Nick Maxwell

1986 Siobhán McKenna (63), Belfast-born stage and screen actor, died. 1965 W.T. (William Thomas) Cosgrave (85), politician, leader of Cumann na nGaedheal (1922–33), leader of Fine Gael (1934–44) and first president of the Executive Council of the Free State (1922–32), died. 1615 St Columbanus, monk and missionary from Bangor, Co. Down, died in Bobbio, northern … Read more

1921 Tadhg Barry (c. 41), Sinn Féin councillor, branch secretary to the ITGWU in his native Cork and an internee in Ballykinlar Camp, Co. Down, was shot dead by a sentry. 1991 George Otto Simms, archbishop of Dublin (1956–69), archbishop of Armagh (1969–80) and scholar who was a leading authority on the Book of Kells, died. … Read more

1981 Revd Robert Bradford (40), Ulster Unionist Party MP for South Belfast, was shot dead by IRA gunmen in a community centre in Finaghy, Belfast. An attendant at the centre was also killed. 1920 Fr Michael Griffin from Barna, Co. Galway, was abducted from his home by Auxiliaries. His body, with a single gunshot wound … Read more

1952 The body of Patricia Curran (19), daughter of former Unionist MP for Carrickfergus and high court judge Lancelot Curran, was found in the grounds of the family home in Whiteabbey, overlooking Belfast Lough. She had been stabbed 37 times in a frenzied attack. The investigation and prosecution of ‘the judge’s daughter’ case was irregular, … Read more

1952 The body of Patricia Curran (19), daughter of Mr Justice L. Curran, was discovered in the grounds of the family home in Whiteabbey, Belfast. She had been stabbed 37 times. Iain Hay Gordon (21), a Scottish-born RAF technician, was later found guilty of her murder but insane. The Northern Ireland court of appeal squashed … Read more