses; in Co. Down, Rebels take Saintfield and repulse a Government attack. Garrison abandons Newtownards, which is occupied by the rebels; unsuccessful attack on Portaferry

• June 9, 1888 - Basil Stanley Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough; unionist politician and Northern Ireland prime minister from 1943-63, is born in Colebrook, Co. Fermanagh

• June 9, 1942 - First US troops (over, 10,000 men) disembark from Queen Mary on the River Clyde.

• June 9, 1982 - The, 20p coin came into circulation.

• June 9, 597 - Colum Cille, (St Columba) Irish Bard and monk, honored in all Celtic lands, died.

• June 10, 1549 - Prayer Book Rebellion breaks out in Cornwall against the religous edicts of Henry VIII of England, led by Henry Arundell.

• June 10, 1642 - The first regularly constituted presbytery in Ireland constituted by Scottish army chaplains meets at Carrickfergus

• June 10, 1688 - James Francis Stuart born. In honor of the Old Pretender, this is known as White Rose Day in Jacobite circles.

• June 10, 1719 - Battle of Glenshiel, Jacobites with Spanish assistance, and government forces clashed.

• June 10, 1727 - Death of King George I and accession of George II.

• June 10, 1768 - Construction of the Forth and Clyde canal started. It was to take, 22 years to complete.

• June 10, 1798 - Rebels capture Maynooth in Leinster and Bangor in Ulster

• June 10, 1834 - Alfred Webb, writer and traveller, is born in Dublin

• June 10, 1842 - The first number of James MacKnights “Banner of Ulster”, the newspaper of the Presbyterian Church, is published in Ulster

• June 10, 1903 - The floral clock in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, began operation, driven by clockwork and with only an hour hand. But it was the first of its kind in the world.

• June 10, 1904 - James Joyce meets the love of his life, Nora Barnacle

• June 10, 1939 - Sir Jackie Stewart, three-times world motor racing champion, born in Dunbartonshire.

• June 10, 1944 - Death of Limerick man, Frank Ryan. He was the organiser and leader of the 200 Irishmen who went to Spain to fight against Franco and fascism in 1936

• June 11, 1488 - Battle of Sauchieburn during which King James III died attempting to subdue a group of rebel barons.

• June 11, 1534 - Revolt in Ireland of Silken Thomas Fitzgerald

• June 11, 1560 - Marie of Guise, widow of King James V and Queen Regent of Scotland, died.

• June 11, 1690 - William of Orange departs for Ireland

• June 11, 1798 - In Co. Wexford, the Rebel southern division moves camp from Slievecoilte to Lacken Hill. In Co. Down, the Main rebel army moves from Saintfield to Ballynahinch

• June 11, 1862 - Violet Martin (pen-name Martin Ross; writer, sometimes in partnership with her cousin Edith Somerville) is born in Ross House, Co. Galway

• June 11, 1903 - Thomas Sloan and others found the Independent Orange Order in Belfast

• June 11, 1912 - Mary Lavin, generally acknowledged as one of Irelands greatest short story writers, is born in Massachusetts, the only child of Irish parents

• June 11, 1919 - Birth of actor Richard Todd - in Dublin. In 1950, he wins a Golden Globe Award (“Most Promising Newcomer”) for his performance in the film “The Hasty Heart” (1949). The film also earns him an Academy Award Nomination for “Best Actor”

• June 11, 1930 - Empress of Britain launched from Clydebank by the Prince of Wales.

• June 11, 1975 - First oil pumped ashore from British oilfields in the North Sea.

• June 12, 1298 - William Wallace routs English at the Battle of Black Ironside

• June 12, 1731 - The Revenue Commissioners report the robbery of the Golden Lyon’s cargo at Ballyheige. One of the robbers is caught and turns king’s evidence; the Danish Asiatic Company offers a reward of 10 per cent of the value of the cargo for its recovery. (See June

• June 12, 1741 - At the Athy by-election following the death of Sir Walter Dixon Borrowes on 12 June, Lord Ophaly (later 1st Duke of Leinster) is returned. In the course of the election there has been a duel between William Paul Warren and Jack Hardy, which leads to Hardy

• June 12, 1798 - In Wexford, Rebel northern division moves camp to Limerick Hill; Rebels launch attack on Borris, Co Carlow. In Ulster, General Nugent takes Comber and Saintfield. He moves close to main rebel camp at Ballynahinch

• June 12, 1916 - The Ulster Unionist Council agrees to the immediate implementation of Home Rule if six Ulster counties are temporarily excluded

• June 12, 1924 - Kevin OKelly, journalist and broadcaster, is born

• June 13, 1713 - Jonathan Swift becomes Dean of St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin

• June 13, 1748 - Sir Robert King, MP for Boyle, Co. Roscommon, is created Baron Kingsborough

• June 13, 1798 - Battle of Ballynahinch, Ireland. Defeat of United Irish Army in Ulster.

• June 13, 1819 - The Strathnaver Clearances began on the Sutherland estates, families were given, 30 minutes to remove their belongings before their cottages were set on fire.

• June 13, 1831 - Birth of James Clerk Maxwell, first Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge University, he created electromagnetic theory of light.

• June 13, 1865 - Birth of W.B. Yeats in Dublin

• June 13, 1884 - Birth of Mary Colum (née Maguire) in Collooney, Co. Sligo, wife of Padraic Colum, Irish literary critic and founder of The Irish Review

• June 13, 1886 - Molly Malone reputedly dies of the fever. The famous song, Sweet Molly Malone is a tribute to the memory of a real person who was a fishwife selling cockles and mussels in the streets of Dublin. A statue of her can be seen at the foot of Grafton Stree

• June 13, 1951 - Eamon de Valera becomes Taoiseach

• June 13, 1975 - Rate of price inflation reached, 25% in the UK.

• June 14, 1645 - The royalists, loyal to Charles I, suffer a key defeat by the English Parliamentarians at Naseby

• June 14, 1690 - William of Orange lands at Carrickfergus

• June 14, 1699 - The second session of the second Irish parliament of William III is dissolved on this date

• June 14, 1789 - Whisky distilled from maize was first produced, by a clergyman, the Rev Elijah Craig. He called the new liquor bourbon because he lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

• June 14, 1798 - Government reinforcements begin to march from Cork and the midlands; Rebels send small detachment to Mountpleasant, in Co Wicklow. In Ulster, the Rebels disperse

• June 14, 1866 - Charles Wood, composer, is born in Armagh. For most of his adult life, he lives in England, but preserves a lively interest in Ireland; in 1904 he co-founds the Irish Folk Song Society in London. Several of his chamber works and songs use Irish material.

• June 14, 1883 - Death of Edward FitzGerald, poet and translator of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

• June 14, 1884 - Birth in Athlone of John McCormack, tenor and papal count

• June 14, 1919 - Capt John Alcock and Lt Arthur Whitten-Brown take off from Newfoundland on the first non-stop transatlantic flight to Galway, in a Vickers Vimy

• June 14, 1940 - Queen Mary, Aquitania, Empress of Canada, and Empress of Britain arrive in the River Clyde with the first contingent of Australian and New Zealand troops.

• June 14, 1946 - John Logie Baird, Scottish Inventor of television, died.

• June 14, 1966 - Walter McGowan wins World Fly-Weight Championship

• June 15, 1555 - After Henry VIII suppresses the Chapter of St Patricks Cathedral it is restored on this date

• June 15, 1567 - Mary Queen of Scots last night in Edinburgh, at the house of Sir Simon Preston, the Lord Provost, on the Royal Mile, prior to her imprisonment at Loch Leven castle two days later.

• June 15, 1698 - Count George de Browne, governor of Livonia, Latvia, and field marshal in the Russian army, is born in Camas, Co. Limerick

• June 15, 1798 - The Rebels main division marches to Mountpleasant

• June 15, 1828 - Birth of Sir Thomas Newenhan Deane, architect, in Dundanion, Co. Cork

• June 15, 1887 - Anti -Tithe riot, Mochdie, Wales.

• June 15, 1919 - Pioneer Atlantic airmen Alcock and Brown land at Clifden, Co. Galway and complete the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight

• June 15, 1945 - Queen Mary leaves Greenock, taking nearly, 15,000 GIs home to US.

• June 16, 1282 - Invading English Army defeated at Llandeilo, Wales, by Llywelyn II

• June 16, 1338 - Siege of Dunbar Castle by the English was raised.

• June 16, 1586 - Mary, Queen of Scots recognised Philip II of Spain as her heir.

• June 16, 1721 - The following incident is reported in the state papers - during a trial in the court of Kings Bench, Dublin, on this date, a neighbouring chimney took fire, blew the smoke into the court and gave a panick to all the people who crowded to get out. Many we

• June 16, 1798 - British regulars arrive in Dublin; Rebels march to Tinahely. Co. Wicklow

• June 16, 1871 - The Westmeath Act allows detention without trial for agrarian offences

• June 16, 1904 - Today was when James Joyce had his first date with Nora Barnacle; ultimately, it became the date on which everything takes place in his masterpiece, Ulysses

• June 16, 1924 - Friends send Joyce, who is in the hospital, a bouquet of white and blue hydrangeas. He writes in his notebook - Today 16 of June 1924 twenty years after. Will anybody remember this date?

• June 16, 1924 - The first Irish soccer international. A team drawn from the newly formed Football Association of Ireland meets the United States in Dublin

• June 16, 1929 - According to David Norris, a Dublin senator and a leading Joyce scholar, the first official celebration of Bloomsday is held on its twenty-fifth anniversary. That night, Joyce is the guest of honor at a dinner party held at Les Vaux de Cernay, a village n

• June 16, 1971 - Lord Reith, father of the BBC, died.

• June 17, 1056 - Gruffydd ab Llewelyn defeats English army near Hereford

• June 17, 1390 - Wolf of Badenoch burns Elgin Cathedral.

• June 17, 1617 - Articles of religion, introducing Anglican principles into Scottish worship, endorsed by Scottish parliament.

• June 17, 1798 - Rebels capture Tinahely, Co. Wicklow and burn the town

• June 17, 1800 - Birth of William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse; astronomer and telescope constructor, in York

• June 17, 1823 - Charles Macintosh patented the waterproof cloth he was using to make raincoats.

• June 17, 1845 - Author and poet, Emily Lawless, is born in Lyons Castle, Co. Kildare

• June 17, 1867 - Birth of John Gregg, publisher and inventor of the Gregg shorthand system, in Rockcorry, Co. Monaghan

• June 17, 1903 - An elephant named Sita kills her keeper tending her sore foot in Dublin Zoo. She was later put down by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary

• June 17, 1943 - Annie S Swan, novelist, died.

• June 17, 1959 - Eamon de Valera becomes President of Ireland.

• June 18, 1329 - The Bishop of Ossory is charged with fomenting feuds among the magnates; he flees to England and then, when summoned before the king, he flees to Rome. The king (Edward III, aged seventeen) warns the pope against him.

• June 18, 1639 - Pacification of Berwick. Charles I of England forced to withdraw from Scotland and to recognize an independent Scottish Parliament

• June 18, 1746 - Flora MacDonald met Prince Charles Edward Stuart and persuaded him to wear womens clothes as part of the escape plan from the Outer Hebrides to Skye.

• June 18, 1769 - Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, politician and administrator, is born in Dublin

• June 18, 1798 - In Leinster, the Rebels are defeated at Ovidstown, near Kilcock; in Wexford, Rebels move back to Kilcavan hill. Government offensive begins; Rebels at Kilcavan are in a strong position. Government advance is stalled; Rebels withdraw from Kilcavan. Moore a

• June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo, when British forces, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, a Dubliner, defeat Napoleon’s forces. The Iron Duke wasn’t the only Irish presence on the day — Napoleon’s horse Marengo was reared in Co. Wexford, and the Duke of Welli

• June 18, 1815 - Ensign Ewart captured the French Ensign at the Battle of Waterloo.

• June 18, 1831 - In the tithe war, yeomen kill up to 14 people at Newtownbarry, Co. Wexford

• June 18, 1859 - Birth of artist, Walter Osborne in Dublin. His superb images of young girls at play are still cherished by the National Gallery of Ireland - The Dolls School, The House Builders, and other examples of his work are also housed there.

• June 18, 1864 - Death of William Smith O’Brien, leading member of the literary-political Young Ireland movement

• June 18, 1901 - Playwright, Denis Johnston is born in Dublin. His plays include The Old Lady Says No; The Moon in the Yellow River; The Bride for the Unicorn and Strange Occurrence on Irelands Eye. He also published a biography, In Search of Swift, and two autobiograp

• June 18, 1936 - Fianna Fáil maintains links with the IRA until 1934 and then, on this date, declares them to be an illegal organisation.

• June 19, 1306 - Army of Robert the Bruce routed at Methven.

• June 19, 1566 - Mary Queen of Scots gives birth to the future King James VI of Scotland and I of England.

• June 19, 1633 - Coronation of King Charles I at Holyrood.

• June 19, 1647 - James, Duke of Ormond, agrees to surrender Dublin to English Parliament

• June 19, 1660 - Day of Public Thanksgiving on Restoration of Charles II as king.

• June 19, 1820 - The Dublin Society for Improving Husbandry, which was originally founded on June 25 in 1731, becomes the Royal Dublin Society on this date

• June 19, 1841 - Birth in Roscommon of Sir George Arthur French (a relation of Percy French, the songwriter) who organised the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

• June 19, 1861 - Earl Haig, Commander in Chief of British forces, 1915-18, founder of British Legion, born.

• June 19, 1917 - Parliament voted by a majority of, 330 to give votes to women over, 30 for the first time.

• June 19, 1936 - Birth in Dingle, Co. Kerry of Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, née Treasa Kennedy; campaigner against poverty and homelessness

• June 19, 1936 - Mary Holland, noted journalist of the 1970s and 1980s in Northern Ireland and Scoop of the year award winner in 1994 (British Press Awards), is born in London

• June 19, 1937 - Sir J M Barrie, author of Peter Pan died.

• June 20, 1210 - King John lands at Waterford. He campaigns in Leinster - many of the de Lacys followers go over to his side; he then captures Carrickfergus, where the de Lacys have made a stand, after a short siege. On 28 July, he captures William de Braose and confisca

• June 20, 1715 - There is a general election. The first session of the Irish parliament of George I commences on 12 November, and will continue till 20 June 1716. There will be six sessions of this parliament

• June 20, 1723 - Adam Ferguson, philosopher, historian, Father of Sociology born Logierait, Perthshire.

• June 20, 1764 - Theobald Wolfe Tone born

• June 20, 1798 - In Wexford, the Rebels retreat to Vinegar Hill. Generals Loftus, Needham and Johnston close in on Vinegar Hill. General Moore defeats Rebels at Goffs Bridge

• June 20, 1810 - Parliament passes Unlawful Acts Bill, extending powers against secret societies

• June 20, 1849 - James Clarence Mangan, poet, dies

• June 20, 1867 - Clan Na Gael, Irish revolutionary organization and the counterpart of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, is formed by John Devoy, Daniel Cohalan and Joseph McGarrity in the USA. The objectives of the organization are to secure an independent Ireland

• June 20, 1887 - New Tay rail bridge opened, the longest in Britain.

• June 20, 1891 - Birth of John Aloysius Costello, Ireland’s third Taoiseach

• June 21, 1098 - Priory at Coldingham founded.

• June 21, 1650 - Cromwells New Model Army is victorious at Scarrifhollis, Co. Donegal

• June 21, 1691 - Godert de Ginkel, the commanding general of the William of Orange army, begins a ten-day siege of Athlone

• June 21, 1782 - The Declaratory Act, which had given Britain the right to legislate for Ireland and had denied the appellate jurisdiction of the Irish House of Lords, is repealed

• June 21, 1791 - Robert Napier, regarded as the father of Clyde shipbuilding was born. He died on, 23 June, 1876.

• June 21, 1796 - Scottish explorer Mungo Park reached the source of the river Niger in Africa.

• June 21, 1798 - The Rebels are defeated at Vinegar Hill; however, two Rebel columns escape; the Southern column camps at Sleedagh Demense; the Northern column camps at Peppards Castle. Government forces re-take Wexford town

• June 21, 1826 - Frederick Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, diplomat and holder of estates at Clandeboye, Co. Down, is born in Florence

• June 21, 1854 - Charles Davis Lucas from Drumagole, Co Armagh, age 20 and a mate in the Royal Navy, hurls a Russian shell (its fuse still burning) from the deck of his ship during the Crimean War. For this action, he will become the first recipient of the Victoria Cross

• June 21, 1877 - On a day that will long be remembered as Black Thursday, four members of the Molly Maguires, Alexander Campbell, John Donohue, Michael Doyle and Edward Kelly, shackled with chains, walk to the gallows specially constructed to accommodate four people; thei

• June 21, 1897 - James Connolly is arrested during a demonstration commemorating 1798; Maud Gonne pays the fine for his release

• June 21, 1919 - German fleet scuttled in Scapa Flow.

• June 22, 1402 - Owain Glyn Dwr routs English forces at the Battle of Bryn

• June 22, 1679 - Duke of Monmouth subdued Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge.

• June 22, 1725 - Malt Riots, Glasgow, against higher taxes imposed on Scottish malt.

• June 22, 1770 - James Smyth, MP for Dundalk, is killed in a riding accident

• June 22, 1798 - Rebel southern column marches through Sculloge Gap, into Co. Carlow. Rebel northern column marches to camp at Croghan

• June 22, 1798 - Execution of John Kelly, also known as Kelly of Killane

• June 22, 1866 - Archbishop Cullen becomes the first Irishman elevated to Cardinal

• June 22, 1921 - First Ulster parliament, led by Sir James Craig, is formally opened by King George V, who appeals for peace

• June 22, 1922 - Longford, born Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson is shot and killed by the IRA on the steps of his home in London (link to Wild Geese)

• June 23, 1650 - Charles II sailed into the estuary of the river Spey and signed the Covenant before going ashore.

• June 23, 1704 - The Registration Act comes into force requiring all Catholic priests in Ireland to register in court, to furnish two £50 bonds for good behaviour, and not to leave the county in which they are registered

• June 23, 1725 - Malt Riots, Glasgow

• June 23, 1777 - William Brown, founder of the Argentine navy, is born in Foxford, Co. Mayo

• June 23, 1798 - Rebel southern column captures Goresbridge, Co. Kilkenny and camps at Bunreagh; Rebel northern column moves into Wicklow Mountains and camps at Ballymanus

• June 23, 1802 - Daniel OConnell secretly marries his cousin, Mary OConnell

• June 23, 1823 - George and Robert Stephenson open their locomotive foundry in Newcastle upon Tyne.

• June 23, 1825 - Annie French Hector, novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Mrs. Alexander, is born in Dublin. Highly successful novelist with 40 books including the Wooing of O’t (1873), and Blind Fate (1891); A Choice of Evils (1895), and Kitty Costello, semi-autobiogr

• June 23, 1838 - Sir James Gildea, philanthropist and co-founder of St. John Ambulance Association, is born in Kilmaine, Co. Mayo

• June 23, 1927 - Singer Kenneth McKellar born.

• June 23, 1939 - Dáil Éireann introduces internment

• June 23, 1952 - Salvador Dalis painting Christ of St John of the Cross went on display in Glasgows Kelvingrove Art Gallery. There was a public outcry when Dr Tom Honeyman, the then director of Glasgows museums and art galleries, spent the citys entire annual purcha

• June 23, 1971 - Mass protest in West of Scotland against closure of John Browns shipyard.

• June 24, 1314 - Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II at Battle of Bannockburn.

• June 24, 1754 - Death of Robin Downes. Thomas Waite writes - ‘Yesterday morning Robin Downes, member for Kildare, was found in his parlour in his house in Dawson Street with a sword run through his body. There are hopes of his recovery. He himself says ... that he receive

• June 24, 1850 - Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum; soldier and statesman, is born in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry

• June 24, 1874 - Birth of Úna Ní Fhaircheallaigh, Irish author, feminist and language activist

• June 24, 1876 - Birth of Forrest Reid in Belfast. He was a novelist, critic, and autobiographer. He became a distinguished book and print collector, eventually writing a definitive work on the book of illustrators of the 1860s

• June 24, 1886 - Crofters Holding Act passed providing limited security of tenure.

• June 25, 1731 - The Dublin Society for Improving Husbandry, (later to become the Royal Dublin Society on June 19, 1820), is founded on this date

• June 25, 1783 - The Bank of Ireland is established in Dublin, by Royal charter. It issues its first notes, and opens to the public on this date; the Irish pound is worth £12-13 sterling

• June 25, 1798 - Northern column fails to take Hacketstown, Co. Carlow and returns to camp at Croghan. Southern column marches from Slatt, to camp at Kilcumney Hill, Co. Carlow

• June 25, 1799 - David Douglas, explorer and botanist, born at Scone, Perthshire. In addition to the Douglas Fir, he brought back to Europe lupins, phlox, penstemmon, sunflowers, clarkia, Californian poppy, mimulus, flowering currant, rose of sharon and mahonia.

• June 25, 1804 - Kadoudal - Breton patriot, beheaded in Paris.

• June 25, 1870 - Erskine Childers, novelist, member of the Royal Navy, and later an Irish nationalist, is born in London. He is famous for the classic spy yarn The Riddle Of The Sands. For more on his life, please click The Wild Geese

• June 25, 1876 - Seven Scots, including John Stuart Forbes, were in the US, 7th Cavalry with General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

• June 25, 1887 - Wallace statue unveiled at the Wallace National Monument, Stirling.

• June 25, 1891 - Charles Stewart Parnell married Katherine OShea in England

• June 25, 1891 - The first Sherlock Holmes story by Edinburgh born author Arthur Conan Doyle was published in the Strand magazine.

• June 25, 1938 - Dr. Douglas Hyde inaugurated as first President of Ireland; Seán T OCeallaigh, Eamon de Valera and Erskine Childers were all installed on the same day in 1945, 1959 and 1973 respectively

• June 25, 1971 - Lord Boyd Orr, biologist and Nobel Prize Winner, died.

• June 26, 1488 - James IV crowned king at the age of, 15 at Scone. He reigned until, 1513 when he fell with the flower of Scotlands nobility at the Battle of Flodden Field.

• June 26, 1657 - Act for Convicting, Discovering and Repressing of Popish Recusants is passed

• June 26, 1695 - Scottish East India Company organized.

• June 26, 1695 - Darien Company formed to set up a Scottish colony in Panama.

• June 26, 1782 - The Relief Act gives Catholics rights concerning their education

• June 26, 1798 - Southern column is surprised by Government forces on Kilcumney Hill. They are defeated and decide to disperse. Many men return home but some decide to try and rejoin northern column at Croghan. Northern column remains in camp at Croghan.

• June 26, 1824 - Physicist and mathematician, Sir William Thomson, first Baron Kelvin of Largs, is born in College Square East, Belfast

• June 26, 1830 - King George IV died, aged, 67 (and William IV ascended the throne). George IV is reckoned to be Britains fattest king. His favourite breakfast was two roast pigeons, three beefsteaks, a bottle of white wine, a glass of champagne, two of port and one bran

• June 26, 1846 - England repeals the Corn Laws. The Corn Law Act had been passed in 1815 as a measure to protect the interests of landowners who looked as if they were about to lose out when highly inflated prices for corn ceased with the ending of the Napoleonic Wars. Th

• June 26, 1887 - 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 Celsius), the highest temperature in Ireland since records began, was recorded at Kilkenny Castle

• June 26, 1891 - Wedding of Charles Stewart Parnell to Kitty O’Shea

• June 27, 1488 - Sir Richard Edgecombe is sent to Ireland with power to grant pardons; he lands at Kinsale on this date

• June 27, 1583 - James VI (aged, 8) escaped from Castle Ruthven.

• June 27, 1782 - The Relief Act gives Catholics rights concerning their education

• June 27, 1798 - Northern column remains in camp at Croghan

• June 27, 1846 - Irish statesman, Charles Stewart Parnell, is born

• June 27, 1864 - Charles Joly, astronomer, is born in Tullamore, Co. Offaly

• June 27, 1870 - Eibhlín Bean Uí Choisdeailbh, Irish language folk-song collector is born

• June 28, 1746 - Charles Edward Stuart and Flora MacDonald escape over the sea to Skye

• June 28, 1798 - General Hunter, who replaced Lake as Commander in Wexford, becomes aware rebellion is not over and begins to re-deploy his troops. He orders General Duff to Bunclody and General Needham to Gorey

• June 28, 1838 - Queen Victoria crowned at Westminster Abbey.

• June 28, 1853 - The introduction of income tax in Ireland is proposed for the first time

• June 28, 1861 - Explorer Robert Burke, from Co. Galway, dies in Australia

• June 28, 1920 - On hearing of British atrocities in Ireland, soldiers of the Connaught Rangers mutiny in protest; three are shot dead; a fourth - Private James Daly - is court-martialled and executed by firing squad. He is the last member of the British army to be execut

• June 28, 1922 - The Provisional Government of the Irish Free State bombards the Four Courts in Dublin, and the Civil War begins

• June 28, 1922 - The Irish Civil War starts in Ireland on June 28, 1922

• June 28, 1922 - Battle of Dublin

• June 29, 1771 - Birth of Edward Newell, United Irishman and informer, in Downpatrick, Co. Down

• June 29, 1810 - Robert Williams, Celtic scholar from Wales, author of Dictionary of the Ancient Celtic Language of Cornwall - born

• June 29, 1820 - The Dublin Society becomes the Royal Dublin Society

• June 29, 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,

• June 29, 1848 - A gunfight takes place between Young Ireland Rebels and police at Widow McCormacks house in Ballingarry, Tipperary

• June 29, 1915 - Jeremiah ODonovan Rossna, Fenian leader, dies in the U.S.

• June 29, 1916 - Roger Casement is convicted of treason and sentenced to death

• June 29, 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

• June 29, 1924 - Joss Lynam, mountaineer, is born in London

• 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

• June 30, 1790 - Birth in Knockfin, Co. Laois of Arthur Jacob - noted oculist and Professor of Anatomy in the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin

• June 30, 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

• June 30, 1835 - Sir Samuel McCaughey, who is destined to become a sheep tycoon in Australia, is born near Ballymena, Co. Antrim

• June 30, 1857 - Start of trial for murder of Madeleine Smith who was eventually found Not Proven

• June 30, 1922 - Irish Civil War begins

• June 30, 1922 - The Four Courts, Dublin, are abandoned by Anti-Treaty forces after a two-day bombardment

• June 30, 1932 - De Valera abolishes the oath of allegiance and withholds land annuities from the British Government

• July 1, 1867 - Thomas Francis Meagher Dies

• July 1, 1899 - Birth of singer Cavan O’Connor

• July 1, 1924 - Irish Free State Aer Corps is established

• July 2, 1645 - Battle of Alford

• July 2, 1790 - John Foster defeats William Brabazon Ponsonby

• July 2, 1798 - Rebels defeat small force of Yeomanry at Ballraheen Hill

• July 2, 1819 - Edward Vaughan Kenealy Born

• July 2, 1874 - Isaac Butts Home Rule motion defeated

• July 3, 1582 - James Crichton of Eliock, Died

• July 3, 1728 - Robert Adam, Architect, born

• July 3, 1746 - Henry Grattan, Born

• July 3, 1798 - Fr. John Murphy, died

• July 3, 1952 - Bord Fáilte Founded

• July 4, 1653 - Ireland and Scotland are represented in Parliment

• July 4, 1798 - Rebels remain in camp at Croghan

• July 4, 1921 - Eamon De Valera orders the American flag flown in Dublin

• July 5, 1790 - The Irish mail coach 1st Run

• July 5, 1798 - United Irishmen Rebellion

• July 5, 1812 - Frederick Maning, born.

• July 5, 1828 - Daniel O’Connell wins the Clare election

• July 5, 1838 - Trinity College decrees the establishment of a Chair of Irish

• July 5, 1936 - Brendan Halligan, born.

• July 5, 1940 - 1,800 million pounds of Gold sails from the River Clyde

• July 6, 1815 - Charles Bianconi

• July 6, 1868 - Samuel Lover, died

• July 6, 1907 - The Irish Crown Jewels Vanish

• July 6, 1937 - Dave Allen, born

• July 7, 1691 - Godert de Ginkel, 1st Earl of Athlone offers pardon

• July 7, 1817 - Richard Brinsley Sheridan, died

• July 7, 1823 - Francis Fowke, born

• July 7, 1823 - John Kells Ingram, born

• July 7, 1913 - Home Rule bill Passes - 2nd Time

• July 7, 1922 - Death of Cathal Brugha

• July 8, 1642 - Owen Roe O'Neill

• July 8, 1730 - Robert Edgeworth, former MP, dies

• July 8, 1770 - Mary Anne McCracken, born

• July 8, 1808 - Bernard (Barney) Hughes, born

• July 8, 1889 - Last official bare knuckle title fight

• July 8, 1914 - Government of Ireland Bill enacted

• July 8, 1981 - Joe McDonnell, Irish political prisoner, dies

• July 9, 1751 - Rotunda Hospital, in Dublin, foundation stone is laid

• July 9, 1790 - MP for Cork, James Bernard, died

• July 9, 1797 - Edmund Burke, died

• July 9, 1809 - John O'Donovan, born

• July 10, 1614 - Arthur Annesley, Born

• July 10, 1793 - William Maginn, born

• July 10, 1900 - Paul Vincent Carroll, born

• July 10, 1917 - Éamon de Valera wins election to Parliament

• July 10, 1921 - Belfast Bloody Sunday, 1921

• July 11, 1792 - The Belfast Harp Festival

• July 11, 1798 - Sir Joseph Larmor, born

• July 11, 1879 - Hugh Kennedy, born

• July 11, 1921 - IRA & the British Army reach a truce

• July 11, 1935 - Oliver Napier, born

• July 11, 1967 - Censorship Act Ban lifted on Certain Books

• July 12, 1690 - Battle of the Boyne

• July 12, 1722 - William Wood is Granted Patent

• July 12, 1796 - Orange Order 1st Twelfth

• July 12, 1812 - Charles Patrick Meehan, Born

• July 13, 1344 - Ralph de Ufford arrives in Ireland

• July 13, 1809 - Dublin Harp Society, founded

• July 13, 1825 - The Catholic Association, dissolved

• July 13, 1834 - David Douglas, died

• July 13, 1886 - Father Edward Flanagan, born

• July 13, 1981 - Martin Hurson, dies

• July 14, 1791 - Demonstrations Commemorate the fall of the Bastille in 1789

• July 14, 1798 - John and Henry Sheares, convicted

• July 14, 1798 - Rebels defeated - Battle of Knightstown, Co. Louth

• July 14, 1908 - Roger McHugh, born

• July 15, 1865 - Alfred Harmsworth, born

• July 15, 1871 - Gerald O'Donovan, born

• July 15, 1879 - Joseph Campbell, born

• July 15, 1899 - Sean Lemass, born

• July 15, 1907 - Seumas Murphy, born

• July 15, 1927 - Countess Constance de Markievicz, dies

• July 15, 1930 - Anglo-Irish Trade War

• July 15, 1942 - Brendan Eamonn Fergus Finucane, killed

• July 16, 1685 - Samuel Haliday, born

• July 16, 1803 - Robert Emmet

• July 16, 1865 - James Owen Hannay, born

• July 16, 1929 - Censorship of Publications Act

• July 17, 1221 - Geoffrey de Marisco, resigns

• July 17, 1846 - John McLure, born

• July 17, 1871 - John Miller Andrews, born

• July 17, 1879 - Séamus O'Sullivan, born

• July 17, 1884 - Louise Gavan Duffy, born

• July 18, 1561 - Battle of Red Sagums

• July 18, 1579 - James fitz Maurice FitzGerald lands forces in Dingle

• July 18, 1689 - Mountjoy Ship - Siege of Derry

• July 18, 1794 - Feargus Edward O'Connorr, born

• July 18, 1822 - The Theatre Royal in Dublin opens

• July 18, 1863 - Francis Erlington Ball, born

• July 18, 1865 - Canon James Owen Hannay, borns

• July 18, 1870 - Michael Davitt is sentenced to 15 years

• July 18, 1874 - Charles Burgess, born

• July 19, 1608 - Plantation of Ulster Commences

• July 19, 1735 - Garrett Colley Wellesley, born

• July 19, 1785 - Richard Crosbie’s 3rd Ballon Attempt

• July 19, 1896 - Archibald Joseph Cronin, born

• July 20, 1616 - Hugh O'Neill, died

• July 20, 1798 - Rebel camp at Timahoe surrenders

• July 20, 1835 - Orange Order

• July 20, 1902 - Jimmy Kennedy, born

• July 20, 1922 - The Free State army takes Limerick

• July 20, 1933 - Eoin O'Duff becomes leader Blueshirts

• July 21, 1903 - Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visit Ireland

• July 22, 1817 - William Sadler, 1st balloon crossing of the Irish Sea

• July 22, 1860 - Johanna Butler, born

• July 22, 1866 - D.J. O'Donoghue, born

• July 22, 1873 - James Cousins, born

• July 22, 1933 - Anti-Fianna Fáil Army Comrades Association goes Fascist

• July 23, 1803 - Robert Emmet leads an armed outbreak

• July 23, 1834 - St. Vincent’s Hospital opens in Dublin

• July 24, 1261 - Battle of Callann

• July 24, 1294 - deVescy accuses John FitzThomas, of defamation

• July 24, 1750 - John Philpott Curran, born

• July 24, 1909 - Geoffrey Bing, born

• July 25, 1633 - Thomas (Viscount) Wentworth becomes Lord Deputy of Ireland

• July 25, 1814 - Peace Preservation Force formed

• July 25, 1820 - Michael Angelo Hayes, born

• July 25, 1917 - The Irish Convention

• July 25th - Feast day of St. James

• July 26, 1575 - Rathlin Island massacre

• July 26, 1782 - John Field, born

• July 26, 1813 - Battle of Garvagh

• July 26, 1856 - George Bernard Shaw, born

• July 26, 1869 - Irish Church Act 1869

• July 26, 1914 - Easter Uprising Arms Arrive

• July 26, 1927 - Danny La Rue, born

• July 27, 1602 - Hugh O'Neill's principal vassal, Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan, submits to Henry Docwra

• July 27, 1662 - James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond becomes Lord Lieutenant and arrives in Ireland on this date

• July 27, 1663 - The Navigation Act restricts Irish trade with colonies as well as exports to England

• July 27, 1669 - Molly Malone is christened in Dublin

• July 27, 1782 - Poynings' Law Amended

• July 27, 1782 - Second and third Catholic Relief Acts

• July 27, 1805 - Brian Merriman , died

• July 27, 1830 - John O'Leary, born

• July 27, 1846 - William Smith O’Brien leads the Young Irelanders out of the Repeal Association

• July 27, 1860 - John Henry Bernard, born

• July 27, 1866 - Transatlantic telegraph cable

• July 28, 1674 - Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery, born

• July 28, 1769 - Sir Hudson Lowe, born

• July 28, 1846 - Daniel O'Connell and the Young Irelanders party split

• July 28, 1895 - John Charles McQuaid, born

• July 28, 1927 - First automatic telephone exchange in Ireland

• July 29, 1693 - Patrick Sarsfield is mortally wounded at the Battle of Landen

• July 29, 1848 - Young Ireland rising, Battle of the Widow MacCormacks cabbage garden

• July 29, 1883 - James Carey, member of the Invincibles, turns Queens evidence

• July 30, 1650 - Edward Parry, died

• July 30, 1715 - Nahum Tate, born

• July 30, 1761 - Henry FitzGerald, born

• July 30, 1761 - Richard Nugent, dies in duel

• July 30, 1862 - Eugene O’Curry, died

• July 30, 1863 - Henry Ford, born

• July 30, 1927 - John Broderick, born

• July 30, 1938 - Beano comic, 1st published

• July 30, 1942 - Charles Harper, born

• July 30, 1947 - Soviet Union blocks Ireland’s UN application

• July 31, 1689 - Derry-Londonderry relived of siege

• July 31, 1689 - Enniskillen Protestants defeat Jacobite forces

• July 31, 1834 - Dun Laoghaire horse-drawn train service in Dublin

• July 31, 1838 - Enactment of the Irish Poor Law

• July 31, 1877 - Minority of Home Rulers begin obstruction tactics in Commons

• July 31, 1893 - Founding of Gaelic League in Ireland

• July 31, 1922 - Harry Boland shot by Free Staters

• August 1, 1166 - Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster and ally of Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, is defeated in battle by Rory OConnor and forced to flee from Ireland

• August 1, 1535 - John Travers, Chancellor of St Patricks Cathedral, is executed for high treason at Oxmantown Green for conspiring with Lord Offaly

• August 1, 1545 - Birth of Andrew Melville, true father of Presbyterianism in Scotland.

• August 1, 1649 - Jones defeats Ormond at Rathmines, ending royalist hopes of taking Dublin

• August 1, 1714 - Following the death of Queen Anne, George I accedes to the throne. The second Irish parliament of Annes reign is thereby dissolved

• August 1, 18 BC - Druids of Gaul recognize Roman authority in exchange for religous toleration.

• August 1, 1800 - The Act of Union dissolves the Irish parliament and transfers legislative powers to Westminster

• August 1, 1822 - Irish Constabulary Act sets up county police forces and salaried magistracy

• August 1, 1851 - The Ecclesiastical Titles Act forbids Catholic bishops to assume ecclesiastical titles taken from any place in the United Kingdom

• August 1, 1872 - Gladstones first Land Act, decreeing that tenants who were evicted be compensated for improvements and that tenant who were evicted for any reason other than nonpayment of rent should also be compensated

• August 1, 1967 - University of Dundee which was incorporated into the University of St Andrews in, 1890, constituted as a separate university.

• August 2, 939 - Alan II Barbetorte (Twisted Beard) of Brittany defeats Normans.

• August 4, 1654 - Birth in Midleton, Co. Cork of Thomas Brodrick, politician in Irish and British Houses of Commons who led the inquiry into the South Sea Bubble

• August 4, 1789 - French National Assembly votes to abolish remnants of Breton autonomy

• August 4, 1805 - Birth in Dublin of Sir William Rowan Hamilton, mathematician and astronomer

• August 4, 1846 - The Great Southern & Western Railway line between Dublin and Carlow opens

• August 4, 1870 - Birth of the entertainer Sir Harry Lauder.

• August 4, 1878 - Birth of Margaret Pearse, teacher, politician and sister of Padraic Pearse, in Dublin

• August 4, 1900 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, born.

• August 5, 1305 - William Wallace betrayed and captured by the English.

• August 5, 1388 - James, Earl Douglas, died out of sight of his army, in a bush, at Battle of Otterburn in which Scots defeat Henry Percy, (Hotspur) but with the loss of the Earl of Douglas.

• August 5, 1695 - The Scottish Parliament established a General Post Office.

• August 5, 1704 - Act of Security passed by the Scottish Parliament. This allowed Scotland to choose a successor to Queen Anne, other than the one elected by the English Parliament, if Scottish conditions were not met. This precipitated the demands in London for an Act of

• August 5, 1722 - Birth of William Fortescuem, politician and sportsman, who tried unsuccessfully in the 1760s to introduce a bill to preserve partridges and hares and to take away the lives of above half the dogs in the nation

• August 5, 1745 - Charles Edward Stuart lands at Borradale, Scotland

• August 5, 1888 - Philip Henry Sheridan, the son of Irish immigrants from Cavan, dies in Nonquit, Massachusetts. He became an officer in the Federal cavalry and is infamously credited with the phrase - The only good Indian is a dead one

• August 5, 1891 - The Land Purchase Act further facilitates tenants purchase of acreage from former landlords and establishes a board to purchase and redistribute land at a local level in the west

• August 5, 1901 - Peter OConnor sets long jump record at 24 11 3-4. He was born in Ashford, Co.Wicklow, but he lived and worked as a solicitor in Waterford City for most of his life. He won his first title in 1899 at the age of 25 years and his last in 1906 - but that w

• August 6, 1312 - John de Wogan ceases to be justiciar; Edmund le Botiller will act as justiciar for the present

• August 6, 1678 - First Glasgow-Edinburgh coach service began from White Horse Inn, Edinburgh.

• August 6, 1761 - Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin, MP for Fore, and still a teenager, dies of wounds he received after fighting a duel with a Mr Reilly on July 30

• August 6, 1775 - Daniel OConnell, Irish patriot, is born in Cahirciveen, County Kerry

• August 6, 1820 - Donald Alexander Smithlater Lord Strathcona born in Forres. A pioneer of the Hudson Bay Company in the North-West, he later championed the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway across Canada and drove the last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia

• August 6, 1853 - Sir William Ridgeway, classical scholar, is born in Ballydermot, Co. Offaly

• August 6, 1881 - Birth of Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin.

• August 6, 1920 - The Dáil orders the boycotting of Belfast unionist firms

• August 6, 1927 - Poet Richard Murphy is born

• August 7, 1798 - Examination by secret committee of MacNeven, OConnor, Neilson, Thomas Emmet, and Bond begins in the House of Lords

• August 7, 1832 - The Parliamentary Reform Act increases Irish seats from 100 to 105 and introduces ten-pound franchise in the boroughs - the electorate is increased to 1.2% of the population (county electorate 60,000; borough electorate 30,000). 1 Irish urban dweller in 26

• August 7, 1892 - Birth of Tom Falcon Hazel, WWI Ace, in Clifden, Co. Galway

• August 7, 1916 - ONeil of the Glen, the first production released by the Film Company of Ireland, premiers at Dublins Bohemian Theatre

• August 7, 1932 - Secret society Gwenn ha Du bombs the momument representing the union of Brittany with France at Rennes, Brittany

• August 8, 1296 - King Edward I removed to England the Stone of Destiny on which generations of Scottish kings had been crowned.

• August 8, 1503 - King James IV married Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England. The marriage was known as the Union of the Thistle and the Rose.

• August 8, 1588 - The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English, with some Spaniards slain upon reaching the coasts of Ireland and some survivors remaining

• August 8, 1694 - Birth of Francis Hutcheson, Presbyterian philosopher, in Co. Down

• August 8, 1781 - James Gandon moves from London to Dublin; the first stone of his Customs House is laid on this date

• August 8, 1923 - The Civic Guard is renamed the Garda Siochana

• August 8, 1946 - Former World flyweight boxing champion Benny Lynch died.

• August 8, 1981 - Thomas McElwee, Irish polictical prisoner, dies on hunger strike in Maze prison, Northern Ireland.

• August 9, 1690 - First siege of Limerick begins

• August 9, 1757 - Civil engineer Thomas Telford born.

• August 9, 1850 - Irish Tenant League is founded

• August 9, 1971 - Indefinite Internment Without Trial or Charge instituted by England in six counties of Northern Ireland.

• August 10, 1316 - Battle of Athenry, Irish rising in support of Edward Bruce

• August 10, 1460 - King James III crowned at Kelso Abbey.

• August 10, 1624 - Death of Esther Inglis, calligrapher and miniaturist.

• August 10, 1636 - The Annals of the Four Masters is completed

• August 10, 1719 - The House of Commons proposes that all unregistered priests in Ireland should be branded on the cheek. The plan is ultimately abandoned.

• August 10, 1848 - Birth in Clonakilty of William Hartnett, master of still life painting

• August 10, 1854 - A statutory provision is made for the establishment of a national gallery of paintings, sculpture and fine arts in Ireland

• August 10, 1857 - Death of John Wilson Croker, Galway-born politician and writer

• August 10, 1872 - Education (Scotland) Act passed, providing elementary education for all children.

• August 10, 1886 - Death of Joseph Medlicott Scriven from Seapatrick, Co. Down, who wrote the words for What A Friend We Have In Jesus

• August 10, 1890 - Death of journalist and republican John Boyle O’Reilly

• August 10, 1920 - Death of actor James O’Neill, in Kilkenny. Remembered for his portrayal of the Count of Monte Cristo, he was also the father of playwright Eugene O’Neill

• August 10, 1928 - Peter Barry, Fine Gael politician, is born in Co. Cork

• August 11, 1306 - Battle of Dalry, Robert I, attacked and defeated John MacDougall of Lorne, kinsman of John Comyn.

• August 11, 1560 - Latin Mass prohibited in Scotland by Parliament as Protestant faith gained the ascendancy.

• August 11, 1691 - A Jacobite force under Patrick Sarsfield, guided by Galloping Hogan, destroys a Williamite siege train at Ballyneety, hampering the siege of Limerick

• August 11, 1835 - Henry Grattan Guinness, is born in Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin

• August 11, 1892 - Author and poet C M Grieve (Hugh MacDiarmid) born at Langholm, Dumfriesshire.

• August 11, 1894 - Dan Breen, nationalist revolutionary and politician, is born near Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary

• August 11, 1927 - After the Free State general election on June 9, de Valera and Fianna Fáil enter the Dáil as the largest opposition party; the Cosgrave administration brings the Farmers Party into government (independent Irelands first coalition government, though not

• August 11, 1927 - The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) is established to control the Shannon hydro-electric scheme and take over all existing projects for the electrification of Ireland

• August 12, 1332 - Battle of Dupplin near Perth in which Edward Balliol defeated the Regent, Earl of Mar.

• August 12, 1646 - Archbishop Giovanni Rinuccini, papal nuncio to the Irish Confederate Catholics, condemns their adherence to Ormonds peace terms for failing to fully recognize Catholicism

• August 12, 1652 - Act of Settlement 1652 - allows for the transplantation to Clare or Connacht of proprietors whose land is confiscated by Cromwell to meet promises to adventurers and soldiers; also known as the To Hell or Connacht Act

• August 12, 1689 - Relief of Derry, Ireland, a major Williamite victory

• August 12, 1796 - Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin receives its first prisoners

• August 12, 1804 - Birth of James Whiteside, orator and Lord Chief Justice, in Delgany, Co. Wicklow

• August 12, 1821 - George IV begins his visit to Ireland; he is received enthusiastically by OConnell and others

• August 12, 1822 - Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, commits suicide by cutting his throat with a penknife

• August 12, 1870 - Sir Hubert Gough, soldier and participant in Curragh mutiny of 1914, is born in Gurteen, Co. Waterford

• August 12, 1898 - Irish Local Government Act sets up elective county and district councils

• August 12, 1899 - First issue of James Connollys Workers Republic

• August 12, 1914 - Death of John Holland, from Liscannor, Co. Clare, designer of the first submarine

• August 12, 1920 - Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, arrested by British; he immediately goes on hunger strike

• August 12, 1922 - Arthur Griffith, founder of Sinn Fein, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage

• August 12, 1922 - Popular character actor Fulton McKay was born.

• August 13, 1689 - The Duke of Schomberg lands at Groomsport with his 10,000 strong Williamite army

• August 13, 1819 - Birth of Sir George Gabriel Stokes, mathematician and physicist, in Skreen, Co. Sligo

• August 13, 1826 - Rene T.H. Laennec, Breton inventor of the stethoscope- died.

• August 13, 1826 - Explorer Alexander Gordon Laing became the first Christian to reach Timbuctu, Africa.

• August 13, 1846 - Birth of Otto Jaffe in Hamburg. Otto was the first non-Protestant to hold the office of Lord Mayor of Belfast — he was Jewish

• August 13, 1881 - First issue of United Ireland, Parnellite weekly

• August 13, 1887 - Special committee appointed to investigate Parnells ties to Phoenix Park murders

• August 13, 1888 - Birth of John Logie Baird, developer of television.

• August 13, 1898 - The first issue of Workers’ Republic

• August 13, 1947 - The Health Act extends the powers of county councils and provides maternity care

• August 13, 1974 - Kate OBrien, Irish writer, dies

• August 14, 1390 - King Robert III crowned at the Augustinian abbey of Scone.

• August 14, 1598 - High ONeill defeats the English at the Battle of Yellow Ford

• August 14, 1778 - Gardiners Catholic Relief Act is enacted and grants rights of leasing and inheritance to those who have taken the oath of allegiance - the first rolling back of the penal laws

• August 14, 1784 - Nathaniel Hone, painter and member of the Royal Academy at the time of its founding in 1768, dies

• August 14, 1814 - Mary OConnell is born in Co. Limerick. Known as Sister Anthony, she serves in the American Civil War as a nurse

• August 14, 1827 - Foundation is laid for the George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. It was not completed until, 1836 due to lack of funds.

• August 14, 1850 - The Irish Franchise Act is enacted and has the effect of increasing the electorate from 45,000 to 164,000

• August 14, 1903 - The Land Purchase Act (Wyndham Act) is enacted and allows for entire estates to be purchased by the occupying tenantry, subsidized by the state

• August 14, 1907 - H. Montgomery Hyde, author and unionist MP, is born in Belfast

• August 14, 1964 - University of Strathclyde was constituted in Glasgow, based on the Royal College of Science and Technology.

• August 15, 1040 - Duncan I of Scotland killed in battle by Macbeth at Pitgavney.

• August 15, 1057 - MacBeth killed by Malcolm, son of Duncan I, at Lumphanan-Mar, Scotland.

• August 15, 1649 - Oliver Cromwell arrives in Ireland as Commander-in-Chief and Lord Lieutenant with an army of 20,000, a huge artillery train and a large navy

• August 15, 1715 - On this date, Frederick Hamilton, former MP for Donegal, writes to George I that although the county is well affected, The great scarcity of armes in ye country is beyond anything I could have imagind till about three days ago that I had occasion to sen

• August 15, 1755 - Molesworth Phillips, sailor and companion of Captain James Cook, is born in Swords, Co. Dublin

• August 15, 1771 - Novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott born.

• August 15, 1803 - Edmund Rice opens a school for poor boys in Waterford - precursor of the schools run by the Christian Brothers

• August 15, 1840 - Foundation stone for the Monument to Sir Walter Scott is laid in Princes Street Gardens.

• August 15, 1843 - Daniel OConnell holds meetings for Repeal of the Union, attended by hundreds of thousands, at Trim and the Hill of Tara

• August 15, 1856 - Birth at Holytown of John Keir Hardie, coal miner and founder of the Labour Party.

• August 15, 1880 - Five people drown in Derrybeg, Co. Donegal when a chapel is flooded during Mass

• August 15, 1882 - Unveiling of OConnell monument in Dublin

• August 15, 1917 - Birth of Jack Lynch, Taoiseach, in Co. Cork

• August 15, 1919 - Birth of Benedict Kiely, novelist, short story-writer and critic, in Dromore, Co. Down

• August 15, 1963 - The last hanging in Scotland -, 21-year-old Henry Burnett who was executed at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen for the murder of seaman Thomas Guyan.

• August 16, 1532 - Treaty of Union between Brittany and France, guaranteeing autonomy for Brittany.

• August 16, 1766 - Birth of Carolina Oliphant (Lady Nairne), poet and author of many Jacobite songs, including Charlie is my Darling. Her songs are second only in popularity to Burns.

• August 16, 1793 - The Convention Act bans representative bodies set up to campaign for a change in the law, i.e. putative rivals to the parliament

• August 16, 1832 - An Act is passed which allows for tithe payments to be commuted

• August 16, 1878 - The Intermediate Education Act grants female students the right to participate in public examinations and to enter into careers and professions

• August 16, 1879 - National Land League of Mayo is founded

• August 16, 1882 - Charles Stewart Parnell becomes a Freeman of the city of Dublin

• August 16, 1892 - National Literary Society is founded

• August 16, 1920 - Court-martial of Terence MacSwiney, Irish Volunteer and Lord Mayor of Cork

• August 16, 1921 - The first Dáil Éireann is dissolved and the second Dáil convenes

• August 17, 1648 - The Battle of Preston (17 August ? 19 August 1648), fought largely at Walton-le-Dale near Preston in Lancashire, resulted in a victory by the troops of Oliver Cromwell over the Royalists and Scots commanded by Hamilton. The Parliamentarian victory presage

• August 17, 1741 - George MacKenzie, Scottish patron of books, died.

• August 17, 1779 - William Corbet, United Irishman and soldier, is born in Ballythomas, Co. Cork

• August 17, 1786 - Birth of Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and son of an Irishman

• August 17, 1791 - Birth of Richard Lalor Sheil, dramatist and politician; first Catholic privy councillor, in Drumdowney, Co. Kilkenny

• August 17, 1822 - Visit of George IV to Edinburgh began, orchestrated by Sir Walter Scott.

• August 17, 1846 - Lord John Russells Whig administration decides not to interfere with internal or export markets for food

• August 17, 1878 - Birth of Oliver St. John Gogarty, writer, and the model for the stately, plump Buck Mulligan in Joyces Ulysses

• August 17, 1922 - RIC is disbanded to be replaced by the Garda Síochána

• August 17, 1947 - First Edinburgh International Festival opened.

• August 18, 1579 - Death of James Fitzgerald, rebel leader

• August 18, 1728 - James Caulfeild, 4th Viscount and 1st Earl of Charlemont; soldier and nationalist, is born in Dublin

• August 18, 1746 - William Boyd of Kilmarnock, Scottish Jacobite leader, executed by the English

• August 18, 1814 - Birth of David Moriarty, Catholic Bishop of Kerry and opponent of nationalism, in Kilcarah, Co. Kerry

• August 18, 1966 - Tay Road Bridge opened.

• August 18, 1944 - Red Hackle wins Intercontinental Highland Gathering, Toronto, Canada, 1974.

• August 19, 1504 - After Ulick Burke of Clanricard seizes Galway city, Edward Fitzgerald, the Earl of Kildare, goes to Connacht and defeats Burke at Knockdoe. This is the largest battle ever fought between Irishmen, with 10,000 participants and 2,000 fatalities; however, mo

• August 19, 1561 - Mary Queen of Scots lands at Leith on her return from France, after the death of her husband, King Francis II

• August 19, 1745 - Jacobite - standard raised at Glenfinna - marking the start of the 45 Rising.

• August 19, 1745 - Charles Edward Stuart, raises his standard at Glenfinnan, at the start of the 45 uprising.

• August 19, 1792 - Edward Hincks, orientalist, is born in Cork

• August 19, 1839 - Act passed for the improvement of navigation on the Shannon

• August 19, 1876 - The ship Catalpa arrives in U.S. with Irish Fenian prisoners rescued from Australia

• August 19, 1887 - Birth of poet Francis Ledwidge in Slane, Co. Meath

• August 19, 1932 - Scottish aviator Jim Mollinson landed after the first East-West solo flight of the Atlantic from Portmarnock, Ireland to Pennfield, New Brunswick.

• August 19, 1994 - Graham Obree, from Irvine in Ayrshire, broke the world record and became the world pursuit cycle champion over, 4,000 metres in Hamar, Norway.

• August 20, 1488 - Treaty of Sable, Charles VIII of France makes peace with Fransez II of Brittany.

• August 20, 1778 - Birth of Bernardo OHiggins, of Co. Meath origins, first Chilean head of state

• August 20, 1798 - Richard R. Madden - writer, historian, traveller and abolitionist - is born in Dublin

• August 20, 1818 - Birth in Dublin of scientist and Alpine traveller, John Ball

• August 20, 1860 - An expedition led by Robert OHara Burke, an Irish policeman, leaves Melbourne with the intention of making the first European crossing of Australia. They will make the crossing, but Burke and fellow-explorer, William Wills, will die on the return journey

• August 20, 1872 - Sectarian rioting in Belfast which began on August 15 continues through this date

• August 20, 1876 - The Irish Republican Brotherhood Supreme Council withdraws its support from the Home Rule movement

• August 20, 1880 - Death of Ellen Kean, one of the greatest actresses of her time

• August 20, 1897 - Ronald Ross, the first Scot to win a Nobel prize (in, 1902) dissected a mosquito and established the link with malaria.

• August 20, 1919 - The Irish Republican Army is established by the Dail Eireann

• August 20, 1927 - The Currency Act establishes a separate currency for the Irish Free State

• August 21, 1689 - Battle of Dunkeld when the newly formed Cameronians defended the town against, 3,000 Highlanders.

• August 21, 1754 - Birth of William Murdoch who pioneered the use of coal-gas lighting in, 1792 in partnership with James Watt and Mathew Boulton.

• August 21, 1791 - Birth of the word quiz (allegedly and disputed). Richard Daly, a theatre proprietor in Dublin, makes a bet that within 48 hours he can introduce a new word into the English language.

• August 21, 1855 - Last ever Donnybrook Fair, held in Dublin since 1204. The general uproar of the annual event results in its suspension

• August 21, 1861 - Birth in Belfast of Frederick Crawford, militant unionist and organizer of Larne gun-running

• August 21, 1879 - A Vision of the Virgin Mary is witnessed by 15 villagers in Knock, Co. Mayo

• August 21, 1882 - Birth in Gloucester of Arthur Luce, a professor of philosophy and fellow of Trinity College in Dublin for 65 years

• August 21, 1911 - Irish Womens Suffrage Federation is formed

• August 21, 1920 - Birth in Belfast of Rinty Monaghan, world flyweight boxing champion

• August 21, 1930 - Princess Margaret, daughter of the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, born at Glamis Castle. She was the first Royal princess born in Scotland for, 300 years and the last Royal birth to be witnessed by the Home Secretary (a tradition started by Qu

• August 21, 1937 - Birth of Donald Dewar, former Secretary of State for Scotland and First Minister in the new Scottish Parliament.

• August 21, 1981 - Michael Devine, Irish political prisoner, dies on hunger strike in maze prison, Northern Ireland.

• August 22, 1138 - Battle of the Standard at Northallerton in which King David I was defeated by the English.

• August 22, 1282 - Devorgilla, Countess of Galloway founded Balliol College, Oxford. She was mother of John Balliol (who acceded to the Scottish throne in, 1292).

• August 22, 1567 - James Stewart, Earl of Moray and a half-brother of Mary Queen of Scots, proclaimed Regent of Scotland.

• August 22, 1582 - James VI abducted and taken to the Castle of Ruthven by the Earls of Mar and Gowrie the so-called Ruthven Raid.

• August 22, 1642 - King Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham, initiating a Civil War in England between the Royalists (also known as Cavaliers) and Parliament (Roundheads).

• August 22, 1742 - Birth of Walter Hussey (Burgh), lawyer, politician and orator

• August 22, 1791 - Theobald Wolfe Tone publishes An argument on behalf of the Catholics of Ireland

• August 22, 1798 - A French force of 1,019 men under General Humbert lands at Killala, Co. Mayo

• August 22, 1798 - Frenchman General Humbert proclaims at Ballina, Co. Mayo, Union, liberty, the Irish Republic

• August 22, 1846 - John Keegan Casey , Fenian, poet and writer of Rising of the Moon is born near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath

• August 22, 1847 - Birth of Sir Alexander Campbell MacKenzie, musician and composer.

• August 22, 1850 - First Catholic Synod in Ireland since the Middle Ages in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Paul Cullen summons the synod which runs from this date through September 10

• August 22, 1881 - Second Gladstone Land Act introduces the three Fs - fair rent, fixity of tenure, free sale - and sets up the Land Commission

• August 22, 1887 - The Land Act gives courts the power to revise and fix rents

• August 22, 1889 - Birth in Belfast of Sean McEntee, Fianna Fail politician

• August 22, 1908 - Birth in Dublin of Mervyn Wall, writer who wrote under the pseudonym of Eugene Welply

• August 22, 1912 - Birth of Irish American actor Gene Kelly

• August 22, 1918 - Dublin-born WWI ace Dennis Latimer shot down. A Bristol Fighter pilot and the highest scoring ace in 20 Squadron, Latimer shot down 28 enemy aircraft between March and August of 1918. On this date, he and his observer, Lieutenant T.C. Noel, were shot down

• August 22, 1920 - Violent clashes in Belfast; 30 people are killed between August 23 and August 31; Catholics are expelled from shipyards and engineering works

• August 22, 1922 - Michael Collins - Irish general - killed

• August 22, 1933 - The National Guard is banned

• August 22, 1960 - Beyond the Fringe, an influential satirical revue, opened in Edinburgh.

• August 23, 1170 - Strongbow, a henchman of Henry II, arrives in Waterford at the behest of Dermot McMurrough, an event described in the Annals of Ulster as he beginning of the woes of Ireland

• August 23, 1305 - William Wallace, Scottish patriot, hanged, disemboweled, beheaded, and quartered in London

• August 24, 1210 - King John sails from Dublin for England. He had landed at Waterford in June and campaigned in Leinster; after a short siege, he captures Carrickfergus, where the de Lacys have made a stand. On 28 July he captures William de Braose and confiscates his land

• August 24, 1482 - Berwick on Tweed finally ceded to England (Edward IV) after changing hands, 12 times.

• August 24, 1565 - Earl of Murrays rebellion against Mary Queen of Scots failed.

• August 24, 1747 - Birth in Dublin of William La Touche, founder of the Bank of Ireland

• August 24, 1798 - Generals Cornwallis and Lake leave Dublin. Lake travels fast by road with a small force. Cornwallis travels with the main force down the Grand Canal

• August 24, 1803 - James Napper Tandy, Irish patriot, dies in exile in France.

• August 25, 1170 - Richard de Clare (Strongbow) marries MacMurroughs daughter Aoife, as part of an agreement made two years earlier

• August 25, 1645 - Edward Worcester, Earl of Glamorgan; aristocrat and inventor, is sent to Ireland to raise troops for the king, and makes two secret treaties with the confederates on this date and on 20 December

• August 25, 1764 - James Hope, a member of the United Irishman, is born in Templepatrick, Co. Antrim

• August 25, 1769 - Henry Flood, MP for Callan, kills James Agar, MP for Tulsk, in a duel. The Flood and Agar families had disputed the representation of Callan for many years

• August 25, 1776 - Philosopher David Hume died.

• August 25, 1778 - Last Pagan sacrifice conducted publicly in the Celtic world, at Loch Maree, Scotland

• August 25, 1798 - Humbert takes Ballina after token resistance by Government forces

• August 25, 1803 - The British capture Robert Emmet

• August 25, 1819 - James Watt, developer of steam power, died.

• August 25, 1819 - Birth in Glasgow of Alan Pinkerton, founder of the Chicago-based detective agency which bears his name.

• August 25, 1863 - Eugene OGrowney, priest and Irish-language revivalist, is born in Ballyfallon, Co. Meath

• August 25, 1865 - Robert Lloyd Praeger, botanist and writer, is born in Holywood, Co. Down

• August 25, 1882 - Birth of Sean O Ceallaigh, Irelands second president

• August 25, 1921 - Birth in Belfast of Brian Moore who is best known for his novel The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

• August 25, 1930 - Actor Sean Connery born.

• August 25, 1931 - Ramsay MacDonald formed a National Government.

• August 25, 1942 - Prince George, the Duke of Kent, brother of King George VI, killed when his flying boat crashed into Eagles Rock in Caithness, apparently en route to Iceland.

• August 26, 1651 - Manx invasion of England turned back at Battle of Wigan.

• August 26, 1725 - Five Dublin children receive the first recorded smallpox innoculations in Ireland

• August 26, 1798 - Humber leaves Ballina bound for Castlebar. He takes an indirect route through the mountains

• August 26, 1875 - John Buchan, Novelist and statesman, born in Perth.

• August 26, 1904 - Lord Dunraven forms the Irish Reform Association to campaign for some devolution; the following December, unionists form a United Unionist Council to resist Dunravens plan

• August 26, 1913 - Also known as The Great Dublin Lockout, the Dublin Transport Strike, led by Jim Larkin and James Connolly, begins

• August 26, 1921 - Re-election of Éamon de Valera President of Dáil Éireann. He is proposed and seconded by Commandant Sean MacEoin and General Richard Mulcahy — both of whom later line up against him in the Civil War

• August 26, 1940 - German aircraft bomb a creamery at Campile, Co. Wexford; three women are killed

• August 27, 1695 - The second Irish parliament of William III is called in Dublin; Robert Rochfort is unanimously elected Speaker

• August 27, 1784 - First balloon ascent in Britain by James Tytler, Edinburgh.

• August 27, 1798 - Humbert appears outside Castlebar. The Government forces are deployed to cover the direct route and Humbert unexpectedly appears on their flank. Humbert attacks. French advance causes Militia to run. Government defence collapses and Humbert takes the town

• August 27, 1825 - African explorer William Blake born.

• August 27, 1870 - The Oceanic, a liner built in Belfast by Harland and Wolff for the White Star Line, is launched

• August 27, 1908 - Birth of Niall Ó Dónaill, Irish-language scholar and lexicographer, in the Rosses, Co. Donegal

• August 27, 1920 - Birth of James Molyneaux, Ulster Unionist Party leader

• August 27, 1928 - The Galway Gaelic Theatre - afterwards called the Taibhdheare Theatre - opens with Micheál Mac Liammóirs production of Diarmuid agus Gráinne

• August 27, 1937 - The first traffic lights in the Free State are installed at the junction of Merrion Square and Clare Street

• August 28, 1170 - Richard de Clare marries Aoife Ní Mhurrachadha and sets a precedent for Norman rule in Ireland

• August 28, 1296 - Edward I of England held a parliament at Berwick to which he summoned all Scottish landholders to sign the Ragman Roll.

• August 28, 1710 - A board of trustees for linen manufacture is established

• August 28, 1741 - Earl of Wintoun died, aged, 100.

• August 28, 1788 - Sir Aubrey de Vere, poet, is born in Adare, Co. Limerick

• August 28, 1788 - James Digges La Touche, banker and philanthropist, is born in Dublin

• August 28, 1798 - Cornwallis reaches Athlone; Humbert entrenches in Castlebar

• August 28, 1814 - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, novelist and journalist, is born in Dublin

• August 28, 1815 - Mary Letitia Martin, Princess of Connemara, novelist, philanthropist and daughter of Humanity Dick Martin is born in Ballynahinch Castle, Co. Galway

• August 28, 1860 - Napiers and Deasys Land Acts are passed

• August 28, 1872 - The first horse drawn tram cars enter service in Belfast

• August 28, 1877 - Charles Stewart Parnell becomes president of Home Rule Confederation

• August 28, 1896 - Birth of Liam OFlaherty

• August 28, 1929 - Health And Efficiency becomes the very first publication banned by the Irish Free State

• August 28, 1969 - Welsh Office approves limited use of bilingual road signs in Wales

• August 29, 1729 - Birth of David La Touche, banking magnate and MP

• August 29, 1797 - Battle of Tranent in which a demonstration against conscription under the Militia Act was broken up by the Cinque Ports Dragoons and East Lothian Yeomanry with the death of, 12 participants.

• August 29, 1798 - Cornwallis reaches Tuam

• August 29, 1803 - Samuel Neilson, co-founder of the United Irishmen, dies

• August 29, 1844 - Death of Edmund Ignatius Rice, founder of the Irish Christian Brothers Order

• August 29, 1871 - Birth of Jack B. Yeats, painter and author, in London

• August 29, 1890 - The Science and Art Museum and The National Library of Ireland open

• August 29, 1930 - Island of St Kilda evacuated.

• August 29, 1975 - Eamon DeValera, Irish statesman, died

• August 30, 1559 - Lord Sussex, is sworn in as Lord Deputy

• August 30, 1690 - First siege of Limerick ends

• August 30, 1708 - Penal Laws passed in 1695 restricting Catholics rights are strengthened for the second time

• August 30, 1709 - All registered Catholic priests in Ireland are required to renounce the claims of the Stuarts to the thrones of England and Ireland — only 33 out of 1,089 comply

• August 30, 1820 - James Wilson - Scottish patriot, died

• August 30, 1841 - The Cork Examiner, now The Irish Examiner, hits the streets for the first time

• August 30, 1855 - Birth of Feargus Edward O’Connor, Chartist leader

• August 30, 1870 - Birth of golf course designer Dr Alister Mackenzie; he was responsible for Augusta National and Cypress Point, among others.

• August 30, 1874 - Michael Banim, storywriter, dies; along with his brother and co-author John, he sought to create sympathetic, yet non-stereotypical Irish characters in his stories

• August 30, 1875 - National synod of Catholic bishops begins at Maynooth; they renew condemnation of Queens Colleges and condemn Trinity College

• August 30, 1901 - Scottish born Hubert Cecil Booth patented his design for a vacuum cleaner which sucked in the dust and retained it by means of a filter.

• August 30, 1911 - The Chamber of Commerce calls for Ireland to adopt Greenwich Mean Time — 25 minutes behind Irish Standard Time

• August 30, 1928 - William Trevor, pseudonym of William Trevor Cox, short-story writer and novelist, is born in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork

• August 30, 1991 - Liz McColgan won the World Athletics Championship, 10,000 metres in Tokyo by a margin of, 20 seconds.

• August 31, 1644 - Second Battle of Lostwithiel, 1644, the last major victory for Charles I and the Royalist side in the English Civil War. Major defeat of Cromwellian army at Fowey, Cornwall by Cornish royalists.

• August 31, 1767 - Birth in Belfast of Henry Joy McCracken, United Irishman and leader of Ulster insurgents in 1798 rebellion

• August 31, 1803 - French Irish Legion organized in Brittany

• August 31, 1806 - Birth in Dublin of Charles Lever; fiction writer who was famous for his rendering of Trinity Colleges privileged atmosphere

• August 31, 1830 - William Fitzpatrick, biographer and historian, is born in Dublin

• September 1, 1737 - Launch of the Belfast Newsletter, now the oldest surviving newspaper in Ireland or Britain, and one of the oldest in the world

• September 1, 1789 - Marguerite Gardiner, nee Power; Countess of Blessington; author, is born near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

• September 1, 1814 - Birth of James OFlanagan, author, in Fermoy, Co. Cork

• September 1, 1830 - Dublin Zoo opens

• September 1, 1830 - The Wild Colonial Boy is shot dead in a gun battle with police at Cambelltown, Sydney. Contrary to the popular song, The Wild Colonial Boy was John Donohue, transported from Ireland in 1824

• September 1, 1856 - Birth of Irish Nationalist Party leader John Redmond in Ballytrent, Co. Wexford

• September 1, 1864 - Roger Casement, British consular official and Irish nationalist, is born in Sandycove, Co. Dublin

• September 1, 1870 - Isaac Butt founds the Home Government Association; Home Rule is now the objective of constitutional nationalists

• September 1, 1971 - Sole remaining gas street lamp in Glasgow was lit for the last time, bringing to an end the age of the leeries, the lamplighters which started in, 1718 with oil lamps.

• September 2, 1022 - Maelsechlainn II The Great, High King of Ireland, died.

• September 2, 1022 - Maelsechlainn II - The great high king of Ireland - dies

• September 2, 1649 - Siege of Drogheda begins

• September 2, 1731 - Birth of Sir Lucius OBrien, opposition politician, once described as a man who disagrees with the rest of mankind by thinking well of himself

• September 2, 1752 - The Gregorian calendar is adopted in Ireland and Britain, 170 years after mainland Europe - 2 September is followed by 14 September

• September 2, 1784 - Sir Eyre Coote, the elder, dies of apoplexy at sea off Madras, while being pursued by French ships

• September 2, 1834 - Death of engineer, road, bridge and canal builder Thomas Telford. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

• September 2, 1893 - Second Home Rule Bill passed by House of Commons

• September 2, 1933 - Cummann na nGaedheal, the Centre Party, and the National Guard, once known as the Blueshirts, join forces to form Fine Gael

• September 3, 1571 - Earl of Lennox, Regent of Scotland, murdered. Earl of Mar appointed Regent but he died in October 1572.

• September 3, 1650 - Cromwell defeated Scots at Battle of Dunbar.

• September 3, 1654 - The first Protectorate parliament meets; Ireland is represented by 30 members

• September 3, 1745 - Prince Charles Edward Stuart proclaimed his father as King James VIII of Scotland at Perth.

• September 3, 1752 - With the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, September 3, 1752 became, 14 September. Crowds flocked the streets demanding Give us back our, 11 days.

• September 3, 1781 - Birth of William Sharman Crawford, radical politician, in Co. Down

• September 3, 1787 - Glasgow weavers riot after their wages are cut. Bricks were thrown at magistrates and soldiers then opened fire on the rioters, resulting in six being killed.

• September 3, 1821 - The last day of George IVs visit to Ireland

• September 3, 1842 - In Kill, Co. Kildare, birth of John Devoy, journalist and leading member of the Fenians

• September 3, 1850 - Charters are granted to colleges in Belfast (now Queen’s University), Cork (now UCC) and Galway (now UCG), under the Universities (Ireland) Act

• September 3, 1854 - Birth of Fanny Parnell, Land League agitator and sister of Charles Stewart Parnell

• September 3, 1877 - Y.V. Perrot, Breton patriot, writer and martyr, born.

• September 3, 1901 - James Hanley, novelist and short story writer, is born in Liverpool of Irish parents

• September 3, 1905 - Birth of James “Snowy” Dunne, widely regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest centre forwards. He played for Arsenal, Southampton and the Shamrock Rovers

• September 4, 1241 - King Alexander III born at Roxburgh.

• September 29, 1364 - Charles of Blois dies in the Battle of Auray. This checked French ambitions on Brittany.

• September 4, 1607 - Hugh ONeill, Ruari ODonnell and other chiefs of their families depart Lough Swilly for the continent in what has become known as the Flight of the Earls

• September 4, 1768 - Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand, Breton linguist, born

• September 4, 1798 - Cornwallis moves forward from Tuam to attack Castlebar Humbert leaves Castlebar with 800 French troops and 1000 Irish rebels and moves into Co Sligo. His plan is to march to Ulster. Humbert marches all might. Rising takes place in Longford and Westmeath

• September 4, 1844 - Conspiracy judgment against Daniel OConnell is reversed by House of Lords

• September 4, 1851 - John Dillon, Nationalist politician, is born in Blackrock, Co. Dublin

• September 24, 1880 - Beginning of famous boycott against Irish landlord Captain Boycott.

• September 4, 1922 - Dónal Foley, journalist, humorist and author of Man Bites Dog column in the Irish Times, is born in Ring, Co. Waterford

• September 4, 1962 - Last tramcar run in Glasgow (to Auchenshuggle).

• September 4, 1964 - Forth Road Bridge opened by the Queen. At, 6,156 feet long and a centre span of, 3300 feet, it was the longest in Europe at that time.

• September 5, 1690 - Having failed to take Limerick, William leaves Ireland

• September 5, 1724 - In the guise of an Irish Patriot , M. B. Drapier, Jonathan Swift publishes Drapier Letter III - one of a series of letters designed to incite the people against a new coinage

• September 5, 1750 - Robert Fergusson, Scottish poet, born.

• September 5, 1771 - Benjamin Franklins visit to Ireland begins

• September 5, 1785 - Edmond Sexton Pery resigns as Speaker of the Irish parliament on grounds of ill health. John Foster is unanimously elected to replace him

• September 5, 1798 - Humbert defeats small government force at Collooney, but suffers serious casualties; he camps at Dromahair. Longford rebels attack Granard and are routed. Westmeath rebels occupy Wilsons Hospital

• September 5, 1890 - Birth of Richard Chenevix Trench, prelate, philologist and poet; the New English Dictionary, later the Oxford English Dictionary, was begun at his suggestion, in Dublin

• September 6, 1715 - First Jacobite rising begins as the standard of James III is raised at the Braes or MARCH - Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

• September 6, 1715 - The Earl of Mar unfurled the standard of the Old Pretender in Braemar at the start of the first Jacobite Uprising.

• September 6, 1798 - Humbert marches to Drumkeeran. Lake is still tailing Humbert

• September 6, 1813 - Isaac Butt, barrister, politician and founder of the Home Rule movement, is born in Glenfin, Co. Donegal

• September 6, 1831 - Birth in Rosscarbery, Co. Cork of Jeremiah ODonovan Rossa, one of the founders of the Fenian Brotherhood

• September 6, 1890 - Birth of Brinsley MacNamara, novelist, short story-writer and playwright

• September 6, 1936 - Birth of Bruce Arnold, journalist and author

• September 7, 1497 - Perkin Warbeck, pretender to English Throne, lands at Sennen, Cornwall and raises a Cornish Army.

• September 7, 1695 - Penal Laws are passed which restrict the rights of Catholics to have an education, to bear arms, or to possess a horse worth more than five pounds

• September 7, 1736 - A mob broke into the Tolbooth jail and removed Captain Porteous, reprieved for the killing of Edinburgh citizens during a riot on April, 14. He was then hanged from a dyers pole.

• September 7, 1798 - Humbert crosses Shannon at Ballintra and camps at Cloone. Cornwallis crosses Shannon. Rebels at Wilsons Hospital are routed; this ends the rebellion in the midlands

• September 7, 1801 - Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquis of Downshire, former MP for Co. Down and one of the wealthiest landowners in Ireland, commits suicide

• September 7, 1823 - Kevin Izod ODoherty, transportee, physician and politician, is born in Dublin

• September 7, 1842 - Queen Victorias first visit to Edinburgh.

• September 7, 1892 - John L. Sullivan loses his world heavyweight boxing title to another Irish American, James Corbett

• September 7, 1921 - Frank Duff founds the Association of Our Lady of Mercy, later to be known as the Legion of Mary

• September 8, 1783 - A second convention of Dungannon - a gathering of Volunteers from Ulster- is held and prepares the way for a National Volunteer convention on parliamentary reform

• September 8, 1798 - Battle of Ballinamuck, Ireland , last battle of The Year of the French.

• September 8, 1798 - Battle of Ballinamuck - last major battle of The Year of the French; after a short fight, Humbert surrenders

• September 8, 1812 - John Martin, revolutionary, transportee and politician, is born near Newry, Co. Down

• September 8, 1830 - Thomas Nicholas Burke, Dominican friar, preacher and lecturer, is born in Galway

• September 8, 1852 - A conference of the Tenant League in Dublin adopts a policy of independent opposition in Parliament

• September 8, 1908 - Poet, educator and eventual Easter Rising rebel Patrick Pearse opens St. Ednas school for boys (Scoil Eanna), combining new European theories of education with a focus on the glory of the Gaelic past

• September 8, 1931 - Birth of Desmond Guinness, author and conservationist

• September 8, 1933 - Founding of Fine Gael Party

• September 9, 1513 - James IV of Scotland killed in the Battle of Flodden.

• September 9, 1543 - Mary Queen of Scots crowned at Stirling Castle.

• September 9, 1758 - Birth of painter Alexander Naysmyth in Edinburgh.

• September 9, 1831 - 30,000 punds is allocated to establish national system of elementary education in Ireland

• September 9, 1845 - The arrival of the potato blight in Ireland is reported in the Dublin Evening Post

• September 9, 1852 - The last day of the Tenant League Conference in Dublin

• September 9, 1893 - House of Lords rejects Second Home Rule Bill

• September 9, 1922 - The newly elected Daíl Éireann meets to frame its constitution and elects William T. Cosgrave President of the Executive Committee

• September 9, 1963 - Jim Clark became the (then) worlds youngest F1 motor racing champion.

• September 9, 1978 - Poet and Nationalist C M Grieve (Hugh MacDiarmid) died.

• September 9, 872 - Earliest verifiable date of a Viking invasion of Ireland in Dunrally

• September 10, 1297 - William Wallace seizes high ground above Stirling Bridge and bars route of invading English in battle the following day.

• September 10, 1315 - Battle of Connor. Major victory for Edward Bruce in his invasion of Ulster

• September 10, 1547 - English defeated Scots at Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, near Edinburgh. The battle was sparked by English demands that Edward VI of England (aged, 10) should marry Mary Queen of Scots (aged, 5) an event known as the Rough Wooing. It is estimated that, 15,000

• September 10, 1602 - Red Hugh ODonnell dies in Simancas, Spain; evidence suggests he was poisoned by an English spy

• September 10, 1641 - Oliver Cromwell seizes Drogheda

• September 10, 1763 - The Freemans Journal is founded in Dublin by Charles Lucas

• September 10, 1771 - Birth of Mungo Park at Foulshiels, near Selkirk. He became an explorer and doctor who charted the course of the River Niger.

• September 10, 1831 - Jeremiah ODonovan Rossa, Fenian, is born in Rosscarbery, Co. Cork

• September 10, 1850 - In Thurles, it is the final day of the first canonical synod of the Irish church, summoned by Paul Cullen

• September 10, 1897 - HRH Duke of York opened the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

• September 10, 1916 - While serving in the Dublin Fusiliers during World War I, Irish poet Tom Kettle dies in attack on Ginchy

• September 10, 1919 - Dail Eirean outlawed by the English as a dangerous association.

• September 10, 1923 - The Irish Free State is admitted into the League of Nations

• September 11, 1297 - Victory of Wallace at Stirling bridge, Scotland

• September 11, 1297 - Battle of Stirling Bridge, Wallace (as famously portrayed by Mel Gibson in Braveheart) defeats Edward I.

• September 11, 1649 - Massacre at Drogheda. Cromwell captures the town and slaughters the garrison

• September 11, 1700 - James Thomson, Scots author of Rule Britannia, born.

• September 11, 1766 - John Bligh, former MP for Athboy, who suffers from the delusion that he is a teapot, marries suddenly and unexpectedly at nearly 50 years of age. Between now and his death in 1781 he will father at least seven children, in spite of his initial alarm that

• September 11, 1919 - Dail Eireann is suppressed as a dangerous association by the British government and membership is deemed to be a crime

• September 11, 1922 - Proportional representation for local elections is abolished in Northern Ireland

• September 11, 1945 - The Citizens Theatre on Glasgow moved from its original location in Buchanan Street to the heart of the Gorbals, one of the most run-down parts of the city.

• September 11, 1997 - Referendum on Devolution which approved the creation of a new Scottish Parliament by a substantial majority.

• September 12, 1315 - Thomas Dun, a privateer from Scotland, sailed into Holyhead, captured an English ship and over-ran Anglesay.

• September 12, 1653 - Ireland and Scotland are represented by six and five members respectively in the Barebones parliament which is in effect from 4 July to this date

• September 12, 1715 - Battle of Sheriffmuir, Scotland

• September 12, 1715 - Jacobites defeated government forces at Battle of Sheriffmuir.

• September 12, 1798 - Rebels attack Castlebar and are repulsed

• September 12, 1848 - Death of William McNab, curator of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He was responsible for greening Scotland in the, 19th century. He moved, 4,000 plant species, including trees from a site on Leith Walk, to the present garden at Inverleith.

• September 12, 1907 - Louis McNeice, poet and classical scholar is born in Belfast

• September 12, 1919 - Dáil Éireann is declared illegal

• September 13, 1494 - Edward Poynings, best known for his introduction of Poynings Law, which prevented the Irish Parliament from meeting without royal permission and approval of its agenda, is appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland

• September 13, 1644 - Battle of Aberdeen, in which the Marquis of Montrose captured the city.

• September 13, 1645 - Royalist troops under Marquis of Montrose defeated by Covenanters led by David Leslie at Battle of Philiphaugh.

• September 13, 1803 - Death of John Barry, a native of Ballystampson, Co. Wexford, Commodore in the US Navy and renowned as the Father of the American Navy

• September 13, 1903 - Padraic Pearse arrives in Ros Muc, County Galway and takes up residence at his cottage in Inbhear

• September 13, 1912 - In a speech at Dundee, Winston Churchill announces his support of a policy of devolution for Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

• September 13, 1912 - In a speech at Dundee, Winston Churchill announces his support of a policy of devolution for Ireland, Scotland and Wales

• September 13, 1913 - Sir Robert Lorimer, architect and exponent of the Scottish Vernacular Revival, died.

• September 13, 1938 - John Smith, politician and leader of the Labour Party, born at Dalmally, Argyll.

• September 14, 1402 - Scots led by, 4th Earl of Douglas defeated at the Battle of Homildon Hill by English army led by Percy Hotspur.

• September 14, 1507 - Edinburgh merchants granted exclusive privilege of running a printing press.

• September 14, 1580 - Birth of Robert Gordon of Straloch, Aberdeen, cartographer and rescuer of Thomas Ports original maps.

• September 14, 1607 - Flight of the Earls from Ireland to the Continent.

• September 14, 1647 - Lord Inchiquin, a royalist turned Parliamentarian, sacks the Irish Catholic Confederate garrison at the Rock of Cashel

• September 14, 1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie, Charles Edward Stuart, occupied Edinburgh.

• September 14, 1752 - The Gregorian calendar is adopted in Ireland and Britain, 170 years after mainland Europe - 2 September is followed by 14 September. There are protests and riots by people who are convinced that they have lost 12 days out of their lives

• September 14, 1824 - Sir Frederick Falkiner, impoverished former MP for Athy, Co. Dublin and Co. Carlow commits suicide in Naples

• September 14, 1852 - Death of Arthur Wellesley, alias the Duke of Wellington. The Dublin born soldier served as MP for Meath before eventually becoming Prime Minister of Britain

• September 14, 1886 - Birth of author Alice Milligan

• September 14, 1907 - Edel Quinn, promoter of Legion of Mary in Africa, is born near Kanturk, Co. Cork

• September 15, 1595 - City Baillie shot when Edinburgh High School pupils rioted when refused a holiday.

• September 15, 1718 - The Breton gentry gather in Rennes to defend the liberties of Brittany.

• September 15, 1773 - The Hector leaves Loch Broom, near Ullapool, to sail to Pictou, Nova Scotia, carrying emigrants escaping from the Clearances.

• September 15, 1851 - Sir William Whitla, physician and professor, is born in Co. Monaghan

• September 15, 1865 - Police raid and close the Irish People offices; Rossa, Luby and OLeary are arrested

• September 15, 1866 - John Blake Dillon, Young Irelander and co-founder of The Nation, dies in Killarney

• September 15, 1881 - First soccer international in Ireland; England beats the Irish squad

• September 15, 1889 - Birth in Castlebar of singer Margaret Burke Sheridan

• September 15, 1905 - Pat OCallaghan, physician, hammer-thrower and first man to win an Olympic gold medal while representing Ireland, is born near Kanturk, Co. Cork

• September 15, 1931 - 12,000 Royal Navy sailors on, 15 ships went on strike at Invergordon over cuts in their pay.

• September 15, 2005 - St Mirren Day (patron saint of Paisley).

• September 16, 1400 - Owain Glyn Dwr raises standard of revolt against England- declaring Welsh independence.

• September 16, 1732 - Birth in Castletown, Co. Clare of Thomas OGorman, physician, wine trader and courtier in France; made a chevalier by Louis XV

• September 16, 1798 - Small French force under James Napper Tandy makes brief landing on Rutland Island, Co. Donegal

• September 16, 1798 - Belfast United Irish leaders arrested

• September 16, 1808 - William Trench, land agent and author, is born near Portarlington, Co. Laois

• September 16, 1830 - Birth in Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow of Patrick Moran, Archbishop of Sydney, first Australian cardinal, and church historian

• September 16, 1845 - Death of Thomas Davis, revolutionary, poet, and political theorist

• September 16, 1859 - David Livingstone discovered Lake Nyasa.

• September 16, 1865 - Fenian newspaper, Irish People, ceases publication

• September 16, 1870 - Birth in Dublin of John Pius Boland, nationalist politician and Irelands first Olympic gold medalist

• September 16, 1906 - Trevor G. McVeagh, cricket, hockey, squash and tennis player, is born in Athboy, Co. Meath

• September 16, 1925 - Charles Haughey, Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach, is born in Castlebar, Co. Mayo

• September 17, 1711 - John Holwell, surgeon and survivor of Black Hole of Calcutta is born in Dublin

• September 17, 1745 - Prince Charles Edward Stuart took up residence at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh.

• September 17, 1745 - Bonnie Prince Charles enters Edinburgh while a bagpiper plays - The King Shall Enjoy His Own Again

• September 17, 1798 - 3000 French troops depart for Ireland from Brest

• September 17, 1854 - David Dunbar Buick was born at, 26 Green Street, Arbroath. He emigrated to the USA with his parents at the age of two. Although he founded the Buick Manufacturing Company which later became General Motors, it was William C. Durant who grew the company.

• September 17, 1903 - Frank OConnor, (pseudonym of Michael ODonovan), short-story writer and author of poetic translations from Irish is born in Cork

• September 17, 1920 - Birth of Chaim Herzog, former president of Israel, born in Belfast and educated in Dublin

• September 17, 1930 - The Free State is elected to the council of the League of Nations

• September 17, 1937 - Ten young men, potato-pickers from Achill Island, die when a bothy catches fire on a farm at Kirkintilloch, Scotland

• September 18, 1400 - First action of Glyn Dwrs revolt as Welsh rebels capture town of Ruthin.

• September 18, 1818 - Theatre Royal, Glasgow, became the first theatre in Britain to be lit by gas.

• September 18, 1846 - James Standish OGrady, novelist, is born in Castletownbere, Co. Cork

• September 18, 1851 - Anne Devlin, friend and comrade of Robert Emmett, dies in Dublin

• September 18, 1867 - Kelly and Timothy Deasy are rescued in a Fenian attack on a police van in Manchester during which a police sergeant is shot dead

• September 18, 1889 - Kathleen Behan, née Kearney, Mother of All the Behans and folk singer is born in Dublin

• September 18, 1914 - Home Rule Act on Statute Book but is suspended for the duration of World War

• September 18, 1941 - Stephen Hayes, a former IRA chief of staff, is kidnapped on 30 June; he later claims to have been court martialled and tortured by the IRA; Seán McCaughey is convicted of his kidnapping on this date

• September 18, 1944 - Birth of Lord Roger of Earlsferry, Lord Justice General.

• September 18, 1959 - 47 miners were killed at Auchengeich Colliery, Lanarkshire when the bogies carrying them to work ran into smoke, 1,000 feet below ground.

• September 18, 1964 - Death of Sean O’Casey in England.

• September 19, 1757 - Having been funded by a bequest from Jonathan Swift, St Patricks Hospital for the insane, Dublin, is opened

• September 19, 1854 - The Great North of Scotland Railway opened, running from Aberdeen to Huntly.

• September 19, 1880 - Parnell delivers his famous speech at Ennis in which he introduces the term for non-violent protest - boycotting. Parnell asked his audience, What are you to do with a tenant who bids for a farm from which another has been evicted? Several voices replie

• September 19, 1881 - Kate Coll and Juan Vivion de Valera are married in St. Patricks Church, Greenville, New Jersey. Just over a year later the couple give birth to Eamon

• September 19, 1885 - David Christopher Davies, leading Welsh geologist died.

• September 19, 1889 - Sean Keating, painter, is born in Limerick

• September 19, 1905 - Death of Dr. Thomas Barnardo. Dublin-born Barnardo opened his first home for destitute boys in Stepney in 1870

• September 20, 1689 - The Enniskillen Protestants defeat Jacobite forces at Boyle, Co. Roscommon

• September 20, 1746 - Prince Charles Edward Stuart escaped capture by sailing to France aborad the French ship LHeureux.

• September 20, 1784 - Sir Richard Griffith, geologist and civil engineer, is born in Dublin

• September 20, 1803 - Robert Emmet, Irish patriot executed by England.

• September 20, 1803 - Robert Emmet, Irish patriot, is executed in Dublin. Emmet becomes a hero of Irish nationalists, largely on the basis of his stirring speech from the dock - Let no man write my epitaph ...When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then,

• September 20, 1842 - Sir James Dewar, inventor of the vacuum flask, born in Kincardine-on-Forth.

• September 20, 1847 - Birth in Carron, Co. Clare of Michael Cusack, GAA founder

• September 20, 1911 - Anna Catherine Parnell, Irish patriot, dies

• September 20, 1918 - Republican newspapers are banned by English

• September 20, 1920 - Black and Tans raid Balbriggan, Co. Dublin

• September 20, 1920 - Kevin Barry is captured

• September 20, 1967 - Liner Queen Elizabeth II launched at John Browns shipyard at Clydebank.

• September 20, 1972 - Paul McCartney, one of the Beatles, was arrested for possession of marijuana at his farm in the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland.

• September 20 - ALBAN ELFED (Welsh Bardic name for autumn equinox)

• September 21, 1170 - MacMurrough and the Normans march on the Norse kingdom of Dublin, avoiding an Irish force that awaits them to the south of it. Dublin falls to them on this date. Some Norsemen, including the king of Dublin, Askulv, flee to the Hebrides or the Isle of Man

• September 21, 1327 - King Edward II of England died , succeeded by Edward III.

• September 21, 1513 - King James V crowned at Stirling Castle.

• September 21, 1601 - A Spanish army under Don Juan del Aguila lands at Kinsale

• September 21, 1703 - The first Irish parliament of Queen Anne is called; Alan Brodrick is unanimously elected Speaker

• September 21, 1722 - Minister, historian, playwright and tutor to the Prince of Wales, John Home born. After the first performance of his play Douglas, people asked Whaurs yer Wully Shakespeare noo?

• September 21, 1728 - Philip Embury, founder of the American Methodist Church, is born in Ballingrane, Co. Limerick

• September 21, 1745 - The Jacobites are victorious at Prestonpans

• September 21, 1745 - Charles Edward Stuart victorious at Battle of Prestonpans. The Jacobite army of just over, 3,000 under Bonnie Prince Charlie heavily defeated the English Royal forces led by Sir John Cope.

• September 21, 1756 - Road builder John McAdam born in Ayr.

• September 21, 1795 - Battle of the Diamond between (Protestant) Peep o Day Boys and (Catholic) Defenders near Loughgall, Co. Armagh leaves 30 Defenders dead and leads to the foundation of the Loyal Orange Institution (later the Orange Order) ...to defend the King and his

• September 21, 1827 - Michael Corcoran, Union General, is born in Co. Donegal

• September 21, 1832 - Novelist (notably Ivanhoe and Talisman) and poet Sir Walter Scott died aged, 61.

• September 21, 1881 - Revolutionary Éamonn Ceannt, is born in Glenamaddy, County Galway

• September 21, 1909 - Artist Tom Carr is born is Belfast

• September 21, 1932 - Birth of Mariga Guinness, née Princess Hermione Marie Gabrielle von Urach, Countess Württemberg; co-founder of Irish Georgian Society

• September 22, 1485 - Duke Fransez II sets up a Breton national assembly.

• September 22, 1601 - Battle of Kinsale

• September 22, 1626 - Charles I offers twenty-six concessions (graces) to the Irish in return for subsidies to expand his army

• September 22, 1798 - Colonel Trench marches from Castlebar and takes Ballina

• September 22, 1821 - Patrick Moore, Confederate General, is born in Galway

• September 22, 1864 - Col. James Mulligan, who commanded Mulligans Irish Brigade, dies of wounds sustained at the 3rd Battle of Winchester

• September 22, 1884 - The gunboat HMS Wasp is wrecked off Tory Island, Co. Donegal, with the loss of 52 lives; there are eight survivors

• September 22, 1920 - Mid-Clare Brigade, IRA, kill six policemen near Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare

• September 22, 1928 - The first professional artist ever to appear on British television, Irishwoman Miss Peg O’Neil, gives a charming entertainment, chatting and smiling, and telling Irish stories. The broadcast takes place at Olympia on the first day of the Radio Exhibitio

• September 22, 1931 - Birth of politician, Secretary of State for Scotland, Minister for Defence, Viscount Younger of Leckie (George Younger). Later became Chairman of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

• September 23, 1586 - At the battle of Ardnaree in Co. Mayo, Sir Richard Bingham, governor of Connacht, surprises a force of redshanks (Scottish mercenary light infantrymen) engaged by the Burkes of Mayo; 1,000 redshanks and 1,000 camp followers are killed. Bingham hangs the l

• September 23, 1641 - The Gaelic Catholics of Ulster stage an uprising against the Scottish Presbyterian planters

• September 23, 1678 - The Earl of Mar was commissioned to raise a regiment nicknamed Earl of Mars Gray Breeks which later became the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

• September 23, 1779 - Battle of Flamborough Head in which Scots-born John Paul Jones fought an engagement against the British navy. His ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard sank but he boarded and captured HMS Serapis.

• September 23, 1798 - British Gen. Trench attacks the French and Irish left behind by Humbert to hold Killela. About 300 Irish rebels are killed, some while trying to surrender.

• September 23, 1798 - Second Battle of Killala. Final surrender of combined French and Irish forces to the English

• September 23, 2002 - The Listowel Races in Co. Kerry begin. For the first year in its history, which dates to 1858, it will be a seven-day meeting.

• September 23, 704 - Death of St Adamnan, biographer of St Columba.

• September 24, 1332 - Edward Balliol, son of John Balliol, crowned at Scone. He was deposed by supporters of David II in December 1332, restored in, 1333, deposed again in, 1334, restored in, 1335 and finally deposed in, 1341.

• September 24, 1661 - Faithful Tadpole is admitted as a clerical vicar choral of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

• September 24, 1725 - Sir Arthur Guinness is born in Celbridge, Co. Kildare

• September 24, 1786 - Birth of Charles Bianconi, Irish passenger-car entrepreneur

• September 24, 1798 - United Irishman, Bartholomew Teeling, is hanged in Dublin

• September 24, 1801 - James Moore ODonell, former MP for Ratoath, is killed in a duel with Major Denis Bingham in a feud over Co. Mayo politics

• September 24, 1880 - Mayo agent, Captain Charles Boycott, was sent to a moral Coventry. He described his plight in a letter to The Times ...people collect in crowds upon my farm and order off all my workmen. The shopkeepers have been warned to stop all supplies to my hous

• September 24, 1962 - Birth of Scotland international footballer and later TV personality Ally McCoist.

• September 25, 1267 - England Recognizes Llywelyn and his heirs as Kings of Wales and recognized the borders of their territory.

• September 25, 1819 - George Salmon, mathematician and professor of divinity, is born in Cork

• September 25, 1875 - John Hughes Bennett, pioneer microscopist, died.

• September 25, 1880 - Viscount Mountmorres is killed near Clonbur, Co. Galway

• September 25, 1917 - Thomas Ashe dies in the Mater Hospital in Dublin from the combined effects of a hunger strike and forced feeding at Mountjoy Jail. The following famous and much repeated Sean O’Casey quote You cannot put a rope around the neck of an idea... you cannot co

• September 25, 1961 - Ronnie Whelan, Home Farm, Liverpool, Reading and Republic of Ireland footballer, is born in Dublin

• September 26, 1289 - All men of good will to the king, both Irish and English, in Munster and Leinster are summoned to Buttevant in Leix (Queens County). A ten day expedition which begins on this date, subdues and forces the local Irish into an uneasy peace

• September 26, 1290 - Queen Margaret, Maid of Norway (Eiriksdotter) died, en route from Norway to Scotland.

• September 26, 1678 - Thomas Tonkin - Cornish historian born

• September 26, 1713 - Charles Lucas, physician, MP and political radical, is born in Ballingaddy, Ennis, Co. Clare

• September 26, 1791 - First convicts from Ireland arrive in New South Wales, Australia

• September 26, 1860 - First Open Golf Championship held at Prestwick. There were eight entrants and the championship was won by Willie Park of Musselburgh.

• September 26, 1902 - James Dillon, politician and Fine Gael leader is born in Dublin

• September 26, 1930 - Saor Éire, a republican-socialist party, is founded by Peadar ODonnell, Seán MacBride and other IRA members; it, the IRA and ten other organizations are declared illegal in the Free State on 23 October, and the Catholic Church excommunicates members of a

• September 26, 1932 - De Valera opens the 13th Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva

• September 27, 1662 - An act for encouraging Protestant strangers and others to inhabit and plant in the kingdom of Ireland is passed in the Irish Parliament under Charles II

• September 27, 1725 - Patrick Darcy, scientist and soldier, is born in Kitulla, Co.Galway

• September 27, 1831 - Scotlands first passenger railway opened (between Glasgow and Garnkirk).

• September 27, 1891 - Last public speech of Parnell-Irish statesman at Creggs Co. Galway Ireland

• September 27, 1926 - Tim OKeeffe, publisher, is born in Kinsale, Co. Cork

• September 27, 1938 - The, 80,000-ton liner Queen Elizabeth, then the largest passenger ship ever built, launched at John Browns shipyard, Clydebank.

• September 27, 1948 - Singer Barbara Dickson, born.

• September 28, 1396 - Battle of the Clans between clans Chattan and Kay on the North Inch, Perth, in front of King Robert III.

• September 28, 1581 - George Buchan, humanist, poet, historian and tutor of King James VI, died.

• September 28, 1678 - Popish plot is alleged in England

• September 28, 1690 - Marlborough takes Cork for the Williamites

• September 28, 1703 - Francis Annesley is expelled from the Irish Commons for his part in The Report of the Commissioners appointed by Parliament into the Irish Forfeitures, printed in London, containing the paragraph - And indeed it does appear to us, that the Freeholders of

• September 28, 1741 - Deacon William Brodie, a well known thief in 18th Century Edinburgh, was born.

• September 28, 1912 - Edward Carson, leader of Ulster Unionists, stages signing of Southern League and Covenant against Irish Home Rule

• September 28, 1920 - Cork No. 2 Brigade, IRA, attacks and captures a military barracks in Mallow, Co. Cork. English forces later burn and sack the town

• September 28, 1932 - TV mogul Jeremy Isaacs born.

• September 29, 1155 - A proposal for the invasion of Ireland by Henry II is discussed at the Council of Winchester and rejected, though soon after, Henry obtains a papal privilege approving the invasion

• September 29, 1603 - Rory ODonnell kisses the kings hand and is created Earl of Tyrconnell

• September 29, 1621 - Charter granted to Sir William Alexander of Menstrie to colonize the Baronetcy of Nova Scotia.

• September 29, 1678 - Count Peter Lacy, soldier, governor of Livonia (Latvia) and field-marshal in the Russian army, is born in Killeedy, Co. Limerick

• September 29, 1732 - Birth of Sir Henry Cavendish, politician and master of shorthand, who recorded parliamentary debates

• September 29, 1778 - Birth in Dublin of Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy

• September 29, 1798 - Tandy and other Irish political prisoners in Hamburg are handed over to British authorities

• September 29, 1826 - Charles Cornwallis Chesney, professor of military history, is born in Kilkeel, Co. Down

• September 29, 1836 - Michael Mulhall, publisher and statistician, is born in Dublin

• September 29, 1854 - Birth in Kinvara, Co. Galway of Francis Arthur Fahy who wrote the song, Galway Bay

• September 29, 1898 - Fenian Thomas Clarke is released from Portland Prison

• September 29, 1905 - Francis Llewellyn Harrison, musicologist, is born in Dublin

• September 29, 1908 - Birth of film star Greer Garson in Co. Down

• September 29, 1929 - The last active Fenian, John Devoy, dies

• September 29, 1930 - George Bernard Shaw refuses a peerage

• September 29, 1952 - John Cobb made an attempt at the world water-speed record on Loch Ness which ended in tragedy as the boat crashed and Cobb was killed.

• September 29, 1996 - Stone of Destiny on which generations of Scottish kings had been crowned, returned to Scotland, 700 years after it had been removed by King Edward I of England.

• September 30, 1294 - Revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn, Caernarfon Castle taken by Welsh rebels.

• September 30, 1430 - A great council meets at Dublin on on this date; it states that Irish enemies and English rebels have conquered almost all of Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Wexford, Carlow, Kildare, Meath and Louth, so that hardly anything but Co. Dublin remains in the c

• September 30, 1598 - The English poet Edmund Spenser is appointed Sheriff of Cork

• September 30, 1691 - The first recorded meeting of the Presbyterian general synod of Ulster is held at Antrim

• September 30, 1813 - Birth in Orkney of John Rae, explorer and surveyor of Canadas northern coastline.

• September 30, 1852 - Sir Charles Stanford, composer, is born in Dublin

• September 30, 1900 - Arthur Griffith forms Cumann na nGaedheal, which later becomes Sinn Féin

• September 30, 1928 - Announcement of the discovery of penicillin by Ayrshire-born Sir Alexander Fleming.

• October 1, 1263 - Invasion of Scotland by Hakon King of Norway attacked on beaches by gathering Scottish forces beginning the Battle of the Largs.

• October 1, 1568 - The Bannatyne Manuscript, the most extensive collection of early Scottish poetry in existence, was published by George Bannatyne, an Edinburgh merchant.

• October 1, 1600 - Robert Grave, Church of Ireland Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, and his family drown in Dublin Bay on their way home to Wexford by sea

• October 1, 1751 - Cornelius Bolton, politician, Volunteer and improving landlord is born

• October 1, 1761 - In the climate of sectarian tension created partly by the Mathew-Maude controversy, the Whiteboys, a violent agrarian protest movement, begins in Tipperary and spreads through Munster and West Leinster

• October 1, 1763 - Contract to construct the North Bridge, Edinburgh, signed.

• October 1, 1796 - The Royal College of St. Patrick. a Catholic seminary, is opened in Maynooth, Co. Kildare

• October 1, 1930 - Actor Richard Harris is born in Limerick

• October 2, 1600 - ONeill engages Mountjoys forces in the Battle of Moyry Pass

• October 2, 1833 - Birth of Father William Corby who became Chaplain of the Irish Brigade in Detroit, Michigan

• October 2, 1852 - William OBrien, writer and nationalist, is born in Mallow, Co. Cork

• October 2, 1852 - Birth of Sir William Ramsay, Scottish chemist who discovered helium, xenon, neon, argon, radon and krypton.

• October 2, 1854 - Patrick Geddes - Scottish Botanist born.

• October 2, 1875 - Arthur Conway, mathematician and president of University College Dublin, is born in Wexford

• October 2, 1879 - Kate Coll arrives in New York from Ireland on board the SS Nevada. She later marries Juan Vivion de Valera, and gives birth to Éamon on October 14, 1882 in New York

• October 2, 1900 - Hubert Butler, writer and local historian, is born near Bennettsbridge, Co. Kilkenny

• October 2, 1931 - Death of Sir Thomas Lipton, grocer, tea merchant and contestant for the Americas Cup.

• October 2, 1947 - The new paddle steamer Waverley was launched from A. & J. Ingliss yard on the Clyde. After providing services on the Firth of Clyde she has been preserved and still takes passengers doon the watter as the oldest sea-going paddle steamer in the world.

• October 3, 1283 - Prince Dafydd III last native Prince of Wales executed by the English

• October 3, 1357 - Treaty of Berwick, freeing David II from imprisonment by the English.

• October 3, 1594 - Battle of Glenlivet, George Gordon, Earl of Huntly, defeated a Royalist force under, 7th Earl of Argyll.

• October 3, 1691 - Treaty of Limerick is signed by Ginkel and Sarsfield, ending the Williamite War in Ireland; the treaty allows evacuation of the Irish army to France and promises tolerance of Irish Catholics

• October 3, 1706 - Last Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh before the Union with Westminster.

• October 3, 1750 - James McLaine, gentleman highwayman born in Monaghan, is hanged at Tyburn

• October 3, 1871 - Gen. John ONeill and a small force of Fenians invade Canada at Pembina, Manitoba

• October 4, 1582 - Pope Gregory reforms the calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 45BCE - 4 October is followed by 15 October. However, the reform will not be implemented in Ireland till 1752

• October 4, 1693 - Irish Brigade of France fights in the battle of Marsaglia

• October 4, 1733 - Henry Boyle, the future Earl of Shannon, is unanimously elected Speaker of the Irish parliament. He will serve till 1756 - the longest-serving Speaker of the 1692-1800 parliaments

• October 4, 1741 - Edmund Malone, editor and Shakespearian scholar, is born in Dublin

• October 4, 1754 - William Bligh, Cornish man, Mutiny on the Bounty fame was born.

• October 4, 1780 - African explorer Alexander Laing, born.

• October 4, 1821 - Death of John Rennie, engineer who constructed the Crinan Canal.

• October 4, 1842 - Birth of heavyweight bare-knuckle boxer Jim Dunne in Co. Kildare. Dunne won the American heavyweight title from fellow Irishman Jim Elliot - the pair were jailed after the illegal event

• October 4, 1883 - Boys Brigade founded in Glasgow.

• October 4, 1886 - Lennox Robinson, playwright and one-time Abbey Theatre manager, is born in Douglas, Co. Cork

• October 4, 1929 - Most of United Free Church merged with Church of Scotland.

• October 5, 1263 - Battle of the Largs - Norwegians abandon invasion of ScotlandBattle of the LargsNorwegians abandon invasion of Scotland leaving ships and wounded on the beach.

• October 5, 1731 - Parliament meets at the new parliament house in College Green for the first time

• October 5, 1785 - Balloon flight by Italian aeronaut Vincenzo Lunardi from Heriots School, Edinburgh to Ceres in Fife.

• October 5, 1873 - Leslie Montgomery, comic writer under the pseudonym Lynn C. Doyle, is born in in Downpatrick, Co. Down

• October 5, 1878 - New York Gaelic Society is formed

• October 5, 1911 - Birth of Brian O’Nolan, aka Flann O’Brien and Myles na gCopaleen in Strabane, Co. Tyrone

• October 5, 1923 - Birth of Philip Berrigan - militant priest, Virginia, Minn

• October 5, 1924 - John Joe Barry, athlete who is known as the Ballincurry Hare, is born

• October 5, 1938 - Frank Patterson, tenor, is born in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

• October 6, 1175 - Under the Treaty of Windsor, concluded on this date, Rory OConnor recognizes Henry as his overlord and agrees to collect tribute for him from all parts of Ireland. Henry agrees that OConnor can be king of the areas not conquered by the Normans. But OCo

• October 6, 1216 - The union of the diocese of Glendalough with that of Dublin, having been promulgated by Pope Innocent III last year, is confirmed by Pope Honorius III

• October 6, 1649 - Owen Roe ONeill dies

• October 6, 1798 - Grattan removed from Irish Privy Council, falsely charged with being a sworn member of United Irishmen

• October 6, 1891 - Death of Charles Stewart Parnell, champion of tenants rights and co-founder of the Land League; often called the Uncrowned King of Ireland

• October 6, 1901 - Birth of C. S. Todd Andrews, revolutionary and public servant, in Dublin

• October 6, 1903 - Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton is born at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. He and Sir John Douglas Cockcroft were awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles

• October 6, 1928 - Death of Galway man Pádraic Ó Conaire, who was among the first writers to develop a new modern literature in the Irish language

• October 6, 1928 - Maeve Kyle, athlete and hockey player, is born in Kilkenny

• October 6, 1946 - Birth of Gerry Adams

• October 6, 1871 - Mass demonstrations in Brittany to pressure French government to establish policy to maintain the Breton language.

• October 28, 1730 - The Danish East India Company ship, Golden Lyon, is stranded near Ballyheige, Co. Kerry

• October 7, 1731 - A complaint is made to the House of Commons that Mr Anthony Tenison did, in a violent and notorious manner, assault John Bourke, Esq., a Member of this House, by presenting a pistol to his breast, and threatening to shoot him, on the thirtieth of Decembe

• October 7, 1782 - Birth of Charles McLaren, one of the founders of the Scotsman newspaper.

• October 7, 1878 - Birth of Margaret (Gretta) Cousins, Irish womens rights activist.

• October 7, 1910 - Premiere of Percy French’s play The Immigrant’s Letter

• October 7, 1919 - A cabinet committee is appointed to consider Irish self government

• October 7, 1935 - Birth of Thomas Kineally, Irish Australian author of Schindler’s List which was originally called Schindlers Ark

• October 8, 1774 - Rev Henry Duncan, founder of the first savings bank, born in the Manse at Lochrutton.

• October 8, 1822 - Birth in Dublin of Richard DAlton Williams. He is educated at Carlow Academy and studies medicine at Saint Vincents Hospital, Dublin. He becomes a member of the Young Ireland movement and contributes poetry to The Nation under the pseudonym Shamrock.

• October 8, 1872 - John Cowper Powys, Welsh novelist, born.

• October 8, 1949 - Edith Oenone Somerville, Irish novelist, dies in Castletownshend, Co. Cork.In her late twenties, she meets her second cousin Violet Florence Martin who writes under the pseudonym Martin Ross. They become lifelong companions and literary partners, collabor

• October 9, 1506 - King James IV ratified the Charter incorporating the Surgeons and Barbers.

• October 9, 1651 - The Navigation Act provides that goods imported to any Commonwealth lands shall be carried in English ships only

• October 9, 1796 - William Ellis Jones Welsh bard known as Gwilym Cawrdaf was born

• October 9, 1849 - First tenant protection society established at Callan, Co. Kilkenny.

• October 9, 1913 - Birth of golfer Harry The Brad Bradshaw near Delgany, Co. Wicklow

• October 9, 1921 - SS Rowan sank off the Rhinns of Galloway, near Corsewall Point with, 34 casualties.

• October 9, 1935 - Ornithologist and painter Archibald Thorburn died.

• October 9, 1995 - Death of Lord Home of the Hirsel, also known as Sir Alec Douglas-Home, formerly Foreign Secretary and UK Prime Minister.

• October 10, 1084 - Patrick, Bishop of Dublin, dies in a shipwreck

• October 10, 1711 - The Linen Board meets for the first time

• October 10, 1771 - During his visit to Ireland, Benjamin Franklin attends a meeting of the House of Commons on this date

• October 10, 1790 - Birth in Co. Tipperary of Fr. Theobald Matthew, “The Apostle of Temperance” and campaigner against alcohol

• October 10, 1802 - Writer and geologist Hugh Miller born on the Black Isle, Cromarty.

• October 10, 1802 - The Edinburgh Review first published to erect a higher standard of merit, and secure a bolder and purer taste in literature, and to apply philosophical principles and the maxims of truth and humanity to politics.

• October 10, 1819 - Birth in Templemore, Co. Tipperary of Charles Stanley Monck, the first Governor General of Canada

• October 10, 1865 - Magee College is opened as a combined arts and Presbyterian theological college in Derry-Londonderry

• October 10, 1899 - Irish Transvaal Committee formed to aid Boers against the English.

• October 10, 1899 - Eoin O Grownley, Irish language scholar, dies

• October 10, 1907 - Brian O Nolan (Flann OBrien Myles na g Copaleen) - Irish writer born

• October 10, 1974 - Labour won the General Election with an overall majority of three seats and Harold Wilson became Prime Minister.

• October 11, 1297 - Letter from Wallace and Moray to the mayors of Lubeck and Hamburg saying that The Kingdom of Scotland has, by Gods Grace, recovered by battle from the power of the English.

• October 11, 1511 - Ship Great Michael launched for King James IV.

• October 11, 1649 - Massacre at Wexford when the town falls to Cromwell

• October 11, 1703 - John Asgill, newly elected MP for Enniscorthy, is expelled from the Irish parliament on this date on account of a pamphlet he published in Dublin in 1698, arguing that man may pass into eternal life without dying. The pamphlet is burned by the common hang

• October 11, 1741 - Birth of James Barry, painter, in Cork

• October 11, 1797 - The British fleet, under the command of Admiral Adam Duncan (born in Forfar in, 1731), defeated the Dutch off the village of Camperdown, Holland

• October 11, 1911 - Birth of writer Brian ONolan aka Myles na gCopaleen and perhaps better known as Flann OBrien

• October 11, 1921 - Anglo-Irish negotiations open with Griffith and Collins leading the Irish delegation

• October 11, 1922 - The Irish Constitution for the Free State, drafted by the Thomas Cosgrove Dáil, is adopted

• October 11, 2000 - Scotlands first First Minister Donald Dewar died suddenly after a fall on the steps of his official residence in Edinburgh.

• October 12, 1645 - Archbishop Rinuccini arrives in Ireland

• October 12, 1671 - Peter Drake, soldier and memoir author, is born in Co. Meath

• October 12, 1798 - French fleet intercepted off Donegal. Wolfe Tone captured when The Hoche strikes its colors

• October 12, 1866 - Ramsay MacDonald, first Labour Prime Minister of UK, born in Lossiemouth.

• October 12, 1876 - Jerome Connor, sculptor, is born near Anascaul, Co. Kerry

• October 12, 1911 - Birth in Portrush of Fred Daly, the only Irishman to win a golf major - the British Open in 1947

• October 12, 1929 - Birth of Magnus Magnusson, writer, broadcaster and question master in TV programme Mastermind.

• October 13, 1494 - Poynings lands at Howth and summons a parliament to Drogheda. He then campaigns in the north

• October 13, 1644 - Battle of Aberdeen, James Graham,, 1st Marquess of Montrose, sacked the city.

• October 13, 1713 - Birth of Allan Ramsay, painter and son of Allan Ramsay the poet.

• October 13, 1729 - William Conolly resigns as Speaker

• October 13, 1823 - Sara Atkinson, a writer on religious and historical subjects is born

• October 13, 1881 - Government crackdown on Irish Land League jails Parnell and other leaders

• October 13, 1881 - Charles Stewart Parnell and others are arrested for Land League activities

• October 13, 1923 - Republican prisoners in Mountjoy prison begin mass hunger strike

• October 14, 1285 - Second marriage of King Alexander III (to Yolanda de Dreux).

• October 14, 1318 - Edward Bruce, brother of Robert the Bruce, killed in a battle near Dundalk, Ireland.

• October 14, 1322 - Victory of Robert the Bruce of Scotland in Yorkshire.

• October 14, 1633 - Birth at St James Palace, London of King James VII, second son of King Charles I and brother of King Charles II.

• October 14, 1690 - After taking Cork on 28 September, Marlbourough takes Kinsale for the Williamites, who now control Munster

• October 14, 1693 - The Earl of Tyrone dies and apparently appears promptly to Lady Nicola Hamilton, the widow of Tristram Beresford MP; he makes a number of predictions that turn out to be correct; one of them was that she would die on her 47th birthday

• October 14, 1702 - Irish Brigade of France fights in the battle of Friedlingen

• October 14, 1763 - Birth of United Irish leader, Lord Edward Fitzgerald at Carton House in Co. Kildare

• October 14, 1767 - George Townshend, 4th Viscount Townshend, becomes Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

• October 14, 1783 - Edmond Sexton Pery is unanimously re-elected as Speaker of the Irish parliament

• October 14, 1788 - First steamboat tested on Dalswinton Loch by Patrick Miller and William Symington.

• October 14, 1791 - Wolfe Tone visits Belfast for the first time; the Society of United Irishmen is founded there on this date by Tone, Henry Joy McCracken, Thomas Russell and Samuel Neilson

• October 14, 1814 - Birth of author and patriot, Thomas Osborne Davis in Mallow, Co. Cork

• October 14, 1842 - First issue of The Nation published

• October 14, 1880 - Nationalist and Gaelic League activist, Mary Ellen Spring-Rice is born

• October 14, 1881 - Eyemouth Fishing Disaster, nearly, 20 boats and, 129 men (1 in, 3 of the towns male population) lost their lives in a storm.

• October 14, 1882 - Eamon de Valera, nationalist campaigner, Fianna Fáil leader, Taoiseach and president of Ireland, is born in Brooklyn, New York of a Spanish father and an Irish mother

• October 14, 1920 - Tipperary IRA man, Sean Treacy, is killed in a gun battle in Talbot Street, Dublin

• October 14, 1932 - Between October 4 and this date, strikes, marches and protests are held in Belfast against low unemployment payments, temporarily uniting Catholic and Protestant unemployed; payments are raised

• October 14, 1939 - German submarine sank HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow, Orkney, with the loss of, 810 lives.

• October 14, 1969 - The, 50 pence decimal coin was first issued, replacing the ten shilling note.

• October 15, 1582 - Pope Gregory reforms the calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 45BCE - 4 October is followed by 15 October. However, the reform will not be implemented in Britain and Ireland till 1752

• October 15, 1686 - Birth of Scottish poet Allan Ramsay, father of Allan Ramsay the painter.

• October 15, 1880 - Dr Marie Stopes, founder of first modern birth control clinic, born Edinburgh.

• October 15, 1902 - Edinburghs Balmoral Hotel opened its doors for the first time.

• October 15, 1928 - Voting age for women reduced from, 30 to, 21, the same as for men.

• October 15, 1943 - Poet William Souter died in Perth.

• October 16, 1430 - King James II born.

• October 16, 1678 - Proclamations against Catholic clergy and schools in Ireland are issued

• October 16, 1774 - Robert Fergusson Scottish poet, died.

• October 16, 1827 - Cavan-born Thomas Baron von Brady, general in the Austrian army, dies in Vienna

• October 16, 1854 - Oscar Wilde, playwright, novelist and essayist is born in Dublin

• October 16, 1890 - Michael Collins is born in Clonakilty, Co. Cork

• October 16, 1921 - Poet George Mackay Brown born.

• October 16, 1939 - City of Glasgow Fighter Squadron (No, 602) shoots down the first enemy aircraft over Britain after an attack on the River Forth.

• October 16, 1954 - Former Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Forsyth born.

• October 17, 1171 - Henry II, fearful that Strongbow will grow too powerful in Ireland, lands at Waterford with an army. The Normans, Norse and Irish all submit to him, except for the most remote Irish kings

• October 17, 1346 - Battle of Nevilles Cross during which King David II was captured by the English.

• October 17, 1738 - In a duel at Mullingar, Arthur Rochfort, MP for Co. Westmeath, shoots Dillon Pollard Hampson in the stomach. Hampson, a former Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Irish Freemasons, recovers

• October 17, 1803 - Birth of Young Irelander, William Smith OBrien in Dromoland, Co. Clare

• October 17, 1850 - James Paraffin Young obtained a patent for the extraction of paraffin from shale, starting the chemical industry in West Lothian.

• October 17, 1882 - The Irish Nationalist League is founded

• October 17, 1886 - John Dillon announces Plan of Campaign for Irish tenants against unfair rents.

• October 17, 1995 - Bridge to the Isle of Skye opened.

• October 18, 1718 - Birth in Dublin of actress, Peg Woffington

• October 18, 1791 - First public meeting of the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast

• October 18, 1881 - A “no rents manifesto” is issued by the Land League under the guidance of Parnell

• October 18, 1900 - Sarah Makem, Irish traditional singer, is born

• October 18, 1958 - Denis Law became the youngest footballer to play for Scotland when he took part in the match against Cardiff when he was, 18 years and, 7 months old.

• October 19, 1342 - Edward III lands at Brest with English forces to seize part of Brittany.

• October 19, 1610 - Birth of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond; royalist soldier; and three times Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

• October 19, 1680 - Birth of John Aberneth, dissenting clergyman, near Moneymore, Co. Tyrone

• October 19, 1687 - First sedan chairs available for public hire introduced to Edinburgh.

• October 19, 1745 - Jonathan Swift dies

• October 19, 1751 - Birth in Dublin of Charles Edward Kilmaine who was a general in the French army

• October 19, 1913 - Irish historian, novelist and poet, Emily Lawless dies

• October 20, 1674 - Birth of James Logan, Colonial statesman and scholar in Lurgan, Co. Armagh

• October 20, 1775 - Two hundred passengers are lost in the shipwrecks of the brigs Trevor Totty and Nonpareil. Among the casualties are The Hononorable Major Francis Caulfield, MP for Charlemont, his wife and daughters; also lost is Mr French, Member for the County of Roscom

• October 20, 1794 - John Gustavus Crosbie, candidate in a parliamentary by-election for Co. Kerry, takes offence at some real or supposed breach of neutrality on the part of Sir Barry Denny, the sitting MP. A duel follows on this date; at the first fire Denny is shot fatally

• October 20, 1808 - Death of composer Michael William Balfe in Dublin. He is best known for his opera The Bohemian Girl

• October 20, 1836 - Daniel Owen considered the greatest Welsh language novelist author of Y Dreflan Rhys Lewis - Enoc Huws and Gwen Tomas was born

• October 20, 1881 - The Land League is outlawed

• October 20, 1892 - Birth near Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan of General Eoin O’Duffy, first commissioner of the Garda Síochána (Blue Shirts)

• October 20, 1971 - Explosion at Clarkston Toll shopping centre, killing, 12.

• October 21, 1803 - Execution of Thomas Russell, United Irishman, in Downpatrick for “high treason”

• October 21, 1805 - The Irish dead at the Battle of Trafalgar include Lieutenant William Ram, son of Abel Ram, MP for Co. Wexford, who is killed on board the Victory

• October 21, 1879 - Irish National Land League founded in Dublin.

• October 21, 1901 - Douglas Hydes Casadh an tSúgán - The Twisting of the Rope - is presented at The Gaiety Theatre in Dublin and becomes the first staged Irish-language play

• October 21, 1904 - Birth of poet Patrick Kavanagh in Inishkeen, Co. Monaghan

• October 21, 1983 - The Queen officially opened the Burrell Collection in Glasgows Pollok Country Park. The museums collection had been donated to the city nearly, 40 years earlier by the shipping magnate Sir William Burrell.

• October 22, 1389 - Thomas Mortimer who was appointed justiciar on 5 March is replaced by John de Stanley who lands at Howth on this date

• October 22, 1641 - Rory OMore, Lord Maguire and Sir Pheilim ONeill initiate a major revolt in Armagh. Known as the Ulster Rebellion, in the ensuing six months, at least 4, 000 Protestants are killed and Catholics are massacred in reprisals

• October 22, 1740 - Birth in Dublin of Sir Philip Francis, civil servant, duellist, and gambler; he may have been the author of the Junius Letters

• October 22, 1761 - John Ponsonby is unanimously re-elected Speaker of the Irish parliament

• October 22, 1861 - Foundation stones of main Post Office and National Museum of Scotland laid by Prince Albert in his last public engagement before his death.

• October 22, 1877 - A firedamp explosion at Blantyre Colliery killed, 207 miners.

• October 22, 1895 - Daniel Owen considered the greatest Welsh language novelist died.

• October 22, 1906 - Charles Lynch, pianist, is born in Parkgariff, Co. Cork. He gave his first public recital at nine and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, London, at fifteen. In addition to concert recitals he broadcast regularly with the BBC and in 1937 acte

• October 22, 1917 - John Boyd Dunlop Scottish inventor of the pneumatic rubber tire died.

• October 23, 1295 - Treaty between King John Balliol of Scotland and King Philippe IV of France which promised mutual help against the English, the start of the Auld Alliance.

• October 23, 1662 - The Irish parliament orders the annual observance of this date as a day of thanksgiving for deliverance from the 1641 rising; for over a century, church services on this day will remind Protestants of Catholic disloyalty

• October 23, 1707 - First meeting of the Parliament of Great Britain.

• October 23, 1766 - Birth of John Claudius Beresford, banker, MP, and controversial figure in 1798 rebellion, during which he was alleged to have flogged suspects at his riding house in Marlborough Street, Dublin; the slogan Mangling done here gratis by Beresford and Co. w

• October 23, 1771 - Benjamin Franklin ends his visit to Ireland

• October 23, 1773 - Birth of Francis Jeffrey, first editor of the Edinburgh Review.

• October 232, 1923 - Terence MacSwiney mayor of Cork died in an English prison on hunger strike.

• October 23, 1921 - Death of John Boyd Dunlop who re-invented the pneumatic tyre from the design of Robert W Thomson.

• October 23, 1931 - The IRA and other organizations are declared illegal in the Free State and the Catholic Church

• October 23, 1940 - Poet and dramatist Tom McGrath born in Rutherglen.

• October 24, 1642 - Irish Confederate rebels establish government at Kilkenny

• October 24, 1789 - Work begins on the construction of the Royal Canal

• October 24, 1796 - Artist David Roberts born in Edinburgh.

• October 24, 1854 - Birth of Sir Horace Plunkett, agricultural reformer and politician

• October 24, 1880 - Fanny Parnell launches the Ladies Land League in New York. Known as the Patriot Poet, Fanny Parnell is the leading spokeswoman throughout the United States for the organization

• October 25, 1212 - John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, dies and is buried in Christ Church Cathedral

• October 25, 1651 - Invasion of the Isle of Mann by Cromwellian forces.

• October 25, 1784 - A radical reform congress commences in William Street, Dublin

• October 25, 1818 - Birth of opera singer Catherine Hayes in Limerick

• October 25, 1899 - Birth of Micheál Mac Liammóir, actor and writer

• October 25, 1909 - The Engineering and Scientific Association of Ireland assures the population that flying machines will never be of any practical use

• October 25, 1920 - Terence MacSwiney, the Mayor of Cork, dies in a London prison after 73 days on hunger strike. His last words to a priest by his side were, I want you to bear witness that I die as a soldier of the Irish Republic.

• October 25, 1922 - The Dáil approves the Constitution of the Irish Free State

• October 25, 1951 - Conservatives won the General Election with a majority of, 26, beginning, 13 years of government.

• October 25, 1960 - Elvis Presley touched down at Prestwick airport, his only visit to Scotland.

• October 26, 1601 - A Spanish army under Don Juan del Aguila, which had landed at Kinsale on 21 September, is besieged by Lord Mountjoy on this date

• October 26, 1760 - George III crowned, beginning a 60 year reign, one of the longest in British history.

• October 26, 1771 - John (Juan) MacKenna, who would rise to fame in South America, was born in Clogher, Co. Tyrone

• October 26, 1791 - Founding of the United Irishmen movement

• October 26, 1831 - Birth of painter Nathaniel Hone in Dublin

• October 26, 1837 - James Lawlor Kiernan, Union general in Americas Civil War, was born in Mount Bellew, County Galway

• October 26, 1845 - Lady Caroline Nairne, songwriter and poet, died at Gask.

• October 26, 1911 - Poet Sorley MacLean born on the island of Raasay.

• October 26, 1932 - Margaret The Unsinkable Molly Brown, daughter of Irish immigrants, dies in New York

• October 27, 1651 - Surrender of Limerick

• October 27, 1673 - A proclamation declares the banishment of Catholic bishops and priest and the closure of religious houses and schools under Charles IIs reign

• October 27, 1728 - James Cook, circum-navigator of the globe, born to Scottish parents in Yorkshire.

• October 27, 1736 - James Macpherson Scottish translator of Ossianic poems born.

• October 27, 1854 - William Smith, founder of the Boys Brigade, born.

• October 27, 1878 - Between October 24 and this date, Fenians propose a New Departure - an alliance with the Parnellites

• October 27, 1905 - Birth in Dublin of Bryan Guinness, 2nd Lord Moyne; brewer and writer

• October 27, 1970 - David Jones Welsh poet and artist died.

• October 27, 1980 - Beginning of the Hunger Strike by seven Republican prisoners in the H Blocks at Long Kesh. They are later joined by three female prisoners at Armagh Prison

• October 28, 1562 - Battle of Corrichie, Earl of Moray defeated Catholic Gordons of Huntly who were attacking Aberdeen.

• October 28, 1659 - Birth of Nicholas Brad, Anglican clergyman and poet, in Bandon, Co. Cork

• October 28, 1758 - Edward Moore, 5th Earl of Drogheda and former MP for Dunleer, drowns with his son Edward, chaplain to the House of Commons, en route from England to Dublin

• October 28, 1794 - Birth of Robert Liston in Linlithgow who was to carry out the first operation in Britain with the aid of an anesthetic.

• October 28, 1875 - Death of William Howard Glover, composer and music critic

• October 28, 1880 - Dr Henry Faulds, a Scots medical missionary working in Japan, published a letter in Nature which gave the first evidence that fingerprints could be used as proof of guilt or innocence in legal cases.

• October 28, 1907 - John Harold Hewitt, poet who wrote the Glens of Antrim, is born

• October 28, 1909 - Birth in Dublin of Sir Francis Bacon, painter

• October 28, 1922 - Journalist and novelist Cliff Hanley (Dancing in the Streets etc) born in Glasgow.

• October 28, 1965 - House of Commons passed the Bill abolishing the death penalty for murder.

• October 29, 1312 - Treaty of Inverness with Norway

• October 29, 1740 - James Boswell, biographer of Dr Johnston, born at Blairs Land, Parliament Square, Edinburgh.

• October 29, 1835 - Michael William Balfes opera Siege of Rochelle is first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in London

• October 29, 1885 - Confederate Civil War Gen. Joseph Finegan, from Co. Monaghan, dies in Rutledge, Florida

• October 29, 1892 - Death of Clonakilty artist, William Hartnett

• October 29, 1922 - Birth of Neil Blaney, politician, in Rosnakill, Co. Donegal

• October 30, 1751 - Birth in Dublin of dramatist and orator, Richard Brinsley Sheridan

• October 30, 1816 - Sir Richard Quain, physician to Queen Victoria, is born in Mallow, Co. Cork

• October 30, 1822 - Caledonian Canal opened.

• October 30, 1865 - Róis Ní Ógáin (Rose Mabel Young), Gaelic scholar and editor of Duanaire Gaedhilge, is born

• October 30, 1892 - Eoin ODuffy, revolutionary and organizer of the infamous Blueshirts, was born in Castleblayney, County Monaghan.

• October 30, 1925 - First moving image on a television screen when John Logie Baird transmitted the image of a, 15-year-old office boy in his London workshop.

• October 30, 1928 - Birth of Sir Charles Brett, architectural historian

• October 31, 1641 - The Ulster rebels take Dundalk

• October 31, 1804 - Morgan OConnell, soldier and politician, is born in Dublin

• October 31, 1838 - General Sir William Frances Butler, soldier and author, is born in Suirville, Co. Tipperary. He had a remarkable and often controversial military career spanning over 50 years. During the Land War he became a great personal friend of Charles Stewart Parne

• October 31, 1845 - A committee is formed to examine the extent of the potato crop failure and suggest remedies

• October 31, 1883 - Birth of Sara Allgood, stage and Hollywood actress, in Dublin. Considered one of the greatest character actresses of her time, the crowning point of her career came with her nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in How Green Was My

• October 31, 1888 - Pneumatic bicycle tires were patented by inventor John Boyd Dunlop from Ayrshire.

• October 31, 1903 - Hampden Park stadium opened in Glasgow as the home of Queens Park Football Club.

• October 31, 1930 - Birth of Michael Collins, an Irish American born in Rome, and pilot of the command module of the Apollo 10 lunar landing in 1969

• October 31 - Oíche Shamhna - Cetlic New Year Eve (Halloween)

• November 1, 1625 - Birth near Oldcastle, Co. Meath of St. Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh who was canonized in 1975

• November 1, 1695 - Bank of Scotland founded by an Act of the Scottish Parliament.

• November 1, 1790 - Edmund Burkes Reflections on the Revolution in France is published

• November 1, 1798 - Sir Benjamin Guinness, owner of the Guinness brewery from 1855, is born in Dublin

• November 1, 1838 - Birth in Ballylough, Co. Antrim of Anthony Traill, provost of Trinity College, Dublin

• November 1, 1857 - John Joly, geologist and physicist, is born in Co. Offaly

• November 1, 1884 - Founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association

• November 1, 1897 - Novelist and politician Naomi Mitchison born in Edinburgh. Her best known novels are The Conquered (1923), When the Bough Breaks (1924) and Cloud Cuckoo Land.

• November 1, 1920 - Following a mutiny in India by soldiers of the Connaught Rangers in protest at events in Ireland, Private James Daly is court-martialled and executed by firing squad; he is the last member of the British army to be executed for mutiny

• November 1, 1920 - The enrolment of the Ulster Special Constabulary begins

• November 1, 1920 - Kevin Barry, is hanged in Dublin

• November 1, 1945 - Demobilisation of the Irish Army begins

• November 1 - Samhain - Celtic New Year

• November 2, 1719 - The Toleration Act for Protestant Dissenters is passed

• November 2, 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

• November 2, 1797 - Tyrone Power, actor and great-grandfather of the Hollywood movie star of the same name, is born near Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford

• November 2, 1800 - Thomas (Buck) Whaley, MP for Enniscorthy, dies at Knutsford.

• November 2, 1826 - Birth of Henry Smith, mathematician, in Dublin

• November 2, 1853 - Association for Vindication of Scottish Rights (Home Rule organization) founded in Edinburgh

• November 2, 1881 - Tom Johnston, one of Scotland’s best known Secretaries of State, born.

• November 3, 1380 - Edmund Mortimer, 6th Earl of Ulster, holds a parliament at Dublin, which confirms the Statutes of Kilkenny

• November 3, 1692 - The only session of the exclusively Protestant Irish parliament of William III and Mary ends on this date

• November 3, 1698 - The Darien Expedition landed at Caledonia in Panama.

• November 3, 1717 - Henry Luttrell, soldier and suspected betrayer of the Jacobites, is assassinated in Dublin

• November 3, 1788 - Thomas Steele, landlord and supporter of Daniel OConnell is born in Derrymore, Co. Clare

• November 3, 1815 - Birth in Dungiven, Co. Derry of John Mitchel, patriot and founder of the newspaper the United Irishman

• November 3, 1825 - Potato Riots on Mann

• November 3, 1854 - The Catholic University of Ireland is opened with J. H. Newman as its first rector

• November 3, 1903 - Tomas O Fiaich, Irish language author and Cardinal-Archbishop of Armagh is born

• November 3, 1917 - Birth of Conor Cruise OBrien, diplomat, political commentator and writer

• November 3, 1932 - Birth in Rooskey, Co. Roscommon of Albert Reynolds, politician and businessman, Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach from 1992-1994

• November 3, 1975 - Queen Elizabeth officially opened an underwater pipeline to bring the first North Sea oil ashore.

• November 3, 1991 - Liz McColgan won her first marathon in a record time.

• November 4, 1650 - Birth of King William III.

• November 4, 1698 - Foundation of Scotlands only New World colony New Caledonia at Darien Imus of Panama

• November 4, 1774 - Poet and song writer Robert Allan was born in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire.

• November 4, 1802 - Birth of novelist Lady Rosina Lytton, née Wheeler, in Co. Limerick

• November 4, 1884 - Birth in Hillsborough, Co. Down of Harry Ferguson, engineer, inventor, and pioneer of the modern tractor

• November 4, 1908 - Six women meet at the home of womens activists Hanna and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington to establish the Irish Womens Franchise League

• November 4, 1927 - Birth in Waterford of comedian, Hal Roach

• November 5, 1688 - William of Orange arrives in England with 15,000 men

• November 5, 1839 - Chartist march on Newport Wales ends as militia fires on Chartists killing nine.

• November 5, 1877 - Opening of the original Mitchell Library, Glasgow, now the largest public reference library in Europe.

• November 5, 1879 - Death of Edinburgh-born mathematician and physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

• November 6, 1649 - Owen Roe ONeill - Catholic military leader against Cromwell - dies

• November 6, 1986 - Ireland elects its first woman President Mary Robinson

• November 7, 1366 - Lionel of Clarence, leaves Ireland

• November 7, 1771 - Funeral of Charles Lucas in Dublin attracts large crowds

• November 7, 1791 - The Customs House opens in Dublin

• November 7, 1864 - The first public performance of Arrah-na-pogue at Dublins Theatre Royal

• November 7, 1878 - Margaret Cousins, née Gillespie, suffragist and Indias first female magistrate, is born in Boyle, Co. Roscommon

• November 7, 1881 - Birth Peadar Ó Dubhda, teacher of Irish and translator or the Bible into Irish

• November 7, 1900 - George Wyndham becomes Chief Secretary for Ireland

• November 8, 1847 - Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, born in Dublin

• November 9, 1791 - James Napper Tandy convenes the first meeting of Dublins United Irishmen

• November 9, 1875 - Sir Hugh Lane, art collector and critic, is born in Ballybrack, Co. Cork

• November 9, 1926 - Birth in Dublin of Hugh Leonard, pseudonym of John Keyes Byrne, playwright

• November 10, 1728 - Oliver Goldsmith, playwright, novelist and poet, born

• November 10, 1783 - National Volunteer convention on parliamentary reform begins at the Rotunda in Dublin

• November 10, 1798 - Theobald Wolfe Tone tried and convicted of treason in the aftermath of the Irish Rebellion of 1798

• November 10, 1813 - Thomas Lloyd, son of John Lloyd, former MP for Kings County and Innistiogue, is killed at the head of his regiment at the passage of Nivelle in south-west France

• November 10, 1832 - Charles Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Killowen, lawyer and Lord Chief Justice of England, is born in Newry, Co. Down

• November 10, 1861 - Thousands turn out to view the coffin of Terence Bellew MacManus

• November 10, 1879 - Padraig Pearse, Irish revolutionary and one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rebellion, is born

• November 10, 1896 - Lady Mary Heath, pioneer aviator and athlete, is born

• November 10, 1902 - Leon Ó Broin, writer and public servant, is born in Dublin

• November 11, 1171 - Henry II holds his court in Dublin from this date to 2 February 1172

• November 11, 1718 - Birth of Thomas Waite, MP and Under Secretary for the Civil Department

• November 11, 1841 - Death of Sister Catherine McAuley, founder of the order of the Sisters of Mercy

• November 11, 1887 - Birth of John M. Hayes in Murroe, Co. Limerick; priest and founder of Muintir na Tíre

• November 11, 1919 - The first edition of the Irish Bulletin is published

• November 11, 1923 - Birth of F.S.L. Lyons, historian and biographer

• November 11th - Closing of Samhain - with animal sacrifices to exclude evil sprits (later Christianized as Martinmas)

• November 12, 2005 - St Machar Day, patron saint of Aberdeen

• November 12, 1798 - Hours before his execution, Irish Rebel, Wolf Tone suffers a deep wound in his neck

• November 12, 1934 - Birth of John McGahern, known primarily for his novel, The Dark

• November 13, 1643 - Charles I appoints James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormond as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

• November 13, 1647 - Battle of Cnoc na nOs Alasdair MacColla Scottish military leaderdies fighting on Irish side against Cromwells Troops

• November 13, 1923 - Leonard Boyle, priest and palaeographer, is born in Ballintra, County Donegal

• November 14, 1669 - St. Oliver Plunkett becomes Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland

• November 14, 1832 - Stopford Brooke, born near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, a chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria, writer and literary critic

• November 14, 1873 - Michael Healy, stained-glass artist, illustrator and painter, is born in Dublin

• November 14, 1903 - Sir Francis Leopold McClintock, British naval officer and explorer, died.

• November 14, 1918 - Seumas O'Kelly, playwright, novelist , short story writer , and journalist, dies

• November 14, 1921 - Roy McFadden, poet, is born in Belfast, Ireland

• November 15, 1881 - William Pearse, brother of Patrick, is born in Dublin

• November 15, 1923 - Birth of Tom Clifford, rugby player, in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary

• November 16, 1272 - Henry III, the King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine dies

• November 16, 1754 - William Marsden, orientalist, scholar and numismatist, born in Wicklow

• November 16, 1793 - Francis Danby, landscape painter, is born near Killinick, Co. Wexford

• November 16, 1795 - Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough, student and promoter of Mexican antiquities, is born in Cork

• November 16, 1814 - US General Michael Kelly Lawler, Union army, is born in Co. Kildare

• November 16, 1816 - Benjamin Woodward, architect, is born in Tullamore, Co. Offaly

• November 16, 1891 - Buffalo Bills Wild West Show opened in the East End Exhibition Buildings, Duke Street, Glasgow.

• November 16, 1893 - George Alexander Osborne, Irish composer, died

• November 17, 1814 - U.S. Confederte General, Joseph Finegan, is born in Clones, Co. Monaghhan

• November 17, 1852 - Donegal-born Brigadier Michael Corcorans Irish Legion is mustered into the Federal service; it is involved in the defense of Washington D.C.

• November 17, 1922 - The Irish Free State begins the executions of seventy seven anti Treaty republican prisoners

• November 17, 1930 - Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake

• November 17, 1939 - Birth of Luke Kelly of the Dubliners

• November 18, 1709 - Birth of Henry Loftus, Earl of Ely and 4th Viscount born

• November 18, 1785 - Sir David Wilkie who later became a well-known painter of historical and religious works as well as portraits, was born near Pitlessie, Fife

• November 18, 1873 - Home Rule League meets in Dublin becomes a political party

• November 18, 1880 - Irish Football Assocation formed in Belfast

• November 18, 1899 - Death of William Allingham, poet

• November 18, 1922 - Court martial of Erskine Childers begins

• November 19, 1783 - The Volunteers parliamentary reform bill is rejected by the Irish House of Commons, 157 to 77

• November 19, 1798 - Theobald Wolfe Tone, dies before his scheduled execution

• November 19, 1821 - 17 people are burned to death in a house in Tubber, Co. Tipperary, probably by Rockite agitators

• November 19, 1871 - Margaret Emmeline Conway Dobbs, Irish historian, is born

• November 19, 1900 - Pamela Hinkson, born

• November 19, 1924 - Cardinal Michael Logue, Primate of All Ireland, died in Armagh, Ireland

• November 20, 1762 - Francis Andrews is appointed first professor of history at the University of Dublin

• November 20, 1800 - Richard Rothwell, painter, is born in Athlone, Co. Westmeath

• November 20, 1830 - Patrick Henry Jones, Union General from Co. Meath, born

• November 20, 1840 - John Russell Young, journalist in American Civil War, from Co. Tyrone, born

• November 20, 1889 - Donn Byrne, novelist and short-story writer, is born

• November 20, 1917 - The 16th Irish Division of the British army assaults an area of the German lines known as Tunnel Trench

• November 20, 1925 - Eoin MacNeill, resigns from the Boundary Commission

• November 21, 1281 - Stephen de Fulbourne, bishop of Waterford and treasurer, replaces the infirm Robert de Ufford as justiciar and establishes a mint at Waterford

• November 21, 1759 - Henry Flood enters parliament and becomes leader of the opposition

• November 21, 1767 - Thomas Russell, the United Irishman, is born in Kilshanick, Co. Cork

• November 21, 1887 - Joseph Mary Plunkett, Irish patriot and poet, is born in Dublin

• November 21, 1920 - Bloody Sunday, Dublin Ireland, 1920

• November 22, 1773 - Lord John Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, is born in Dublin

• November 22, 1830 - Justin McCarthy, politician, novelist and historian, is born in Cork

• November 22, 1869 - Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, Fenian, contests and wins a Tipperary by-election in abstentia, but is declared ineligible as a convicted felon

• November 22, 1912 - Donagh MacDonagh, son of Thomas MacDonagh, born in Dublin

• November 22, 1919 - Birth of Máire Drumm, Irish Republican, in Newry, Co. Armagh

• November 23, 1702 - Birth of Sir Richard Cox, politician and pamphleteer

• November 23, 1719 - Spranger Barry, actor, is born in Dublin

• November 23, 1810 - Margaret Aylward, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Faith, born in Waterford

• November 23, 1841 - Richard Croker, Boss of Tammany Hall, NY, born in Cork

• November 23, 1845 - Charlotte Grace O'Brien, social reformer who campaigned against conditions on emigrant ships, is born

• November 23, 1847 - Historian Walter Biggar Blaikie born.

• November 23, 1865 - Herbert Trench, poet, dramatist and theatre producer, in Avonmore, Co. Cork, is born

• November 23, 1867 - Manchester Martyrs, 3 Fenians are executed - Michael Larkin, William Philip Allen, and Michael O'Brien

• November 23, 1876 - Sir Richard Dawson Bates, unionist politician and minister in Northern Ireland is born in Belfast

• November 23, 1913 - Irish Citizen Army is formed

• November 23, 1927 - Birth of journalist and BBC political editor, John Cole

• November 24, 1572 - John Knox, leading reformer of Church of Scotland, died

• November 24, 1713 - Lawrence Sterne, clergyman, humorist, and author, is born in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

• November 24, 1807 - Henry Blosse Lynch, soldier and explorer, is born in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo

• November 24, 1820 - Arthur French, MP for Co. Roscommon, dies of excessive fox-hunting

• November 24, 1865 - James Stephens, Fenian, escapes from Richmond prison, Dublin

• November 24, 1922 - Irish republican Erskine Childers is executed by the Free State government

• November 24, 1996 - Sorley MacLean, poet, died

• November 25, 1713 - The second Irish parliament of Queen Anne sits from this date to 24 December

• November 25, 1764 - Birth of Henry Sirr, Dublin town head of police

• November 25, 1784 - James Napper Tandy leading radicals asks for Parliamentary reform for Ireland

• November 25, 1906 - Saidie Paterson, trade unionist and peace activist, born in Belfast

• November 25, 1913 - Official founding date of the Provisional Committee of the Irish Volunteers

• November 26, 1624 - John Stearne, founder and first president of the College of Physicians, born

• November 26, 1852 - Aeneas Coffey, inventor of the Coffey Still, dies

• November 26, 1873 - Osborn Joseph Bergin, Celtic Scholar, born in Cork

• November 26, 1885 - Thomas Andrews, chemist and physicist, born in Belfast

• November 26, 1926 - Rugby player Karl Mullen is born in Courtown Harbour, Co. Wexford

• November 26, 1955 - Saor Uladh (Free Ulster) a splinter group of the IRA, attacks the police barracks in Rosslea, Co. Fermanagh

• November 26, 1972 - RTÉ Journalist Kevin O'Kelly is imprisoned for contempt of court

• November 27, 1612 - Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, is the first of 40 new boroughs to be incorporated

• November 27, 1774 - John Kyan, inventor, is born in Dublin

• November 27, 1857 - Thomas Heazle Parke, surgeon, military officer and author, born

• November 27, 1871 - The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, opens with a performance of She Stoops to Conquer

• November 27, 1876 - Henry Robinson Allen, tenor and composer, dies

• November 27, 1878 - Sir William Orpen, painter, in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, born

• November 27, 1906 - Michael Cusack, one of the founders of the GAA, died

• November 27, 784 - St. Vergilius or Ferghil, the Geometer, died

• November 28, 1727 - William Connolly is unanimously re-elected Speaker of the Irish House of Commons

• November 28, 1856 - Cardinal Patrick O'Donnell, born near Glenties, Co. Donegal

• November 28, 1863 - Foundation of the Fenian newspaper, Irish People

• November 28, 1899 - Irish units in the Boer army fight in the battle of Modder River

• November 28, 1905 - The Irish political party Sinn Féin is founded in Dublin by Arthur Griffith

• November 28, 1920 - Tom Barry and his Cork Flying Column ambush a convoy in Kilmichael

• November 29, 1521 - William Rokeby, Archbishop of Dublin, dies

• November 29, 1641 - Battle of Julianstown

• November 29, 1740 - Rev. Edward Sewell, a couple-beggar, is hanged at Stephen's Green

• November 29, 1895 - Denny Lane, Young Irelander, author and poet, died

• November 29, 1898 - C.S. Lewis, Irish writer, literary and religious scholar, is born

• November 29, 1933 - Eamon Campbell of the Dubliners, born

• November 3, 1923 - Tomás Ó Fiaich, cardinal, historian and Catholic Primate of All Ireland, is born in Cullyhanna, Co. Armagh

• November 30, 1667 - Jonathan Swift, poet, satirist and clergyman 1670, born in Dublin

• November 30, 1864 - General Patrick Cleburne is killed in command of his division at a battle in Franklin, Tennessee

• November 30, 1869 - James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn and first Governor of Northern Ireland

• November 30, 1900 - Death of Oscar Wilde in Paris

• November 30, 1923 - John Maclean, political activist, Marxist, appointed Bolshevik consul for Scotland by Lenin, died

• November 30, 1930 - Mary G. Harris Jones, known as Mother Jones, died

• November 30, 1944 - HMS Vanguard, Britains biggest and last battleship, was launched at Clydebank

• December 1, 1494 - Poynings Law enacted. This forbids the Irish parliament to convene without the Kings prior permission, and all intended legislation has to be approved by him

• December 1, 1768 - The first volume of Encyclopedia Britannica was published in Edinburgh, edited by William Smellie.

• December 1, 1787 - First lighthouse in Scotland opened (at Kinnaird Head, Fraserburgh).. It was built by Thomas Smith and Robert Stevenson.

• December 1, 1848 - The paddle steamer The Londonderry, with immigrants fleeing the famine, takes shelter in Derry harbour. When the covers are removed from the hold it is discovered that 72 men, women and children have suffocated

• December 1, 1889 - Michael Hayes, politician and professor of Irish is born in Dublin

• December 1, 1890 - Six days of Irish Parliamentary Party debates begin, only to end in a split, with the majority opposing Parnell

• December 1, 1901 - Fenian Thomas Clarke Luby dies in New York. Luby was born in Dublin in 1821. He was the son of a Church of Ireland minister and graduate of Trinity College. His first political experience was in the Young Ireland movement

• December 1, 1935 - Llewelyn Powys Welsh writer died.

• December 1, 1966 - Hurricane-force winds caused widespread damage.

• December 2, 1791 - Death in Kilkenny of Henry Flood, founder of the movement which forces Britain to grant legislative independence to Ireland

• December 2, 1802 - Sir Dominic Corrigan, cardiologist, is born in Dublin

• December 2, 1805 - William Thompson, naturalist, is born in Belfast

• December 2, 1811 - The Kildare Place Society is formed to maintain non-denominational schools and to promote the education of the poor

• December 2, 1848 - Mary Slessor, missionary, born.

• December 2, 1865 - The Fenian senate deposes founder John OMahoney as president, replacing him with William Roberts

• December 2, 1877 - Birth of nationalist politician Cahir Healy in Mountcharles, Co. Donegal

• December 2, 1924 - William Craig, unionist politician, is born

• December 3, 1745 - John Toler, 1st Earl of Norbury and Chief Justice, is born in Beechwood, Co. Tipperary

• December 3, 1792 - Beginning on this date and continuing through December 8, a Catholic Convention is held in Tailors Hall, Dublin to demand abolition of the remaining penal laws; a petition is presented to the king in London

• December 3, 1831 - Birth near Belfast of James Graham Fair, banker, mining tycoon and US senator

• December 3, 1894 - Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish author died.

• December 3, 1897 - Birth in Limerick of Irish writer, Kate OBrien who will become best known for her novels Land of Spices and That Lady

• December 3, 1965 - The Beatles launched their last concert tour of Britain in Glasgow.

• December 4, 1214 - King William I (Lion) died at Stirling and was succeeded by his son Alexander II.

• December 4, 1423 - Treaty of London, releasing James I from his, 18 years captivity in England.

• December 4, 1795 - Thomas Carlye, Scottish historian born.

• December 4, 1795 - Essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle, best known for his French Revolution born in Ecclefechan.

• December 4, 1879 - Sir Hamilton Harty, musician and composer, is born in Hillsborough, Co. Down

• December 4, 1882 - John Curran, Dublin magistrate, opens a special inquiry into the Phoenix Park murders, in which Parnell is falsely implicated

• December 4, 1887 - Winifred Carney, trade unionist and revolutionary, is born in Bangor, Co. Down

• December 4, 1918 - Richard Bagwell, Irish historian, dies

• December 4, 1937 - Cartoon character Desperate Dan first appeared in the Dandy comic.

• December 5, 1189 - Quitclaim of Canterbury

• December 5, 1560 - King Francis II of France, husband of Mary Queen of Scots, died.

• December 5, 1640 - John Atherton, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, is executed on a charge of immorality

• December 5, 1700 - Birth of Anthony Malone, prominent politician and prime serjeant at time of money bill dispute from1753 to 1756

• December 5, 1853 - Assemblys College, Belfast, opens for the training of Presbyterian clergy

• December 5, 1921 - After lengthy negotiations, the British give the Irish a deadline to accept or reject the Anglo-Irish treaty. In the words of Lloyd George, rejection would mean immediate and terrible war

• December 6, 1214 - King Alexander II crowned at Scone.

• December 6, 1679 - St. Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, is accused of instigating the Irish Popish Plot and arrested

• December 6, 1745 - Charles Edward Stewarts entry into Derby.

• December 6, 1812 - Charles Graves, bishop and mathematician, is born in Dublin

• December 6, 1820 - Spanish General Diego OReilly is defeated by Peruvian revolutionaries

• December 6, 1890 - Dion Fortune (Violet Mary Firth) Welsh occultist born.

• December 6, 1908 - Cornelius Cremin, diplomat, is born in Kenmare, Co. Kerry

• December 6, 1921 - Representatives of the Irish government appointed by President Eamon de Valera, and those negotiating for the Crown sign the Anglo-Irish Treaty, ending the Irish War of Independence against England. Michael Collins declares - I have signed my own death wa

• December 6, 1922 - The Irish Free State, Saorstát Éireann, comes into being

• December 6, 1925 - Con Houlihan, journalist, is born in Castleisland, Co. Kerry

• December 7, 1487 - The Earl of Desmond is murdered at the instigation of his brother, John; another brother, Maurice, is his heir

• December 7, 1688 - Thirteen Apprentice Boys refuse to let a Catholic army into Derry-Londonderry (7 December); Tyrconnell backs down and allows the city to keep its Protestant garrison. Enniskillen also defies James II

• December 7, 1754 - Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, soldier and colonial administrator, is born in Dublin

• December 7, 1768 - William Bulkely, an officer in the Irish Brigade of France, is born in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

• December 7, 1817 - Admiral William Bligh Cornishman of Mutiny on the Bounty fame, died.

• December 7, 1879 - Birth in Tralee, Co. Kerry of Austin Stack, anti-Treaty nationalist

• December 7, 1888 - (Arthur) Joyce Cary, author, is born in Derry-Londonderry. Two of his novels were made into films - The Horses Mouth (1958) starring Sir. Alec Guinness and Mister Johnson (1990)

• December 7, 1922 - The six counties of Northern Ireland opt out of the Free State

• December 7, 521 - Birth of St. Columcille, Irish bard and monk honored in all the Celtic lands

• December 8, 1542 - Mary Stuart Queen of Scots born.

• December 8, 1831 - Death of James Hoban, the Kilkenny architect who designed the White House

• December 8, 1881 - Birth in Longford of Padraic Colum playwright, poet and novelist

• December 8, 1896 - Death of Isabella Maria Susan Tod, Irish womens rights activist 1922 - Liam Mellows, Rory OConnor, Joseph McKelvey and Richard Barrett, Irish patriots - one from each of the four provinces - are executed by the Free State forces

• December 8, 1939 - Sir James Galway, born in Belfast

• December 8, 1969 - Sunningdale Agreement (Council of Ireland)

• December 9, 1165 - King Malcolm IV died at Jedburgh Castle

• December 9, 1791 - Sir Thomas Wyse, politician and diplomat, is born in St John, Co. Waterford

• December 9, 1861 - John ODonovan, Irish language scholar, dies

• December 10, 1616 - Ordinance published by the Scottish Privy Council for the establishment of parish schools in Scotland. The same document commended the abolition of Gaelic.

• December 10, 1690 - Sir John Dillon, MP for Co. Meath, fights a duel with the Earl of Anglesey

• December 10, 1868 - Artist, architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh born.

• December 10, 1920 - Martial law is imposed in Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary

• December 10, 1936 - King Edward VIII abdicated and King George VI acceded to the throne.

• December 10, 1939 - Birth in Waterford of Brendan Bowyer, Irelands answer to Elvis and the lead singer with the Royal Showband