July 1
1681 - Despite witnesses against him being discredited, Oliver Plunkett is hanged, drawn and
quartered in London
1690 - Battle of the Boyne; the Jacobite forces (Irish, French, Germans and Walloons) are
defeated by the Williamites (Irish, English, Dutch, Germans and Danes). The Williamite victory,
being seen as a defeat for Louis XIV, is welcomed by Pope Alexander VIII
1701 - A public holiday is proclaimed for the inauguration of a statue of William III at College
Green, Dublin
1798 - Rebels remain in camp at Kilcavan
1867 - Thomas Francis Meagher, Young Ireland leader, dies
1916 - The Somme offensive begins. The 36th (Ulster) Division suffers heavy casualties
1924 - The Irish Free State Aer Corps is established
1979 - The Boomtown Rats featuring Bob Geldof enter the British charts at no. 13 with I Don't
Like Mondays, and eventually reach #1
1990 - The Republic of Ireland plays in the World Cup Finals for the first time. They are defeated
0-1 by Italy in the quarter-finals; an estimated half a million people take to the streets of Dublin to
welcome the team home
1998 - Northern Ireland's new Assembly meets for the first time amid the growing crisis over the
Drumcree Orange Order parade in Portadown. A new era in power-sharing between unionists
and nationalists in Northern Ireland begins with David Trimble and Seamus Mallon elected First
Minister and Deputy First Minister respectively to the new Assembly. Sinn Féin delegates abstain
from the first-ever vote in the Assembly, while anti-Agreement unionists vote solidly against the
two appointments
2000 - More than 1,000 Westlife fans besiege Sligo City Hall when their heroes are awarded the
freedom of the city
2001 - Ireland's national minimum wage increases from £4.40 an hour to £4.70 an hour.
July 2
1790 - In an election for Speaker of the Irish parliament, John Foster defeats William Brabazon
Ponsonby by 145 votes to 105
1798 - Rebels defeat small force of Yeomanry at Ballraheen Hill; they move to camp at Croghan
1800 - The British Act of Union is passed
1869 - Birth of one of Ireland’s greatest ever tennis players, Joshua Prine, who won the
Wimbledon singles in 1893 and 1894
1874 - Isaac Butt's Home Rule motion defeated in House of Commons 458-6
1903 - One of the greatest motoring events is held in Ireland - the Gordon Bennett Race,
sponsored by James Gordon Bennett, owner of the New York Herald
1958 - The Industrial Development Act is passed to encourage an influx of foreign capital
1970 - Irish Catholic bishops announce that it is no longer obligatory to abstain from eating meat
on Friday
1970 - Following his arrest on May 28 for allegedly importing arms for the IRA, Neil Blaney is
discharged
2000 - Joey Dunlop, motorcycle racer and humanitarian worker, dies in an accident during a
race in Estonia
2000 - The 25th anniversary of St. Oliver Plunkett's canonization is celebrated in Drogheda, Co.
Armagh
2001 - Ireland bids bon voyage to the relics of St Therese of Lisieux at the end of an 11-week
tour which organisers claim drew three million onlookers.
July 3
1746 - Henry Grattan, Irish statesman, is born in Dublin
1798 - Remnants of Southern column reach Croghan. Fr. John Murphy dies at the hands of his
captors
1952 - Bord Fáilte - The Irish Tourist Board, is founded
2000 - The Taoiseach's brother, Maurice Ahern, is elected Lord Mayor of Dublin; Fine Gael's P.
J. Hourican, a native of Co. Longford, is elected Lord Mayor of Cork; Sinn Féin's Sean McManus
is elected Mayor of Sligo
2001 - The National Museum of Ireland launches a new range of craft and souvenir items which
range in price from just £1 for a biro (pen) with the museum logo to £10,000 for a unique, hand
crafted piece of jewellery.
July 4
1653 - Ireland and Scotland are represented by six and five members respectively in the
'Barebones' parliament
1690 - James II flees to France for assistance after his defeat by William of Orange
1921 - Awaiting truce with the English, Eamon De Valera orders the American flag flown in Dublin
to "emphasize the principle for which we are fighting"
1798 - Rebels remain in camp at Croghan; General Needham prepares attack on Croghan camp
1998 - It is announced that outgoing US Ambassador Jean Kennedy-Smith is to be made an
honorary Irish citizen in recognition of her contribution to the peace process
2000 - Major international survey reveals that Irish workers pay the lowest tax rates in the
European Union - even though pay rates are just barely below the EU average
2001 - The Orange order puts new proposals to the Parades Commission in an attempt to
reverse the decision to divert next Sunday’s Orange Order march from the Garvaghy Road.
July 5
1790 - The Irish mail coach makes its first run from Dublin to Waterford
1798 - Rebels break camp and march north. They collide with a government force led by
General Duff. They retreat south and turn to fight Duff at Ballygullen, near Craanford. The battle
is indecisive but with three other Government columns converging on them, the rebels divide into
two columns and retreat south. The smaller column moves west and into the hills near Carnew. It
eventually makes its way to Glenmalure where it joins up with a group of Wicklow rebels. The
main column retreats south to Carrigrew; that evening it marches north and camps in the
Wicklow Mountains
1828 - Daniel O’Connell wins the Clare election
1838 - The Board of Trinity College decrees the establishment of a Chair of Irish
1998 - All bus services in Belfast are suspended as riots spread across the city
2000 - Storms cause tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage and leave thousands of
homes without power
2001 - A two-year project to transcribe the official records of Dáil debates since 1919 is
completed; the entire archive is available at Ireland Gov.
2002 - A new EU survey shows that electricity costs for the Irish consumer are among the
cheapest in Europe, but gas users are paying some of the highest rates
2002 - Over €2 billion is wiped off the value of companies on the Irish stock exchange as
markets around the world continue to see sharp falls amid concerns about improper accounting
standards.
July 6
1815 - Charles Bianconi, opens his first horse-drawn coach service, between Clonmel and Cahir,
Co. Tipperary, a distance of 10 miles
1907 - The Irish Crown Jewels vanish from Dublin Castle, never to be found
1946 - Clann na Poblachta, a radical new republican party is founded by Sean MacBride
1960 - The first Late Late Show - TV chat show hosted by Gay Byrne- is broadcast
2000 - In an effort to curb inflation, the government orders a freeze on the price of drinks;
publicans consider a Hight Court challenge to overturn the order
2000 - Tensions intensify in the North as a second major parades ban is placed on the Orange
order
2001 - Official figures show that the average price of a new house is £144,116 - more than
double what it was in 1996
July 7
1691 - Ginkel offers pardon and security of property to opponents
1913 - Home Rule bill passes in Commons for the second time
1922 - Death of Cathal Brugha from injuries received when shot by Free State forces in
O'Connell Street
1930 - Death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born in Scotland of Irish parents
July 8
1642 - Owen Roe O'Neill accepts an offer to lead the Ulster rebels and arrives in Ulster (8-9
July); Thomas Preston, another experienced general, also arrives from the continent
1730 - Robert Edgeworth, former MP for St. Johnstown, Co. Longford, dies
1819 - Sir Francis McClintock, naval officer and polar explorer, is born in Dundalk, Co. Louth
1889 - In the last official bare knuckle title fight ever held, heavyweight boxer, John L. Sullivan
beats fellow Irishman Jack Kilrain in a world championship bout which lasts 75 rounds
1914 - The House of Lords enacts the Government of Ireland Bill, excluding all Ulster
permanently from its stipulations
1970 - The SDLP withdraws from Stormont in protest at failure to inquire into deaths of two
civilians killed by army
1984 - Two Irish-Americans slug it out on Wimbledon’s centre court for the men’s singles’ title -
John McEnroe beats Jimmy Connors
2001 - The President and Taoiseach head a large crowd of dignitaries at the annual National
Day of Commemoration in Dublin.
July 9
1751 - The foundation stone of the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, is laid by the Lord Mayor of Dublin
1790 - The "Gentleman’s Magazine" reports, regarding the MP for Cork, James Bernard who
died on this date: ‘Though he had an immense fortune, he did not live at the rate of £300 a year.
His tailor’s bill never amounted to £61 per annum. He did not absolutely starve himself to death,
as he lately showed himself a mere voluptuary, having a few months since married a fortunate
girl of tender years, to whose tender embraces, it is feared, he fell a sacrifice’
1797 - Death of the political theorist Edmund Burke in Dublin. He is regarded as one of the most
important figures in the development of parliamentary democracy
1921 - A truce is reached between the IRA and the British army
July 10
1917 - De Valera wins election to Parliament from Clare as Sinn Fein candidate
1921 - Unionists burn 160 homes in Belfast, killing 15 and injuring 58
1927 - Kevin O'Higgins, the Irish Free State Minister for Justice, is assassinated
1949 - The last CIE tram service leaves Nelson's Column, Dublin
2000 - Northern Ireland shuts up shop ahead of Orange Order demonstrations
2000 -The Irish government concedes for the first time that a referendum may have to take
place in 2001 to get voter approval for a major revision to the European Union treaties
2001 - A draft chapter from Irish writer James Joyce's classic novel Ulysses is sold for nearly
£900,000 at auction.
July 11
1798 - Rebels attack Clonard, Co Meath
1921 - Truce is declared between IRA and English forces, thus ending the War of Independence
military campaign
1967 - Censorship Act lifts the ban on certain books that had been banned for more than a
decade
1999 - A massive security operation swings into action as tens of thousands of Orangemen
prepare to parade into Ormeau Park in the flashpoint south Belfast area on the banks of the
River Lagan
1999 - Hundreds of train travellers are left stranded in Cork despite advance warnings by
Ianroad Eireann management of an unofficial dispute by locomotive operators
1999 - One hundred and fifty Irish war veterans gather for the annual commemoration ceremony
at the Royal Kilmainham Hospital in honor of Irish soldiers killed on UN peace keeping duties and
on foreign battlefields
2000 - The world's top golfers, including Tiger Woods and David Duval, begin play at the JP
McManus Invitation Pro Am in Limerick
2000 - For the first time in its history, the Dáil elects to appoint a parliamentary law adviser. Miss
Lia O’Hegarty is chosen to fill the position.
July 12
1690 - Battle of the Boyne and victory for William of Orange
1691 - Ginkel is victorious over James II's Jacobites at Aughrim; it is the bloodiest battle ever
fought in Ireland
1722 - A patent is granted to William Wood to coin copper halfpence for circulation in Ireland
1796 - The Orange Order hold its first 'Twelfth of July' demonstration, commemorating the Battle
of Aughrim
1813 - The first recorded "Twelfth of July" sectarian riots erupt in Belfast
1849 - As many as 20 Catholics are killed by soldiers during an Orange Parade at Dolly's Brae,
near Castlewellan, Co. Down
1935 - Violence in Belfast lasting two months commences on this date; eleven people are killed
2000 - Violence erupts as Portadown Orangemen pledge to continue Drumcree protest
2000 - Plans to introduce pedestrianisation in Killarney on an experimental basis are confirmed.
July 13
1344 - Ralph de Ufford arrives in Ireland as justiciar with a small English army and investigates
the situation in Cork
1809 - Founding of the Dublin Harp Society
1825 - The Catholic Association, dissolved in accordance with the Unlawful Societies Act on 9
March, is reconstituted on 13 July
1985 - The Live Aid concerts, organized by Bob Geldorf in aid of Ethiopian famine relief, are
held in London and Philadelphia; the people of the Republic of Ireland contribute £8 million
1998 - The second stage of the Tour de France (taking place for the first time in Ireland) ends in
Cork City. A crowd of between 40,000 and 50,000 turn out to see the history-making event.
July 14
1791 - Demonstrations are held in Dublin, Belfast and elsewhere to commemorate the fall of the
Bastille in 1789
1798 - Rebels are defeated at the Battle of Knightstown, Co. Louth
1969 - Rioting breaks out in Derry and Dungiven, resulting in the first death related to the
Northern Ireland disturbances - a 70-year-old farmer who is struck in a melee outside an Orange
Hall in Dungiven
1998 - Tánaiste Mary Harney announces that a minimum wage of £4.40 an hour will be
introduced in April 2000
1999 - Fidelma Macken is nominated for the European Court of Justice - the first time a woman
judge from any member country has reached such a high rank
1999 - The Cabinet approves the construction of Ireland's first 50 metre swimming pool at the
University of Limerick
1999 - Over 20,000 litres of fuel oil leaks into the popular fishing resort of Mucrós Bay, Co.
Donegal from a supply tank at Abbotts Ireland
2000 - Angry fishermen blockade a State run fishery port as frustration and tension continues to
increase over the alleged harassment of Irish tuna boats by the Naval Service
2000 - Kerry sheep farmer Patrick Morana earns a place in the Guinness Book of Records as he
hand-shears 206 sheep in nine hours and becomes Irish and UK champion.
July 15
1899 - Sean Lemass is born in Dublin. He was the second leader of Fianna Fáil and third
Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland from 1959 to 1966
1927 - Countess Constance de Markievicz, Irish patriot, dies
1930 - After De Valera abolishes the oath of allegiance and withholds land annuities from the
British Government, retaliatory trade legislation begins the 'economic war'
1942 - Brendan ('Paddy') Finucane from Dublin - the RAF's youngest ever Wing Commander at
21 years of age - is shot down and killed off the French coast
1998 - The Irish Nurses Organisation warns that the shortage of qualified nurses has reached
crisis levels
1999 - It's revealed that since 1998, all telephone, e-mail and fax messages between Ireland and
Britain, and probably the United States, were tapped by the British Government
2001 - More than 340,000 provisional licence drivers miss out on the new Driver Theory Test
because test centres would not be able to handle the flood of applications
2002 - Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue, announces a new €3m marketing package for the
industry.
July 16
1803 - Following an explosion at his arms depot on this date, Robert Emmet brings forward his
planned rebellion in Dublin to 23 July
1929 - The Censorship of Publications Act is passed
1999 - Olympic champion Michelle de Bruin is stripped of her Irish swimming records; the triple
gold medal winner at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta was banned for four years by the FINA
in August of 1998 for tampering with a urine sample
2000 - The All Party Committee on the Constitution rejects total ban on abortion
2002 - The IRA leadership issues a statement which includes an apology for the killing of 'non-
combatants.' Northern Ireland secretary, Dr John Reid, welcomes the gesture as one of
unprecedented strength.
July 17
1221 - Geoffrey de Marisco, justiciar of Ireland, is accused of financial irregularities and resigns:
he is replaced by Archbishop Henry of London on this date
1846 - Birth of Fenian, John McLure. He is one of 30 Fenian prisoners released in a general
amnesty by the British government on January 5, 1871. They are released on condition that they
exile themselves to the country of their choice and not return until their sentences have expired.
Many choose to go to Australia, but John McClure, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, John Devoy,
Henry Mulleda and Charles Underwood O'Connell, who had all been imprisoned together, decide
to go to America and ship out from Liverpool on board the "Cuba." The so-called 'Cuba Five'
arrive in New York to a hero's welcome and even receive a resolution of welcome from the US
House of Representatives
1945 - Shannon Airport and customs free zone opened
1951 - Dublin's Abbey Theatre is destroyed by fire
1970 - The National Youth Orchestra of Ireland makes its debut
1998 - Salmonella food poisoning outbreaks in Wicklow and Donegal threaten the £10 million
import industry in eggs from Northern Ireland
2000 - Guinness announces plans to lay off as many as 200 workers as part of a major cost-
cutting strategy
2002 - New birth figures show that one in three children in Ireland are born out of wedlock.
July 18
1561 - Battle of Red Sagums - Shane O'Neill defeats English
1579 - James Fitzmaurice lands forces in Dingle with the intention of encouraging an uprising
against England
1689 - The Mountjoy ship breaks the blockading boom and ends the Siege of Derry after 238
days
1822 - The Theatre Royal in Dublin opens its doors to the public for the first time
1870 - Michael Davitt is sentenced to 15 years' penal servitude for gun-running
1874 - Cathal Brugha (Charles Burgess) an anti-Treaty nationalist,is born in Dublin
1920 - 19 people are killed in four days of sectarian violence in Derry/Londonderry
1966 - The rebuilt Abbey Theatre re-opens
1970 - After having been in prison for unlawful assembly and breach of peace, the "anti-popery"
Reverend Ian Paisley is elected to Westminster
2000 - Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy faces heavy criticism over his handling of the
economy as inflation soars
2000 - Former Supreme Court Judge Hugh O’Flaherty sells his Dublin home for almost £3 million.
July 19
1608 - Preparations commence for the plantation of six Ulster counties (Armagh, Cavan,
Coleraine, Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone)
1735 - Garrett Wellesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, politician, musician, and father of Duke of
Wellington, is born in Dublin
1785 - Richard Crosbie’s third attempt to cross the Irish Sea in a balloon is unsuccessful
1998 - It is confirmed that three chaplains have quit the Orange Order and another dozen are
considering their future in the wake of the Drumcree stand-off and the murders of the Quinn
children in Ballymoney
1999 - Amnesty International honors its longest serving member in Ireland, Iris Bardon, with a
presentation on her 100th birthday.
July 20
1616 - Death in Rome of Hugh O'Neill, 3rd Baron Dungannon and 2nd Earl of Tyrone. He led an
unsuccessful uprising against the English, and was eventually forced into exile as part of “the
Flight of Earls.”
1798 - Rebel camp at Timahoe surrenders
1835 - First report of the select committee on Orangeism is presented to the House of Commons
1922 - The Free State army takes Limerick from the anti-treaty Republicans
1933 - Eoin O'Duff becomes leader of the National Guard ('Blueshirts')
1982 - The IRA kills ten servicemen in bomb attacks in Hyde Park and Regent's Park, London
1998 - Thirty-three years after the roadway was first proposed, plans for the £80m by-pass of
Waterford city are unveiled
July 21
1750 - Under-Secretary Waite reports to Chief Secretary Weston that ‘This morning I am
informed that Lord Allen and Captain Eustace of Irvine’s have slit if not cut off a great part of a
gentleman’s nose in a fray which happened a day or two ago in the road between Dublin and
Naas. The occasion of it was very trifling, such as the gentleman returning the salutation of a
fellow which they gave him and which they thought proper to deem an affront upon persons of
their rank and in red coats.’ The victim, a Mr. Butler from Co. Tipperary, indicts Allen and
Eustace in the courts; Waite writes on 11 August that Allen ‘will have three or four Butlers to fight
after they have harassed him by due course of law’
1903 - Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visit Ireland
1920 - 12 people die in Belfast riots which take place from 21-24 July
1920 - Catholics are forced out of Dromore, Co. Down following the funeral of an RIC man
1922 - The Free State army takes Waterford from the anti-treaty Republicans
1972 - 'Bloody Friday' in Belfast; the Provisional IRA kills 19 and injures 130 in 22 bomb attacks
2002 - Approval is granted to open a €30m marine research centre in Galway.
July 22
1606 - A commission is instituted to remedy defective land titles
1933 - The anti-Fianna Fáil Army Comrades Association, which developed into a fascist-inspired
group nicknamed the "Blueshirts," is outlawed
1999 - Loyalist Volunteer Force rules out any further weapons handover
2001 - Ranked 25th, Ireland falls below most of Europe in its healthcare.
2007 - Dubliner Padraig Harrington becomes the first Irish golfer to win the British Open in 60
years when he snatches victory from the jaws of defeat at Carnoustie in Scotland. He is the first
European golfer to secure a major victory since Paul Laurie on the same course in 1999 and
Ireland's first since Fred Daly in 1947. President McAllen was the first to convey her
congratulations to Harrington, while Labour sports spokesman Jack Wall said: "Padraig
Harrington's magnificent victory in the Open without doubt represents one of the greatest days in
the history of Irish sport."
July 23
1803 - In opposition to the Act of Union, Robert Emmet leads an armed outbreak that is easily
suppressed
1834 - St. Vincent’s Hospital, established by the Sisters of Charity, opens in Dublin
1948 - John Cushnahan, Alliance Party and Fine Gael politician, is born in Belfast
1998 - Irish under-18 squad defeat Cyprus to reach final in European Football Championship
1999 - The nation pays its last respects to arson victim Garda Sergeant Andy Callanan, who is
buried with full State honours
2002 - According to the United Nations report, Ireland is regarded as one of the least corrupt
countries in the world.
July 24
1261 - The Norman-Irish under the justiciar, William de Dene, are heavily defeated by Fineen
MacCarthy at the battle of Callann in Co. Kerry; the MacCarthys and O'Sullivans now control the
south-west corner of Ireland.
Richard de la Rochelle becomes justiciar
1294 - Before the council of Dublin, de Vescy accuses John Fitz Thomas, Baron of Offaly, of
defaming him to the king and council in England. Fitz Thomas retorts that de Vescy has
described the king as the most perverse and dastardly knight of his kingdom. A wager of battle
follows and the party are summoned before the king at Westminster. On this date, de Vescy
appears ready to give battle but Fitz Thomas does not; de Vescy thus wins his case by default.
However, he has been removed from the post of justiciar
1940 - The Picture Post magazine is banned in Ireland after a campaign by the Irish Catholic
which objected to the “vulgarity and suggestiveness of the illustrations”
1998 - Cork Opera House announces significant rise in operating losses
2000 - Bus strike cripples large areas of Dublin
2000 - Galway district court Judge John Garavan refuses to extend late night opening hours to a
number of nightclubs because the women frequenting them are “dreadful and not respectable”
2002 - Latest census figures show that the population of the State is just over 3.9 million - the
highest level since 1871.
July 25
Today is the feast day of St. James. Since mediaeval times, Dubliners held an annual drinking
festival in the Saint’s honour. Fittingly, Guinness chose St. James’ Gate as the site for their
brewery
1633 - Thomas (Viscount) Wentworth becomes Lord Deputy of Ireland
1814 - Robert Peel establishes the Peace Preservation Force to counter rural unrest
1917 - The Irish Convention - an attempt by Lloyd George to arrive at a political settlement -
meets in Dublin; the opposition of Sinn Féin and the Ulster unionists will render it irrelevant
1999 - A countrywide lobby is organised to persuade the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, to ban
foxhunting in Ireland
2000 - An Aer Lingus 737 carrying Irish passengers to Paris is the last aircraft allowed to land in
Charles de Gaulle airport after the Air France Concorde explodes, killing 113 people.
July 26
1575 - On the orders of Essex, John Norris and Francis Drake lead an attack on Rathlin island, a
stronghold of the MacDonnells. After the surrender of Bruce's castle, its 200 occupants are
killed, as are 400 others found hiding in caves and cliffs
1739 - George Clinton, first governor of New York State, is born to an Irish family that had
immigrated to New Britain, a small town near the Hudson River. He served as vice president
under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
1813 - A Catholic is killed at the 'Battle of Garvagh', a sectarian confrontation in Co.
Derry/Londonderry
1856 - The Anglican Church of Ireland is disestablished as the state religion by the Irish Church
Act
1856 - Birth in Dublin of George Bernard Shaw
1869 - British Royal assent is given to the Bill disestablishing the Irish Church (Anglican)
1914 - Arms which Sir Roger Casement had procured in Germany for the Easter Uprising are
landed in Howth from Erskine Childers’ yacht, the "Asgard"
1987 - Stephen Roche becomes the first Irishman to win the Tour de France
1998 - Robert Saulters, the Grand Master of the Orange Order, puts his leadership on the line
with a call for talks with nationalist residents
2006 - In what is described as a discovery 'of staggering importance' it is announced that an
ancient book of psalms has been found in a bog in the midlands. The approximately 20-page
book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard
Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.
July 27
1662 - Ormond becomes Lord Lieutenant and arrives in Ireland on this date
1663 - The "Cattle Act" restricts Irish trade with colonies as well as exports to England
1782 - Poynings' Law is amended by Yelverton's Act which was passed on this date: only bills
passed by both houses of the Irish parliament will be forwarded to England for assent
1782 - Second and third Catholic Relief Acts (4 May, 27 July) allow Catholics to own land outside
parliamentary boroughs, to be teachers and to act as guardians
1846 - William Smith O’Brien leads the Young Irelanders out of the Repeal Association
1866 - Completion of the first submarine cable link underneath the Atlantic, from Valentia Island,
Co. Kerry to Trinity Bay, Newfoundland
1960 - Ireland sends troops to serve with UN forces in the Congo; nine are killed by Baluba
tribesmen in an ambush at Niemba on 8 November; one of these, Anthony Browne, will be
awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry
1998 - Unionists claim proposals to ban RUC recruits from groups like the Orange Order may be
illegal
2001 - According to the National Treasury Management Agency annual report for 2000, Ireland's
national debt is among lowest in Europe.
July 28
1210 - King John captures William de Braose and confiscates his lands
1846 - O'Connell and the Young Irelanders party split over use of physical force
1895 - Birth of John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin, in Cootehill, Co. Cavan
1927 - The first automatic telephone exchange in Ireland, serving more than 700 customers, is
opened at Ship Street
1999 - The Central Statistics Office publishes the most popular baby names for the previous
year; the leading boy’s name is Conor, followed by Seán, Jack, James and Adam. Across the
gender divide, Chloe tops the list, ahead of Ciara, Sarah, Aoife and Emma
2001 - BirdWatch Ireland appeals for loans of ghettoblasters as part of a bid to save the
corncrake. The blasters are needed to replay the sounds of farm traffic - tractors and their grass
mowers - in areas where the rasping, croaking corncrake can still be heard, mainly along the
banks of the River Shannon. The hope is they will attract the birds so they can be banded and
tracked.
2005 - IRA issues statement ending its armed campaign. Gerry Adams says that it offered an
unprecedented opportunity to revive the peace process. He called on unionists to fully embrace
the principles of the Good Friday Agreement. The 36-year campaign of armed conflict has cost
3,500 lives, 1,800 of them at the hands of the Provisionals.
July 29
1848 - Young Ireland rising centres on the 'Battle of the Widow MacCormack's cabbage garden'
near Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary. William Smith O'Brien, Thomas Francis Meagher, Terence
Bellew McManus and Patrick O'Donohue are arrested, convicted of high treason and sentenced
to death in September-October. Sentences are commuted to transportation in June, 1849
1883 - James Carey, member of the Invincibles, turns Queen's evidence; five of his associates
are hanged for the murders of Burke and Cavendish. Carey is followed to South Africa by Patrick
O'Donnell, and shot dead on the Melrose, en route from Cape Town to Natal. O'Donnell is
hanged in London on 17 December
1969 - The Irish Finance Act exempts people considered by the Revenue Commissioners to
have written works of cultural or artistic merit from income tax on money earned by the works
1998 - The threat to Irish rail services on August Bank Holiday Monday is lifted following the
intervention by the chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission, Kieran Mulvey
2001 - Thousands of people climb Mayo's holy mountain, Croagh Patrick, for the annual national
pilgrimage
2002 - The first public-private partnership deal to fast-track the building of 170 million euro
hospital scheme is launched.
July 30
1650 - Edward Parry, Church of Ireland Bishop of Killaloe, dies in Dublin from the plague
1863 - Birth of Henry Ford, son of William and Mary Ford who crossed the Atlantic from Ireland
by steerage. Ford changed the entire world through his revolutionary assembly-line manufacture
of motor cars
1942 - Birth of artist Charles Harper on Valentia Island in Co. Kerry
1947 - The Soviet Union blocks Ireland’s application for entry into the UN on the grounds that
Ireland, being neutral, had not helped to set up the organisation. However there are strong
suspicions that the Soviet Union’s real objections are because Ireland is a Catholic country and
would therefore always vote against the communist bloc countries
1998 - Orange Order leaders file notice of four planned marches along the nationalist Garvaghy
Road during August
2000 - It is announced that Dublin is to get a full-scale underground metro system as part of a
multi-billion pound plan to tackle the capital's crippling traffic congestion
2002 - Soccer legend George Best enters hospital for a liver transplant.
July 31
1661 - The Act of Settlement confirms some adventurers' landowning rights but allows claims
from 'innocents' and royalist supporters
1689 - Robert Lundy, Governor of Derry/Londonderry, advises surrender at the approach of
James's army but is overruled and allowed to escape. The city holds out under siege for 105
days and is relieved on this date
1689 - The Enniskillen Protestants defeat Jacobite forces at Newtownbutler, Co. Fermanagh
1834 - Inauguration of the first Dublin — Dun Laoghaire horse-drawn "train service"
1838 - Enactment of the Irish Poor Law
1877 - Minority of Home Rulers begin obstruction tactics in Commons
1893 - Founding of the Gaelic League in order to revive the use of the Irish language and foster
appreciation of Ireland's Celtic heritage
1917 - Death of poet Francis Ledwidge, from Slane, Co. Meath, who is killed by a stray shell at
Ypres during World War I
1922 - Harry Boland shot by Free Staters in Skerries; he would die three days later
1998 - Parades Commission rejects a fresh application by Orangemen to parade along the
nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown on August 2
2000 - The British Army begins dismantling the controversial Borucki observation post which has
dominated the skyline in Crossmaglen for more than 20 years.
2007 - After 38 years, the occupation of Northern irland by the British Army ends at midnight.
Operation Banner is the Army's longest continuous campaign in its history with more than
300,000 personnel serving and 763 directly killed by paramilitaries.
Tralee Times
SELECTED IRISH HISTORICAL EVENTS
BY MONTH
JULY
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