Nick Maxwell

1982 During the Falklands War, the Argentinian battle-cruiser General Belgrano was sunk by a British submarine outside the British-imposed 200-mile exclusion zone around the islands; 323 Argentine sailors lost their lives. The Charles Haughey-led Irish government announced its intention to propose the withdrawal of EC sanctions against Argentina. 1920 Revd Professor Walter McDonald (66), theologian … Read more

1997 In the British general election, the Labour Party, under Tony Blair, secured a landslide victory, winning 418 seats. 1171 Diarmaid MacMurrough (c. 61), king of Leinster and key instigator of the Norman invasion of Ireland, died in Ferns ‘without a will, without penance, without unction, as his evil deeds deserved’, according to the Four … Read more

1970 Bank strike in the Republic of Ireland (until 17 November). 1919 Professor J.P. Mahaffy (80), scholar, provost of TCD since 1914, died. 1970 In Northern Ireland the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) assumed the duties of the Ulster Special Constabulary (‘B’ Specials), now officially stood down. Over the 22 years of the regiment’s existence 192 members, … Read more

1769 Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington (‘the Iron Duke’), soldier, politician and prime minister (1828–30), born at Mornington House, 24 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, the fourth son of Garrett Wellesley, 1st earl of Mornington. 1917 Following the disaster of the second Battle of the Aisne that month, almost half of the French infantry divisions … Read more