Nick Maxwell

1970 The remains of three mutineers who were convicted for their roles in the Connaught Rangers Mutiny (1920)—Pte James Daly, who was executed, and Pte Peter Sears and Pte Patrick Smith, both of whom died of their wounds—were returned to Ireland for reburial. 1981 ‘Who here really believes we can win the war through the … Read more

1987 The Eksund, carrying 150 tons of armaments believed to be for the IRA, was seized by French customs authorities. 1984 Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India, was assassinated in Delhi by Sikh members of her bodyguard. 1892 Eoin O’Duffy, IRA activist, first commissioner of the Garda Síochána (1922) and Blueshirt leader in the 1930s, born. … Read more

2001 Martin O’Hagan (51), an investigative journalist with the Sunday World who specialised in exposing paramilitary drug-dealing gangs, was shot dead by the Loyalist Volunteer Force in Lurgan, Co. Armagh. 1588 La Girona, a 700-ton galleass of the Spanish Armada, foundered and sank off Lacada Point, just east of Dunluce Castle in north Antrim. Some weeks earlier, … Read more

1859 Above: A contemporary depiction of the wreck of the Royal Charter on 26 October 1859. The Royal Charter, a steamship that also carried sail, en route from Melbourne to Liverpool, was wrecked in a violent storm off the northern coast of Anglesey. On board were 450 passengers and crew, including many miners returning from the diggings in … Read more

1920 Terence MacSwiney (41), lord mayor of Cork, died after 74 days of hunger strike in Brixton Prison, London. 2002 Richard Harris (72), actor and Oscar nominee for This sporting life (1963) and The field (1990), died. 1968 The New University of Ulster in Coleraine, Co. Derry, Ireland’s first new university in over 50 years, … Read more