1890 Joseph Gillis Biggar, Home Rule MP for Cavan since 1874, died. The Presbyterian pork butcher from Henry Street, Belfast, who taught C.S. Parnell the technique of parliamentary obstruction, is popularly remembered for his appearance (he was a diminutive hunchback) and for his ability to talk interminably on any subject in a rasping Belfast accent. … Read more
1820 Dan Donnelly, renowned Dublin-born pugilist whose victories included one over the English champion over eleven rounds—when a round lasted until one or other was thrown or knocked to the ground—at ‘Donnelly’s Hollow’ in the Curragh, at present marked by a small obelisk, died. 1980 The Derrynaflan hoard (eighth and ninth centuries), consisting of a … Read more
1919 Mark Sykes (39), diplomat and co-author of the Sykes–Picot Pact, which carved out the post-First World War Ottoman Empire between Britain and France, died in Paris, a victim of the Spanish ’flu pandemic. 1886 ‘I decided some time ago that if Gladstone went for Home Rule, the Orange Card was the one to play. … Read more
1921 Three IRA volunteers were killed and two others wounded in an abortive attack on a train carrying British soldiers at Upton, Co. Cork. Six civilian passengers were also killed and ten wounded in the crossfire. 1970 Eoin ‘the Pope’ O’Mahony (66), barrister, genealogist and raconteur, died. 1989 The Soviet–Afghan War ended after nine years. … Read more
1920 An IRA unit led by Eoin O’Duffy and Ernie O’Malley captured the RIC barracks at Ballytrain, Co. Monaghan, and seized all its arms and ammunition. 1929 The St Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago, USA. In retaliation for a gun attack by Kerryman George ‘Bugs’ Moran’s North Side gang on his Lexington Hotel HQ the … Read more