1981 After the deaths of ten republicans on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of the Maze Prison, and further intervention by relatives, the IRA called off the hunger strike. Sixty-one lives, including those of 30 members of the security forces, were lost during the campaign. 1971 Seán Ó Riada (40), musician and composer, notably of … Read more
1971 Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act (1960) was invoked to prevent RTÉ from reporting on the activities of illegal organisations. 1925 Denis Henry, first lord chief justice of Northern Ireland and the last Catholic to hold a unionist parliamentary seat, died. 1911 The Parnell monument by Dublin-born sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, featuring an 8ft statue … Read more
1944 Eoin O’Duffy (52), first commissioner of the Garda Síochána (1922–33) and Blueshirt leader, died. 1938 The Munich Agreement was signed by Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. In return for a guarantee that it would be his last territorial demand in Europe, it allowed Hitler to annex Sudetenland, the mainly German-speaking portions of … Read more
1979 ‘On my knees, I beg you to turn away from the paths of violence and to return to the ways of peace … Further violence in Ireland will only drag down to ruin the land you claim to love and the values you claim to cherish’—Pope John Paul II in an address at Killineer, … Read more
1920 Units of Cork No. 2 (North) Brigade led by Liam Lynch and Ernie O’Malley captured the military barracks in Mallow, Co. Cork, the only one captured during the War of Independence, and recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition. Mallow was sacked in reprisal. 2001 Martin O’Hagan (51), investigative journalist who specialised in … Read more