Tralee Times
Selected Events in Irish History in the Month of
APRIL
April 1
1329 - From April onwards there are risings by the native Irish in various parts of Munster and Leinster, and reprisals against them. This
will continue into 1330
1776 - Irish-born Edward Hand is appointed a Brigadier General in the Continental Army
1911 - The Titanic is launched in Belfast
1919 - DeValera is elected president of the first Dáil Éireann
1986 - US sub Nathaniel Green runs aground in the Irish Sea
1998 - The European Commission serves notice on the Government that Ireland faces prosecution in the European Court on charges of
damaging the environment and failing to provide secure habitats for some of our most endangered bird species
1999 - One thousand people, the entire population of Belmullet in Co. Mayo, are evacuated from the town following a fire in a rubber factory
2000 - John Dennehy, Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science, makes academic history by being elected Chairman
of the Education Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for a three year period. He is the first
Irish person to be appointed to this position
2001 - One of Irish television’s most familiar faces, Brendan O’Reilly, passes away. The 71 year old former television and radio
broadcaster and commentator had been ill for a number of months
2001 - The Department of Agriculture orders the slaughter of all the remaining 15,000 or so sheep in the Cooley Peninsula, Co. Louth
April 2
1871 - A census on this date shows the population of Ireland to be 5,412,377; only 285 Jews are recorded in the census
1914 - Cumann na mBan, Irish women's Republican movement, is founded
1970 - Several days of rioting following Easter rising commemorations end on this date
1972 - Radio na Gaeltachta goes on the air for the first time and is launched by Eamon De Valera
1973 - Special Powers Act replaced by Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act
1998 - Dissident republicans, aligned to the 32 County Sovereignty Committee and a Louth-based former IRA Quartermaster are said to be
behind a massive explosives find in Dun Laoghaire
1999 - More than 170 staff at the biggest Dunnes Stores branch in the west of Ireland are suspended in a row over a worker facing
dismissal because she sampled food at the delicatessen counter
April 3
1807 - Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co. Kerry, resigns as Commissioner of the Treasury (UK) over the issue of Catholic relief
1825 - Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Young Irelander, journalist and promoter of Canadian Federation, is born
1900 - Queen Victoria arrives at Kingstown for a three-day visit to Ireland
1998 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair announce that with ''realistic negotiation'', agreement in the Northern
Ireland peace process could be reached by Thursday's deadline
1998 - Witnesses for the new inquiry into Bloody Sunday launched on this date in Derry, will not be offered blanket immunity from
prosecution, according to the presiding chairman of the tribunal
2000 - Thousands of gallons of diesel oil are pumped off a storm-stricken Dutch barge which ran aground on a sandbank in Bray Harbour,
Co. Wicklow
2000 - At the Special Criminal Court, John Gilligan denies having any involvement in the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin
2001 - The Government agrees to a £2 million package to bail out the financially troubled Jeanie Johnston famine ship project
April 4
1774 - Death of Oliver Goldsmith
1933 - Paddy Hopkirk, international rally driver, is born in Belfast
1951 - The Catholic hierarchy condemns the "Mother and Child" plan for free medical services, fearing the consequences of health
education for women. Dr Noel Browne, Minister for Health, resigns; the scheme is abandoned on 6 April
1994 - Riverdance appears in public for the very first time at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin
1999 - The annual World Irish Dancing Championships come to an end in Ennis
April 5
1818 - Bernardo O'Higgins defeats the Spanish at the battle of Maipo River, Chile
1855 - The Dublin-Belfast railway line is completed
1916 - Patrick Pearse denies rumors of a possible rising to Irish Volunteer Chief of Staff Eoin MacNeill
1961 - Death of Oscar-winning Irish actor of stage and screen Barry Fitzgerald. Born in Dublin in 1888, he pursues an acting career at the
Abbey Theatre and then heads for Hollywood where he becomes Paramount's resident Irishman in such films as "Going My Way" for which
he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. His finest works are under director John Ford, including "How Green Was My Valley" and the "The
Quiet Man."
1962 - Guinness formally adopts the harp as its symbol
1975 - L'escargot, ridden by Tommy Carberry, wins the Aintree Grand National
1999 - More than 300 Co. Waterford people armed with gloves and plastic bags brave a driving mist and head for the hills for the annual
Clean up the Comeraghs campaign
2000 - Debbie Walsh and Jennifer McCarthy are shown at the opening of 'the father of the modern day submarine' exhibition in Cobh
heritage centre. This year is the 100th anniversary of the commissioning of the first US submarine invented by John Phillip Holland from
Liscannor, Co. Clare
April 6
1830 - James Augustine Healy, the first black Roman Catholic bishop in America, was born to an Irish planter and a slave on a plantation
near Macon, Georgia
1926 - Birth in Armagh of Ian Paisley, clergyman and Unionist politician
1947 - Death of Henry Ford, automobile production pioneer and son of Irish immigrants
1954 - The Flags & Emblems Act legislates against interference with the Union Jack, effectively prohibiting display of the tricolor in Northern
Ireland
1956 - Kerry GAA footballer Seanie Walsh is born
1964 - Birth of Nick Popplewell, former rugby international
2001 - The Government pledges to give the GAA £60 million over the next three years in return for their commitment to staging matches —
including All Ireland semi finals — in the new National Stadium. This deal effectively undermines the argument to open up Croke Park for
rugby and soccer matches
2002 - Galway man Richard Donovan becomes the first person in history to run a marathon at both the North and South Pole.
April 7
1720 - The Declatory Act defines the right of the British Parliament to legislate for Ireland and denies the appellate jurisdiction of the Irish
House of Lords
1801 - The trial of United Irishman, Napper Tandy, begins
1861 - A census shows the population to be 5,798,967. Only 393 Jews are recorded
1922 - Special Powers Act is introduced in Northern Ireland
1926 - Mussolini's Irish wife breaks his nose
1927 - The world’s first ever paid television broadcast takes place. An Irishman, Mr. A. Dolan was employed by the American Telephone
and Telegraph company to provide a “short act of monologue and song”. Interestingly, the first professional artist to be seen on television in
Britain, a year later, was Irish singer Peg O'Neil
1941 - A Luftwaffe bomb kills 13 people in Belfast. Ultimately, the city is devastated by air raids; 700 people are killed and 400 seriously
injured in what becomes known as Belfast's Blitz. The British government appeals to De Valera for help and he authorizes fire brigades
from Dublin, Dundalk, Drogheda and Dun Laoghaire to give assistance
1973 - Death of Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid
2001 - The longest running legal action in the history of the State ends when the Superwood Group of companies, which claimed £90
million compensation from three insurance companies, are awarded a total of £300,000
2003 - A member of the British army's 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards, Lance Corporal Ian Malone from Ballyfermot, Dublin, is killed in the
battle for Basra in southern Iraq.
April 8
1719 - Birth of Viscount Edmond Pery, speaker of the House of Commons from March 1771 to September 1785
1805 - Sir William Rowan Hamilton, mathematician and astronomer, is born in Dublin
1835 - Jonah Barrington, the Irish Parliament's leading opponent of the Union with Britain and author of The Rise and Decline of the Irish
Nation, dies
1867 - A. E. (George Russell), pivotal Irish Renaissance poet, painter, journalist and mystic, is born
1886 - Home Rule Bill introduced in English Parliament by Gladstone
1933 - The Army Comrades' Association parades in blue shirts on this date
1951 - A census on this date shows the population of the Republic to be 2,960,593 and that of Northern Ireland is 1,370,921
1960 - The Royal Showband is forced to change its name to the Waterford Showband for an appearance at the Victoria Palace Theatre in
London because two members of the British royal family are in attendance
1999 - The Department of Education unveils a new primary school curriculum which replaces the one of 1971
2003 - U.S. president George W. Bush leaves Belfast at the end of a two-day summit attended by British Prime Minister, Tony Blair and
Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern
2003 - Paul Muldoon wins the Pulitzer prize for poetry. The 51-year-old Belfast poet is awarded the prestigious prize for his work Moy Sand
and Gravel.
April 9
1793 - The Relief Act grants Catholics parliamentary franchise and certain civil and military rights
1807 - After resigning as Commissioner of the Treasury (UK) over the issue of Catholic relief, Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co. Kerry states on
this date that their war effort alone merits concessions to Irish Catholics
1916 - The merchant ship Aud leaves Germany for Ireland with arms for the Irish Republican Brotherhood
1961 - A census on this date shows the population of the Republic to be 2,818,341 and that of Northern Ireland is 1,425,642
2000 - Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nelson Mandela, arrives in Ireland to commence a four day private visit. During his visit, he is to receive
an honorary degree in law at Trinity
2001 - Celebrities from the entertainment world turn out in force for the funeral mass of former lead singer with the Capital Showband,
Butch Moore, at St Canice’s Church in Finglas
April 10
1650 - Cromwell's New Model Army is victorious at Macroom, Co. Cork
1662 - A charter of Charles II replaces Cromwell's charter of Londonderry
1816 - Birth of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, nationalist, in Monaghan
1838 - Fr. Theobald Mathew, with the support of William Martin, a quaker, founds the total abstinence movement in Cork
1867 - George William Russell (pseudonym A. E. Russell); poet, painter, writer, economist and mystic, is born in Lurgan, Co. Armagh
1918 - British Parliament proposes conscription in Ireland
1923 - Liam Lynch, chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army, is mortally wounded by Free State troops in the Knockmealdown Mountains,
Co. Tipperary; Frank Aiken takes over as IRA chief of staff
1966 - The widespread and prolonged commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising begins throughout the island
1990 - Death of Wexford hurling legend, Nicky Rackard
1998 - A bronze bust of world-renowned Irish aviator, Colonel James 'Fitz' Fitzmaurice who, along with two Germans, made the first east-
west transatlantic crossing in 1928, is unveiled in his hometown of Portlaoise
1998 - The Northern Ireland peace talks end with an historic agreement. The accord - dubbed the Good Friday Agreement - is reached after
nearly two years of talks and 30 years of conflict.
April 11
1603 - In the revolt of the towns, or recusancy revolt, Catholic worship is re-established in Kilkenny and the main Munster towns between
this date and 10 May, in the hope that James I will grant religious toleration; Mountjoy marches south and forces the towns to submit
1966 - Herbert Asquith introduces the third Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons
1971 - The GAA lifts its ban on members playing or attending 'foreign' sports such as soccer or rugby
1986 - Brian Keenan is taken hostage in Beirut
2000 - In a dramatic end to the two-month trial, a jury at the Central Criminal Court finds Catherine Nevin guilty of all four charges against
her arising out of the shooting death of her husband in 1996
2000 - The newspaper known as The Examiner is re-launched as The Irish Examiner
2000 - Nelson Mandela receives a hero's welcome as spectators turn out in droves in Dublin to honour the former president of South Africa
prior to his receiving an honorary degree at Trinity. He is the first African leader to be so honoured. He already is a Freeman of the City, an
honour granted shortly after being freed from jail
2002 - During a remembrance ceremony at St Colman's Cathedral, candles are lit for each of the 79 people who boarded the Titanic on her
maiden and final voyage which departed from Cobh, then known as Queenstown, on this date in 1912.
April 12
1654 - The Ordinance of Union comes into effect, uniting Ireland and Scotland with England
1816 - Sir Charles Gavan Duffy is born in Co. Monaghan. He is self-educated as a journalist and founds the Nation, a nationalist weekly
journal with Thomas Davis and John Dillon in 1842; ultimately, he emigrates to Australia and while determined to avoid politics, he is
induced to enter the Victorian Parliament where he fills in succession the position of minister of public works and minister of public lands;
for a brief period he is prime minister
1824 - An Act establishes free trade in manufactured articles between Britain and Ireland
1847 - The American relief ship, Jamestown, lands supplies in Cork for famine victims
1861 - The American Civil War begins; 150,000 Irishmen will serve with the Union forces, and 40,000 with the Confederacy
1923 - The Shadow Of A Gunman by Sean O'Casey premieres at the Abbey Theatre
1960 - The Broadcasting Authority Act grants Radio Éireann authority to provide and maintain national radio and television service
1999 - A United Nations report points to evidence of security force collusion in the murder of leading Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane
2000 - Queen Elizabeth II presents the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) with the George Cross, the highest civilian award for bravery
2000 - The Irish Red Cross launches an appeal for approximately £3 million in an effort to avert the impending famine in Ethiopia
2000 - A safety probe gets underway following an explosion at the SIFA Limited chemical plant in Co. Clare. Seven people suffering from
shock and hearing difficulties are transferred to Limerick Regional Hospital and are later released
2000 - The first of two side-by-side castles on Dublin's Dalkey seafront comes up for auction. Inniscorrig, built in 1847, has a starting price
of £3.5m. The Herbert Park house has a pre-auction guideline of £3m.
2001 - Ted Sweeney, the weather forecaster instrumental in saving the D Day landings from disaster, dies in his native Blacksod near
Belmullet in Co Mayo. In 1944, Ted Sweeney claims a special place in world history by filing a famous weather report which delays the D
Day landings in Normandy for 24 hours
2002 - A blockade by salmon fishermen at the Port of Cork passes off without incident
April 13
1593 - Birth of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford/Viceroy of Ireland
1742 - Handel's Messiah is performed for the first time, conducted by the composer, at Mr. Neale's Great Musick Hall, Fishamble Street,
Dublin, before an audience of 700
1829 - The Catholic Emancipation Act receives royal assent on this date; it permits Catholic men who can afford the poll tax to enter
Parliament and hold civil and military offices
1906 - Birth of Samuel Beckett in Foxrock, Co. Dublin
1920 - Liam Cosgrave, Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach, is born
1939 - Poet, Seamus Heaney, is born in Mossbawn, near Belfast
1952 - Jockey, Jonjo O'Neill, is born in Castletownroche, Co. Cork
2001 - In what has become an Easter tradition, Our Lady’s Choral Society choristers accompanied by soloist Emmanuel Lawlor and the
National Sinfonia conducted by Prionnsias O’Duinn performs excerpts from Handel’s Messiah on the site of Neal’s Music Hall, Fishamble
Street, where his famous musical work was first performed in 1742
April 14
1661 - Birth in Dublin of Sir Thomas Molyneux, scientist, archaeologist, physician and MP; first to assert that the Giant's Causeway is a
natural phenomenon
1848 - In Dublin, the tricolor national flag of Ireland is presented to the public for the first time by Thomas Francis Meagher and the Young
Ireland Party
1912 - The Titanic, the world's largest ship built at Belfast's Harland and Wolfe, hits an iceberg
1919 - Limerick Soviet commences general strike in protest against English militarism in Ireland; for three weeks in April, the city's Trades
Council takes over the entire running of the city, publishes their own newspapers and issues their own currency. The Soviet receives
worldwide publicity and is seen by the British government as a major threat to their power in Ireland
1922 - Led by Rory O'Connor, forces against the Anglo-Irish Treaty seize the Four Courts in Dublin. The provisional government later
attacks the garrison, which starts the civil war
1998 - Patrick J. Kennedy, son of Edward and nephew of JFK, unveils a commemorative plaque and declares the fully refurbished and
redecorated White House Hotel in Kinsale open once more
2003 - An international survey rates Dublin as one of the safer cities in the world. At 18 in the rankings, it is well ahead of many other cities.
April 15
1642 - Ormond defeats insurgents at Kilrush, Co. Kildare
1707 - Birth of Sir Henry Cavendish, MP and incompetent Teller of the Exchequer who left chaos in his wake
1784 - First unmanned balloon in Ireland is launched by Richard Crosbie
1840 - The Repeal Association is founded by Daniel O'Connell
1848 - On Abbey Street in Dublin, the tricolor national flag of Ireland is presented to the public for the first time by Thomas Francis Meagher
and the Young Ireland Party
1864 - The first Dublin Horse Show is held
1912 - The Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage with the loss of 1,513 souls, many of them Irish; 732 survive
1951 - John O'Keeffe, Kerry Gaelic footballer, is born
1974 - The 78th Boston Marathon is won by Neil Cusack of Co. Limerick in 2:13:39. He is the first Irishman to win this race
2000 - The generosity of two Londoners, Alice and Charles Armstrong, turns a dream into reality as a new state-of-the-art lifeboat is
handed over to the RNLI. The craft is named Alice and Charles after its benefactors
2001 - Hundreds of people greet the relics of St Therese of Lisieux at Rosslare for the start of a 75 day tour of the country
April 16
1701 - Some MPs and gentlemen of Co. Carlow petition against the return and residence of Mark Baggot, 'a violent Papist', in that county, of
which he was 'titular High Sheriff' in 1689
1752 - The first regular stage-coach service between Dublin and Belfast commences
1782 - Irish Parliament declares its independence from the English Parliament
1929 - Birth in Bailieborough, Co. Cavan of Captain James Kelly, Irish army intelligence officer who would later be involved in the 1970
arms trial
1970 - Protestant right-winger the Reverend Ian Paisley wins a seat in Northern Ireland's parliament
1999 - Supreme Court Justice Hugh O'Flaherty and High Court Judge Cyril Kelly are given 72 hours to quit by the Government — or else
face unprecedented impeachment proceedings
2002 - Beginning with a 'park-up' outside John A Woods and ReadyMix sites in Cork, Kerry and Limerick, as many as 300 truck drivers
transporting sand and gravel take their trucks off the road in protest at strict weight restrictions, high insurance costs and low pay
April 17
1172 - Henry II returns to Britain on this date, having granted a charter to Dublin - the first granted to an Irish town
1783 - The British Renunciation Act acknowledges the exclusive right of the Irish parliament and courts to make and administer laws for
Ireland
1875 - Election of Charles Stewart Parnell as MP for Meath
1920 - The inquest into the death of Tomás MacCurtain, Lord Mayor of Cork killed by policemen in disguise on 19 March, returns a verdict of
wilful murder against the RIC, and indicts Lloyd George and the British government
1936 - Brendan Kennelly, poet, is born in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry
1944 - Michael 'Babs Keating, Tipperary hurler, is born in Ardfinnan, Co. Limerick
1961 - New Civic Arts Theatre building is opened on Botanic Avenue in Belfast; originally called the Mask Theatre it is renamed the Civic
Arts Theatre in 1947. Eventually, it will close due to lack of funding
1966 - A census shows the population of the Republic to be 2,884,002.
1969 - Bernadette Devlin is elected MP for Mid Ulster, standing as the Independent Unity candidate; at 21 years old, she is Britain's
youngest ever female MP and the third youngest MP ever
2003 - The country sizzles as the temperature soars to 24ºC/72ºF
April 18
1689 - Siege of Derry begins
1690 - Five regiments of Irishmen sail for France and form the nucleus of France's Irish Brigade
1792 - Langrishe's Catholic Relief Act allows Catholics to practise law, and Protestants and Catholics to intermarry
1949 - The Republic of Ireland withdraws from the British Commonwealth. The British Parliament recognizes the declaration but asserts
sovereignty over the six northern counties. Ireland does not recognize the claim
2000 - The low-fares war on the Shannon-London route intensifies with Ryanair accusing Richard Branson's Virgin Express of copycat
tactics
2000 - According to an annual survey released on this date, Ireland is named the seventh most competitive nation in the world.
April 19
1366 - The parliament, alarmed at the apparent undermining by native influences of the settler population's Englishness, passes the
'Statute of Kilkenny'. This aims to halt the widespread adoption by the Norman-Irish, especially in frontier areas, of Gaelic Irish culture,
customs and language. It bans the use of the Irish language (insisting 'that every Englishman use the English language', though it is
written in French) and Irish names within the colony, intermarriage with the native Irish, the playing of hurling, and so on. Pejorative name-
calling between the English of England and the English of Ireland is prohibited. In fact, at this time there is a strong mutual influence: the
Gaelic Irish are adopting some Norman-Irish practices, too. Also, most of the 'new' laws merely reiterate old ones (the exceptions being
those on the Irish language and Irish minstrels)
1780 - Henry Grattan moves resolutions in favour of legislative independence in Irish House of Commons
1972 - Lord Widgery's report exonerating "Bloody Sunday" troops is issued
2002 - Ireland's first cash-free petrol station, Carrigdhoun Service Station, near Ballygarvan, Co Cork, opens with all business being
transacted by credit card or petrol card.
April 20
1176 - Strongbow, Anglo-Norman lord, dies in Dublin
1608 - James I grants a licence to the Old Bushmills distillery in Co. Antrim which is thought to date from at least 1276 - the oldest distillery
in the world
1696 - The Guild of Brewers and Maltsters is founded in Dublin; Richard Forster, former MP for Swords and a Dublin brewer, is a member
1812 - Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co. Kerry, presents the Irish Protestant petition for Catholic relief and calls for measures against grain
scarcity in Ireland
1829 - Margaret Anna Cusack is born to an aristocratic family of English origin in Coolak, Co. Dublin; she is the founder of the first Poor
Clares convent in the west of Ireland and also a talented writer who publishes on the issues of social injustice. Her writings and actions
focus on advocacy of women's rights including equal pay, equal opportunity for education and legal reform to give women control of their
own property
1896 - A demonstration of the cinématographe is held in Dublin at Dan Lowrey's Star of Erin theatre of varieties, now the Olympia Theatre
1912 - Death of Dublin writer Bram Stoker, creator of Dracula
1945 - Alan Dukes, politician and Fine Gael leader is born in Dublin
1954 - Michael Manning becomes the last man to be executed by the state in the Republic of Ireland: he is hanged on this date at Mountjoy
jail, Dublin, for the murder of a nurse
April 21
1816 - Daughter of an Irish father, Charlotte Bronte, eldest of the three Bronte Sisters and author of Jane Eyre, is born
1875 - Michael, "The O'Rahilly," Irish Volunteers leader, is born in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry
1901 - Death of James Stephens, Kilkenny-born founder of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
1907 - The nationalist groups, Cumman na nGaedheal and Dungannon Clubs, combine to form the Sinn Féin (Ourselves) League
1916 - The Aud arrives at Banna Strand, Co. Kerry, from Germany with 20,000 rifles for use of the Volunteers in the Easter Uprising; they are
discovered by the British and the crew scuttles the ship. Roger Casement, who is following behind the Aud in a submarine, lands safely,
but is captured later
1970 - The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is founded on this date, with Phelim O'Neill as leader
1998 - In its annual study, the International Institute of Management Development ranks Ireland as the 11th most competitive country in the
world – ahead of global economic powers such as Japan, Germany and Britain
1999 - Paddy McDonagh, a former Irish soldier caught transporting a massive bomb across the border on the day the Good Friday
Agreement referendum votes are counted, is jailed for six years by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin
April 22
1365 - Lionel returns to England, leaving Ormond as his deputy
1671 - An English Navigation Act prohibits direct importation of sugar, tobacco and other produce from the colonies to Ireland; act expires in
1681 but is renewed in 1685 and extended in 1696
1834 - Daniel O'Connell introduces debate on Repeal of Union bill in the House of Commons
1905 - Capt. William O'Shea, politician and accuser of Parnell, dies in Hove
1918 - A general strike takes place throughout Ireland against the British government's attempts to introduce conscription
1999 - An historic meeting between David Trimble and the Pope takes place in Rome yesterday; careful stage-management ensures there
are no public photographs of the two men close together. Mr Trimble is the first unionist leader to meet a Pope
1999 - Sir Peter Ustinov receives his 14th honorary degree — doctor of laws - from the National University of Ireland
2002 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern sends a blunt pre-election warning to the Progressive Democrats that he is determined to have a national
stadium and sports campus built if he is returned to power
April 23
1014 - The Dublin Norse and the king of Leinster, with Viking allies from overseas, are defeated by Brian Boru's army at Clontarf. Brian,
now an old man, is killed. This thwarts the potential domination of Ireland by the Norse, but they are well established in the coastal towns,
and will continue to have a major influence. Máel Sechnaill succeeds Brian as high king
1357 - Four days after the end of his campaign against the O'Tooles, O'Byrnes and O'Nolans in Leinster, justiciar Thomas Rokeby dies on
this date at Kilkea, Co. Kildare
1918 - The Military Service Act18 April threatens conscription for Ireland: there is a one-day general strike in protest (except in Ulster) on this
date
1961 - A census shows the population of Northern Ireland is 1,425,642; an earlier census on April 9 shows the population of the Republic
to be 2,818,341
1967 - A local parish priest voices his extreme opposition to the appearance of Jayne Mansfield at the Mount Brandon Hotel in Tralee, and
the concert is duly cancelled. Three weeks later, she is killed in a car accident
1998 - The Government's package of measures designed to dampen down rocketing house prices — particularly in the Dublin area —
draws mixed reaction
1998 - The largest dry bulk carrier ever to dock at an Irish port, the 183,000-tonne Buccleuch, arrives at the deep-water jetty of the ESB's
generating station at Moneypoint, Co. Clare
2002 - Just months after voting No to Nice, Irish support for EU membership hits a record high, according to the latest survey carried out
among the 15 member States
April 24
1764 - Thomas Emmet, nationalist and brother of Robert Emmet, is born in Dublin
1913 - Large supply of guns from Germany are landed at Larne for the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
1916 - On Easter Monday, the Irish Volunteers and Citizen Army seize the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin and demand Irish sovereignty
1927 - Bishop Eamon Casey is born
1945 - Singer Johhny McEvoy is born
1951 - Birth of Enda Kenny, leader of Fine Gael
1998 - The second-largest ever construction project in the history of the State, a £120m drainage system designed to make Cork's River
Lee and Lough Mahon pollution free in four years time and create up to 500 jobs during construction, is announced
April 25
1185 - Henry II sends his son John to Ireland; John lands at Waterford on this date to assert control over Hugh de Lacy, but he fails to
achieve this. Henry still suspects that de Lacy wants to be king of Ireland
1861 - William Ford, who crossed the Atlantic from Ireland by steerage, marries fellow country woman Mary O'Hern. Their son Henry Ford,
pioneered the mass manufacturing of the automobile
1918 - Irish Labour Party declares one-day strike in protest over conscription act
Anglo-Irish agreements on defence, finance and trade (25 April) end the 'Economic War': the 'Treaty' ports are ceded by Britain; the Irish
Government pays £10 million to settle financial claims; both sides repeal penal duties on imports
1938 - Anglo-Irish agreements on defence, finance and trade end the 'Economic War': the 'Treaty' ports are ceded by Britain; the Irish
Government pays £10 million to settle financial claims; both sides repeal penal duties on imports
1976 - About 10,000 people attend the Easter week commemorative rally at the GPO, convened by the Provisionist IRA, despite government
prohibition
April 26
1718 - Thomas St Lawrence, 13th Baron of Howth, receives £215 14s 1 1/2d for the expense he incurs in building a quay at Howth for
landing coals for the lighthouse
1784 - Death of Nano Nagle, 'God's Beggar', founder of the Order of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1904 - Edward VII begins a visit to Ireland on this date
1916 - Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, writer, suffragist, pacifist and patriot, is apprehended while trying to stop Easter Rising looting and is
later executed by the British without a trial
1998 - Catriona McKiernan becomes the first Irish woman to win the London Marathon
1999 - Former Supreme Court Justice, Hugh O'Flaherty, confirms he will give a full and frank account of his role in the Philip Sheedy affair
before the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights
April 27
1696 - Act 'for encouraging the linen manufacture of Ireland': Irish linen gains duty-free access to the British market on this date
1880 - The Royal University of Ireland is founded by charter
1923 - De Valera announces end of operations against the Irish Free State, effectively ending the Irish Civil War
1937 - The Most Rev. Robert Eames, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, is born
1953 - Maud Gonne McBride dies in Roebuck, Clonskeagh, and is later buried in Dublin in the Glasnevin Cemetery
1999 - Legal history is made when the country's first ever convicted gangland murderer, self-confessed drugs dealer and gang boss
Joseph Delaney, is jailed for life
2001 - Ireland's foremost literary town officially opens a permanent home for its famous wordsmiths and their works. A 19th century
Georgian house, in the heart of Listowel, has become the Kerry Literary and Cultural Centre, where life-size models and audio-visual
presentations help portray the personalities and output of various writers. The £1.5 million centre is appropriately named Seanchaí after the
art of storytelling and in recognition of the folklore and traditions that inspire great literature.
April 28
1794 - Rev. William Jackson, agent of French revolutionary government, is arrested in Dublin
1875 - Teresa Kearney, better known as Mother Kevin, missionary and founder of Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Africa, is born in
Knockenrahan, Co. Wicklow
1922 - Nicky Rackard, Wexford hurler, is born in Killane, Co. Wexford
1936 - The Daíl introduces a bill awarding pensions to the Connaught Rangers who mutinied in India in 1920
1992 - Death of Dublin-born artist Francis Bacon
1999 - Ireland's largest convoy packed with 200 tonnes of relief supplies for Kosovar refugees leaves Dublin for Albania
2000 - It is announced that 100 free bicycles will be placed on the streets of Dublin for the Heineken Green Energy Weekend. The free
bicycles will be placed outside Trinity College, outside Dublin Castle and at the top of Grafton Street and will be available to anyone wishing
to cycle around the city to take in the atmosphere of the Festival
April 29
1680 - The first stone of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham is laid by the Duke of Ormonde
1769 - Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, soldier and statesman, is born in Dublin
1803 - Paul Cullen, prelate, is born in Prospect, Co. Kildare
1916 - Pearse orders surrender of the Easter Rising rebels on this date. Approximately 64 rebels have been killed, 132 crown forces, and
230 civilians. 2,500 people have been wounded; the centre of Dublin has been devastated by the shelling
1938 - Birth of Ray McSharry, Fianna Fáil politician and EU Commissioner
1998 - Triple Olympic champion Michelle De Bruin comes out fighting in response to the most serious drugs-linked threat to her glittering
swimming career
2001 - The Irish Council for Civil Liberties celebrates the 25th anniversary of its foundation
2001 - Des O'Malley pledges his co-operation to a new inquiry into the Arms Crisis of 1970 and challenges Charles Haughey to do the
same. Mr O'Malley strongly defends his role as Justice Minister during the turbulent events surrounding the most controversial trial in the
State's history
2001 - A monument is unveiled in Inniscarra, Co Cork, in honour of an Ulster chief who could have changed the history of Europe if he
hadn't been killed in battle. Chief of Fermanagh, Aodh Mag Uidhir (Hugh Maguire) is shot dead during an ambush in 1600 at Carrigrohane
before the Battle of Kinsale the following year, which sees the last struggle for an independent Gaelic Ireland fail. "Maguire was a great
strategist, and some believe that had he survived, the result of the Battle of Kinsale might have been different, changing the course of
European history. He was the Rommel of the 1600s," says Seán O´ Ceallacháin of the Hugh Maguire Commemoration Committee
April 30
1942 - Because of petrol rationing, all private motoring in Ireland is banned, and bicycle thefts soar overnight
1951 - The first demonstration of television in Ireland is held at the Spring Show in the RDS, Dublin
1970 - "B-Specials" reserves within the Royal Ulster Constabulary formed to contain violence in 1933 (but notoriously violent in their own
right) are disbanded
1998 - Michelle de Bruin, whose career has been almost destroyed by claims of drug abuse since her Olympic wins, has never been under
suspicion, FINA, the international swimming authority admits
1999 - Lord Killanin, the man credited with saving the Moscow Olympics in 1980, is laid to rest. Many of the leading lights of the world of
sport, business and politics in Ireland are present as the remains are buried in the family vault at the New Cemetery in the Bohermore area
of Galway city
2001 - According to Dr. Vincent Maher, consultant cardiologist at Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, has the highest rate of heart disease in the EU -
claiming up to 14,000 victims each year. Lower income households are particularly at risk because of their diet, he says
2002 - Hopes that 325 workers at the Ardagh glass plant in Ringsend, Dublin, could keep their jobs are dashed with a surprise closure
announcement by management
2003 - The Russell family decide to sell Dunkathel House, situated on 150 acres on Cork city fringes. The 220-year-old Georgian-style
mansion has been open to the public, and is one of the most prominently-sited period homes in the greater city area, overlooking the Jack
Lynch tunnel and River Lee at Glanmire. It carries a €15 million price guide.
Home Contact Us Links Page