Nick Maxwell 1972 Minister for Justice Desmond O’Malley reintroduced the Special Criminal Court under Part V of the Offences Against the State Act (1939). 1900 Luke Dillon, a leading light in the Fenian dynamite campaign (1881–5), was sentenced to life imprisonment along with two others for attempting to bomb the Welland Canal in Canada, an important shipping … Read more
1921 In an operation involving almost 200 IRA Volunteers, the Custom House in Dublin, the centre of local government, was occupied and burnt. Five Volunteers were killed and over 80 arrested. 1315 The Bruce invasion of Ireland began when Edward, younger brother of Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, landed in Larne, Co. Antrim, with 6,000 battle-hardened … Read more
Thur 7.15pm Leixlip History Club, Leixlip Library. The Battle of Ashbourne—reflections on 1916, Seán Ashe. Thur 7.30pm Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 63 Merrion Sq. S. Monasterboice’s crosses and the eye of the beholder, Heather Pulliam. Thur 8pm Rathmines, Ranelagh & Rathgar Historical Society, Rathmines Town Hall. Forger, freemason, freeman: the story of Samuel … Read more
1921 In the general election to the parliament of Northern Ireland, the first in the UK to be held under proportional representation, the Unionist Party won 40 seats, with Sinn Féin and the Irish Parliamentary Party taking six seats each. 1819 Birth of Queen Victoria, the last British monarch of the House of Hanover, who … Read more
2011 Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States, made a one-day visit to Ireland, during which he visited his distant cousins in Moneygall. Co. Offaly, and addressed a crowd of 25,000 in College Green, Dublin. 1770 ‘The Deserted Village’ (likely the village of Auburn, near Athlone) by Oliver Goldsmith was published. 1949 West Germany, officially … Read more