1971 At its annual congress in Belfast the GAA voted to abolish Rule 27, the ban that prohibited the playing of soccer, rugby, hockey and cricket by members of the association. 1770 George Canning, Tory statesman and prime minister for the final 118 days of his life, who described himself as ‘an Irishman born in London’, … Read more
1998 The Good Friday/Belfast Agreement on the future governance of Northern Ireland was signed by the British and Irish governments and the North’s main political parties, with the exception of the DUP. 1867 George William Russell, widely known as ‘AE’, poet, mystic, editor, writer and artist, born in Lurgan, Co. Armagh. 1838 Father Theobald Mathew … Read more
1922 The anti-Treaty IRA executive appointed a seven-man army council, with Liam Lynch as chief-of-staff. 1921 William Walsh (80), prolific writer, leading intellectual in the Irish Catholic Church and archbishop of Dublin since 1885, died. 1981 In the Fermanagh–South Tyrone by-election (87% poll), IRA prisoner Bobby Sands, on the 40th day of his hunger strike, … Read more
1861 The Derryveagh evictions. Over a three-day period, John George Adair, landlord of the Gartan, Glenveagh and Derryveagh estates, evicted 244 tenants from 46 households and levelled 28 homes. The evictions became international news and were debated three times in Westminster. 1816 Sir Frederick Burton, antiquarian and watercolour painter, notably of The meeting on the … Read more
1922 The Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Bill became law, giving the minister for home affairs authority to detain suspects and to set up courts of summary jurisdiction. 1719 Death of Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (67), French priest and Catholic saint (canonised in 1900) who founded the De La Salle schools. 1868 Thomas D’Arcy McGee (42), … Read more