Nick Maxwell

1920 The Sinn Féin president, Éamon de Valera, returned to Ireland after an eighteen-month fund-raising tour of the United States. 1920 The Act for the Better Government of Ireland created the states of Northern Ireland (six counties) and Southern Ireland (26 counties). 1996 Sophie Toscan du Plantier (39), French film producer, was murdered outside her holiday … Read more

1969 Bernadette Devlin was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for her activities during the Battle of the Bogside 1989 Samuel (Barclay) Beckett, novelist, poet and playwright, notably of En attendant Godot (1953), and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1969), died. 1919 ‘Any attempt at [Ireland’s] secession will be fought with the same resolve … Read more

1985 The Progressive Democratic (PD) Party was founded by Desmond O’Malley. The first public meeting took place the following month. 1948 The Republic of Ireland Act repealed the External Relations Act (1936), providing for the declaration of an Irish Republic. 1917 Heinrich Boll, author of Irish journal (1957) and Nobel Laureate (1972), born in Cologne. … Read more

2004  Around £26.5 million was stolen from the headquarters of the Northern Bank, Belfast, allegedly by the IRA. It was the biggest bank robbery in Irish history. 1968  John Steinbeck (66), American novelist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1962), died. In his early days, Steinbeck spent much of his time on the … Read more

1985 All fifteen Ulster Unionist MPs resigned their seats in the House of Commons in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement. 1936 Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Flores, Buenos Aires, the eldest of five children of an Italian immigrant accountant (80 today). 1911 The Local Authorities (Ireland) (Qualification of Women) Act allowed women to … Read more