1921 Brian Faulkner, the sixth and last prime minister of Northern Ireland (3/1971–3/1972) and the only one to have been educated in the Irish Free State, born in Helen’s Bay, Co. Down, the son of a shirtmaker. 1920 Timothy Quinlisk, a Catholic ex-soldier and former member of Sir Roger Casement’s Irish Brigade, was executed by … Read more
1871 Joseph Devlin, the leading Ulster nationalist over a 30-year period, who began his parliamentary career when returned for North Kilkenny in 1902, born in Hamill Street, west Belfast. 1864 Stephen Gwynn, nationalist and writer and grandson of William Smith O’Brien, born in Dublin. His son, Denis Gwynn (1893–1971), was Professor of Modern History at … Read more
1961 Radio Teilifís Éireann, the national television service, was launched with an address by President Eamon de Valera. 1869 Henri Matisse (84), leading figure in modern art, born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in the Nord department in northern France. 1961 Telefís Éireann was launched by President Eamon de Valera. 1964 Daniel Corkery (86), teacher and author, notably … Read more
1989 Václav Havel, writer, dissident and former political prisoner, became president of Czechoslovakia, the first non-communist president for 41 years. 1739 A violent easterly storm introduced the ‘Great Frost’, prelude to the first major famine in modern Irish history. Unlike the Great Famine (1845–9), which mainly affected people dependent on the potato, the eighteenth-century event … Read more
1969 The Sunday Press in Dublin reported a split in the IRA over the issue of contesting elections. 1972 A teenage boy and girl were killed and nine others were injured when a car bomb exploded in Belturbet, Co. Cavan. 1972 In one of three UVF bomb attacks in the Republic of Ireland that day, a … Read more