March 10

  • 1920 The Government of Ireland Bill, offering a six-county ‘Northern Ireland’, was accepted by a two to one majority by the Ulster Unionist Council.
    Six IRA prisoners were executed in Dublin, four of whom were convicted of high treason for levying war.
  • 1968 Donagh O’Malley (47), minister for education, collapsed and died in Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare, while campaigning in a by-election.
  • 1966 Frank O’Connor (62) (real name Michael O’Donovan), whose works included short stories, notably ‘Guests of the Nation’ (1931), The Big Fellow (1937), a biography of Michael Collins, and a racy rendering of Merriman’s Midnight Court (1945), died.
  • 1810 Sir Samuel Ferguson, antiquary and poet, notably of Lays of the Western Gael (1865), was born in Belfast. He was knighted in 1878 for his work as first Deputy Keeper of the Public Records of Ireland.