July
8 1920
James Joyce arrived in Paris, planning to stay for only a few months; finding the intellectual environment conducive to his intellect, he remained for almost the rest of his life.
9 1995
The Clare hurling team under Ger Loughnane won the Munster hurling championship for the first time since 1932. They went on to win the All-Ireland final for the first time since 1914 by beating Offaly.
9 1974
Secretary of State Merlyn Rees announced at Westminster that internment in Northern Ireland would be gradually phased out.
12 1998
Three children, Richard (10), Mark (9) and Jason Quinn (8), were burned to death in an attack on their home in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. They were targeted as part of the Drumcree stand-off by loyalists carrying out a campaign of sectarian intimidation in the town.
12 2006
DUP leader Ian Paisley declared that ‘[Sinn Féin] are not fit to be in the government of Northern Ireland and it will be over our dead bodies if they ever get there’. He later reversed this policy.
21 1913
William Martin Murphy issued notices to workers in the parcels department of the Dublin United Tram Company ordering them to reapply for their jobs if they were members of the ITGWU, precipitating the 1913 Lockout.
24 1907
During a prolonged strike involving workers of both traditions in Belfast, members of the Royal Irish Constabulary mutinied, fraternising with striking workers and forcing the state to bring in troops to deal with the dispute.
26 1910
James Connolly arrived back in Dublin from the United States after a seven-year absence. His fare and expenses were paid by the Socialist Party of Ireland and he began his life’s final work, fomenting revolution in Ireland.
August
9 1992
Welterweight boxer Michael Carruth from Dublin won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, beating favourite Juan Hernández Sierra of Cuba 13–10.
9 1963
Elvis Presley reached number one in the Irish charts with Devil in disguise. It remained on the top spot for three weeks before being knocked off by Brendan Bowyer.
14 2003
The Irish Times reported that former taoiseach Charles Haughey had raised almost €45 million from the sale of his home and land at Kinseally, Co. Dublin.
15 1998
In the worst single incident of the modern ‘troubles’, dissident republicans killed 29 civilians in a bomb in the market town of Omagh, Co. Tyrone.
21 1861
Fred Crawford, soldier and senior Ulster Volunteer Force leader, was born on the Malone Road, Belfast. He was one of the central figures involved in organising and arming the original UVF.
26 1913
Drivers abandoned their trams on Sackville Street, signalling the start of the 1913 Lockout in Dublin. Employer William Martin Murphy brought in ‘scab’ drivers, and trams were stoned by workers and their supporters.
31 1913
James Larkin addressed a large crowd of workers from the Imperial Hotel on Dublin’s Sackville Street, leading to extensive rioting between workers, the police and mounted cavalry, resulting in over 400 injuries.
31 1994
After a violent campaign lasting 25 years and which left thousands dead, the Irish Republican Army announced a ‘complete cessation of military activities’.
31 1985
The Pogues released their iconic album Rum, sodomy and the lash, produced by Elvis Costello and Phil Chevron.