1929 The Ardnacrusha hydroelectric station in County Clare, constructed over a period of four years by the German firm Siemens-Schuckert and employing several thousand local men and a thousand Germans, was officially opened. 1969 In the Republic, the Finance Act (1969, Section 2) exempted persons deemed to have written, composed or executed works of cultural … Read more
2005 Seven years after the Belfast Agreement, the Provisional IRA finally and definitively called an end to its armed campaign. 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Belgrade, the Serbian capital, was bombarded the following day. Tsar Nicholas II ordered the partial mobilisation of Russian forces on the Austro-Hungarian border. 1689 Siege of Derry ended after 105 days.
1920 Recruitment began, mainly from among demobilised British Army officers, into a new force—the ‘Auxiliary Division’—to augment the RIC. 1939 Michael Longley, poet, notable for ‘Gorse Fires’ (1991), ‘The Weather in Japan’ (2000) and ‘The Stairwell’ (2014), born in Belfast of English parents. 2004 Bob Tisdall (96), Olympic gold medal-winner in the 400m hurdles (Los … Read more
1869 The Irish Church Act disestablished the Church of Ireland, a pivotal moment in the dismantling of Protestant Ascendancy. 1987 Stephen Roche became the first Irish rider to win the Tour de France. 1914 Arms and ammunition landed in Howth by Erskine Childers on the Asgard. 1956 Egyptian leader Gamel Nasser announced the immediate nationalisation … Read more
1918 Cork-born Major Edward ‘Mick’ Mannock (31), one of the most celebrated fighter pilots of the RFC (Royal Flying Corps), with 73 credited enemy ‘kills’ in fourteen months, was shot down and killed by enemy fire. 1917 The Irish Convention, an attempt to secure a final settlement to the Home Rule question, met at Trinity … Read more