June 19

  • 1870 Charles Dickens (58), regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, died.
  • 1969 During his brief official visit to Ireland, General Charles de Gaulle hosted a reception in Áras an Uachtaráin for members of the McCartan Clan from County Down—descendants, like himself, of a McCartan who had fled to France in the wake of the Williamite Wars.
  • 1631 Barbary pirates, led by Captain Matthew Rice, sacked the coastal town of Baltimore, Co. Cork, killing 47 and taking 107 men, women and children into captivity.