Nick Maxwell

1991 John Kelly (59), Fine Gael politician, government minister, attorney general (May–July 1987) and lawyer who wrote extensively on legal matters, notably The Irish Constitution (1980), died. 1920 Percy French (65), civil engineer, watercolourist and entertainer, died from pneumonia in Formby, Lancashire. 1986 By-elections were held for the fifteen House of Commons seats held by … Read more

1986 In Westminster by-elections forced by their resignations in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement, fourteen of the fifteen Unionist MPs regained their seats. Seamus Mallon won a seat for the SDLP. 1980 Guiseppe Conlon (57), one of the ‘Maguire Seven’ whose convictions were overturned in 1991, died in Hammersmith Hospital, London, in the fifth year … Read more

1981 Sir Norman Stronge (86), former speaker of the Stormont parliament, and his son James (48), a member of the RUC reserve, were shot dead by the IRA at their home, Tynan Abbey, close to the Armagh/Monaghan border. 1981 Sir Norman Stronge, former speaker of the Stormont parliament, and his son James were shot dead … Read more

1894 Robert Halpin (57), master mariner, died. Going to sea at the age of ten, Halpin served his apprenticeship on a coal boat, and afterwards joined a barque sailing in the North Atlantic, reaching the rank of third mate by the age of seventeen. After nine years under sail, he transferred to steam and got … Read more

1919 The Paris Peace Conference, better known as the Versailles Peace Conference, at which the victorious Allied Powers set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers, began. 1979 Leo Varadkar, TD for Dublin West since 2007 and taoiseach since June 2017, born in Dublin. 1987 T. Desmond Wilson, professor of modern history at UCD … Read more