Tralee Times
SELECTED IRISH HISTORICAL
EVENTS
NOVEMBER
|
November 1
1625 - Birth near Oldcastle, Co. Meath of St. Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh who
was canonized in 1975
1884 - Founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association
1920 - Following a mutiny in India by soldiers of the Connaught Rangers in protest at
events in Ireland, Private James Daly is court-martialled and executed by firing squad; he
is the last member of the British army to be executed for mutiny
1920 The enrolment of the Ulster Special Constabulary begins
1920 - Kevin Barry, an 18-year-old medical student, is hanged in Dublin for his part in a
raid in which six soldiers were killed
1945 - Demobilisation of the Irish Army begins
1972 - VAT is introduced into Ireland
1999 - After stumbling on a huge complex of tombs and structures on his property which
date back to the Stone Age, it is reported that farmer Tom Coffey may have uncovered
one of Ireland’s most important archaeological sites
2001 - The global economic downturn claims another 1,100 Irish jobs as workers are let
go in Navan, Dundalk, Carlow and Dublin
2001 - Industry experts warn that up to 2,000 jobs will be put at risk if the Government's
proposal to ban bituminous coal and petroleum coke nationwide goes ahead.
Consumers could also face increases in their home-heating costs of up to 25%
2002 - For the first time in his life, Bertie Ahern needs a decoy to break through a crowd
as angry IFI workers protest outside a Fianna Fáil fundraising dinner
In the Liturgical Calendar, today is All Saints’ Day.
November 2
1719 - The Toleration Act for Protestant Dissenters is passed
1903 - Samhain Festival held in Dublin
1950 - Death of George Bernard Shaw
1978 - Launch of RTÉ 2 television
1999 - In Ireland’s Marian village of Knock, a decision to replace the familiar Cnoc Mhuire
road signs with An Cnoc creates major protests among residents
2002 - A commuter aircraft, with 40 passengers on board, including rock group Aslan,
overshoots the runway and ends up with its nose in the sea; no-one is injured.
November 3
1380 - Edmund Mortimer, 6th Earl of Ulster, holds a parliament at Dublin, which confirms
the Statutes of Kilkenny
1692 - The only session of the exclusively Protestant Irish parliament of William III and
Mary ends on this date
1815 - Birth in Dungiven, Co. Derry of John Mitchel, patriot and founder of the
newspaper the United Irishman
1854 - The Catholic University of Ireland is opened with J. H. Newman as its first rector
1903 - Tomas O Fiaich, Irish language author and Cardinal-Archbishop of Armagh is
born
1917 - Birth of Conor Cruise O'Brien, diplomat, political commentator and writer
1932 - Birth in Rooskey, Co. Roscommon of Albert Reynolds, politician and
businessman, Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach from 1992-1994
1969 - Introduction of the breathalyser into Ireland
1999 - A two-shilling book of Irish stamps, forgotten since being bought in the 1930s, is
set to fetch £1000 at auction. The stamps - six at two pence, nine at a penny and six at a
halfpenny - were almost certainly bought for use when they were purchased some time
between 1931 and 1940.The orange coloured front cover bears the word STAMPAI and
an advert proclaiming: McCairns for Vauxhalls and Bedfords, Showrooms, 2 Dawson
Street, Dublin
1999 - Former US Senator George Mitchell says he has no intention of imposing a
deadline on the peace negotiations with Northern Ireland’s political leaders
2000 - The country’s first graduates of Science in Electronics Manufacturing are
conferred with their degrees
2000 - The first All Ireland Food Safety Campaign is launched. It is aimed at reducing the
number of food poisoning cases on both sides of the border
In the liturgical calendar, today is the feast day of Maél Máedoc Úa Morgair - St. Malachy
of Armagh.
November 4
1884 - Birth in Hillsborough, Co. Down of Harry Ferguson, engineer, inventor, and
pioneer of the modern tractor
1908 - Six women meet at the home of women's activists Hanna and Francis Sheehy-
Skeffington to establish the Irish Women's Franchise League
1951 - Debut of the Wexford Opera Festival
2002 - Delivery of up to a half million letters grounds to a halt with the 24-hour closure of
sorting facilities
2002 - Sonia O'Sullivan finishes 12th in NYC marathon
November 5
1688 - William of Orange arrives in England with 15,000 men
1878 - The New York Gaelic Society is formed
1987 - Death of broadcaster Eamon Andrews
1991 - Charles Haughey's leadership of Fianna Fáil is challenged
1999 - History is made when 22 newly-qualified air traffic controllers are presented with
certificates in the first graduation ceremony held by the Irish Aviation Authority
2000 - The army and Civil Defence are on standby as a further 36 hours of heavy
rainfall are predicted for parts of the country. Flood damage costs from the weekend
deluge and high winds are expected to run into the millions
2002 - Mick McCarthy steps down as Republic of Ireland soccer manager.
November 6
1628 - Founding of the Irish College in Rome. Among its former students was St Oliver
Plunkett, who attended in the late 17th century
1649 - Owen Roe O'Neill - Catholic military leader against Cromwell - dies
1929 - The Gaelic League announces expulsion for anyone who attends 'foreign jazz
dances'
1948 - The first ball-point "Biro" pen goes on sale in Dublin
1974 - A proscenium ceiling collapses at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin
1981 - Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decide
to set up an Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council
1998 - Jobless level reaches a 14-year low
2000 - High winds and torrential rain continue in much of the East, South and South
West causing widespread flooding, power outages and major disruptions in public and
private transportation services
2001 - Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy admits there is no end in sight to the
downturn as the economy suffers a further jobs blow
2002 - Green Party TDs chain themselves to trees in Dublin’s O’Connell Street in a last-
ditch attempt to save landmarks from the axe
2005 - At a historic ceremony in memory of Irish and British soldiers killed at the Battle of
Messines in 1917, the Tricolour of the Republic and the Union Jack are flown alongside
one another at the war memorial in the Diamond of Derry City.
November 7
1366 - Lionel of Clarence, third son of Edward III and king's lieutenant in Ireland, leaves
the country
1730 - The Danish East India Company ship, Golden Lyon, is stranded near Ballyheige,
Co. Kerry
1791 - The Customs House opens
1854 - The first public performance of Fion Boucicault's Arrah-na-Pogue is given at
Dublin's Theatre Royal
1900 - George Wyndham becomes Chief Secretary for Ireland
1975 - Dr Tiede Herrema, a Dutch industrialist kidnapped by the IRA, is freed
1976 - Crosses are planted in Belfast for lives lost in Northern Ireland since 1969 -1,662
in all
1963 - 12 people are arrested at a Beatles concert in the Adelphi, Dublin
1980 - Death of Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary
1983 - Garret FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher meet for the first session of the Anglo-
Irish Governmental Council
1999 - Dublin's Millennium pedestrian bridge is put into position over the River Liffey
2001 - Dublin commuters face a 60% rise in taxi fares under recommendations by an
independent assessor
2001 - Central Bank governor Maurice O'Connell warns that Ireland has probably seen
the end of the Celtic Tiger, as the number of jobs lost this year reaches 13,000
2002 - The National Roads Authority denies protesters’ claims of victory after
archaeologists resume work on the controversial Carrickmines Castle site
November 8
1847 - Birth in Dublin of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula
1960 - An Irish peacekeeping force is ambushed in the Congo, causing the first
overseas combat deaths of the Irish Republic. Nine are killed by Baluba tribesmen - one
of these, Anthony Browne, will be awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry
1984 - Charles Mitchel, RTÉ's first newsreader, reads his last bulletin
1990 - The Republic elects their first woman president, Mary Robinson, who defeats
Brian Lenihan and Austin Curry
1998 - Flights at Shannon Airport are brought to a standstill for several hours after a
Boeing 767 jet, with 250 passengers and 11 crew aboard, leaves the runway and
becomes stuck in soft ground shortly after landing
1998 - President Mary McAleese says it is time to acknowledge that the 50,000 Irishmen
killed in the Great War came from all parts of the country and from both sides of the
political divide
1998 - Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy declares war on farmers, telling them that he
is not responsible for their problems
2001 - An EU survey shows dancing is the favourite pastime of young Irish people
2001 - In a meeting at the White House, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern assures President Bush
he will do everything possible to ensure Ireland's international banking services are not
used to fund Osama Bin Laden and his followers
2001 - The Poulnabrone portal dolmen in the Burren, Co. Clare is bought for £300,000
by the State to protect it from vandalism
2002 - Mail in rural areas is delivered despite industrial action by the Irish Postmasters’
Union which closes sorting facilities at over 500 sub post offices.
November 9
1711 - The first Irish parliament of Queen Anne is dissolved
1791 - Napper Tandy convenes the first meeting of Dublin's United Irishmen
1875 - Sir Hugh Lane, art collector and critic, is born in Ballybrack, Co. Cork
1935 - Nineteen Donegal islanders are drowned when their currach founders
1966 - Jack Lynch becomes leader of Fianna Fáil
1999 - Ireland’s most accomplished mountaineer, Pat Falvey, conquers Ama Dablam in
the Himalayas
2000 - The largest prison outside Dublin, the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise, goes into
operation. It was built at a cost of £43m and boasts the most advanced technology and
the highest standards of prisoner accommodation in the State
November 10
1728 - Birth in Pallas, Co. Longford of Oliver Goldsmith, playwright, novelist and poet
1783 - National Volunteer convention on parliamentary reform begins at the Rotunda in
Dublin
1795 - Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough, student and promoter of Mexican
antiquities, is born in Cork
1798 - Theobald Wolfe Tone tried and convicted of treason
1841 - Death of Sister Catherine McAuley, founder of the order of the Sisters of Mercy
1861 - In Dublin, thousands turn out to view the coffin of Terence Bellew MacManus,
Young Irelander who died in poverty in San Francisco
1879 - Padraig Pearse, Irish revolutionary and one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter
Rebellion, is born
1966- Fianna Fáil's Jack Lynch replaces Seán Lemass as Taoiseach
2002 - Ireland and Sunderland soccer star Niall Quinn announces his retirement from
club football.
November 11
1171 - Henry II holds his court in Dublin from this date to 2 February 1172
1798 - In the early morning hours on the day he is due to be executed, it is discovered
that Wolf Tone has inflicted a deep wound in his neck; a French emigrant surgeon is
called in, closes the wound and reports that, "as the prisoner had missed the carotid
artery, he might yet survive, but was in the extremest danger." Wolf Tone on hearing this
prognosis is quoted as saying: "I am sorry I have been so bad an anatomist."
1880 - Ned Kelly, Australian bushranger and son of Tipperary transportee, is hanged in
Melbourne
1918 - World War I ends
1919 - The first edition of the Irish Bulletin is published
1923 - Birth of F.S.L. Lyons, historian and biographer
1999 - Dublin confirms itself as Europe’s most vibrant music capital as an estimated 300
million people tune in to the sixth MTV Europe Music Awards live from The Point
2000 - A massive fault on an ESB 110kv powerline results in a nationwide power surge,
triggering the automatic shutdown sequence at the State’s only oil refinery
2002 - A huge temple, once surrounded by about 300 huge posts made from an entire
oak forest, is discovered directly beneath the Hill of Tara in Co. Meath.
1998 - Prompted by the loss of more than £60m every year because of the negative
impression created by the raucous vulgar nature of stag-hen parties in Temple Bar, the
Dublin Chamber of Commerce announces plans to ban them
November 13
867 - Death of Pope Nicholas I
1643 - Charles I appoints James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormond as Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland
1923 - Leonard Boyle, priest and palaeographer, is born in Donegal
1998 - Paddy Clancy of the Clancy Brothers is laid to rest in Faugheen cemetary,
Carrick-on-Suir
1999 - Environmentalists warn that Killarney’s picture postcard Lough Lein is in danger
from pollution
2000 - A report on the status of the Irish language in Loughrea Co. Galway indicates
there are Irish speakers in 362 of the 500 households who returned questionaires. The
report also shows 91% of the town’s people want Irish language names for housing
estates and 88% want more Irish used in signposts and public notices. All Irish education
was also overwhelmingly accepted with 91% supporting the recently opened Gaelscoil
Riabhach
2000 - Clamping of illegally parked vehicles goes into effect for the first time in Galway
city centre
2001 - Irish troops walk out of the gates of Camp Shamrock - ending more than two
decades of peacekeeping duty in Lebanon.The camp is handed over to a contingent of
troops from Ghana
2002 - A major fire in a Dublin industrial complex continues to blaze more than 16 hours
after flames are first spotted
In the liturgical calendar, it is the Feast day of St. Kilian of Aubigny. In the 7th century, he
becomes the only Irish person in the entire history of the Church to be offered the
Papacy; he declines the honour.
November 14
1669 - St. Oliver Plunkett becomes Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland
1913 - Official founding date of the Provisional Committee of the Irish Volunteers
1918 - Seumas O'Kelly, playwright, novelist , short story writer , and journalist, dies
1923 - W.B. Yeats receives the Nobel Prize for Literature
2000 - Teachers begin the first of eight planned days of industrial action. More than
4,200 teachers take to the picket lines in Dublin in pursuit of their 30% pay claim. Over
620 secondary schools are closed as a result of the strike
2000 - Irate business leaders renew calls for competition on the railways as up to 50,000
commuters are left stranded by the 24 hour strike involving 138 train signal staff
2002 - Restoration work on a fountain built near Dublin in memory of Queen Victoria is
halted following threats made by suspected republican paramilitaries against men
carrying out the job
In the liturgical calendar, it is the feast day of St. Laurence O’Toole, the first Archbishop
of Dublin and the city’s patron saint. It is on this date in 1180 that he dies at Eu in
Normandy.
November 15
1945 - Petrol for private cars goes on sale in the State again for the first time since
before the War
1968 - Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE) retires its last dray horse
1985 - Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald sign the
Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) at Hillsborough Castle. It it is considered to represent the
most significant development in the relationships between Britain and Ireland since the
partition settlement in 1920. The Agreement is an international treaty lodged at the
United Nations and supported by the House of Commons and Dáil Éireann
1999 - Gardaí order the cancellation of a lecture by British revisionist historian David
Irving after 600 anti-fascists stage a protest at the University of Cork
2001 - Jacob's Bakery celebrates its 150th anniversary with the launch of a book
detailing its history, "Jacob's Bakery - Limited Twiglets." The author, Séamas O´ Maitiú,
jokes that the working title was Quaker Bakers go Crackers. The famous bakery was
founded in 1851 by two Quaker brothers from Waterford, William and Rober Jacob
2002 - The number of people on waiting lists for local authority houses is set to soar
following government spending cutbacks. Fresh figures show the number of applicants
waiting for social housing has reached 50,000 - a 25% increase in just three years
2005 - The only remaining medal from the first All-Ireland, one of the rarest pieces of
GAA memorabilia goes up for auction at Sotheby's in London.
November 16
1272 - Henry III dies; his son Edward I, who has been Lord of Ireland since 1254,
succeeds him
1965 - Death of William Thomas Cosgrave, first President of the Irish Free State
1999 - In Lismore, Co. Waterford, a tradition stretching back almost 130 years passes
away as the last remaining Christian Brother Patrick Ryan turns the key on the front door
of the monastery for the final time; the order has had an uninterrupted presence in the
town since 1871
2000 - Furious taxi drivers have to be restrained from protesting outside Leinster House
following reports that the Government is poised to completely deregulate the industry
2000 - In the largest class of graduates since the BSN degree was introduced in 1997,
more than 50 nurses are presented their diplomas at the Royal College of Surgeons
November 17
1922 - The Irish Free State begins the executions of seventy-seven anti-Treaty
republican prisoners
1852 - Donegal-born Brigadier Michael Corcoran's Irish Legion is mustered into the 1930
- The first Irish Hospital Sweepstakes draw takes place; three Belfast men share a prize
of £208,792
1994 - Taoiseach Albert Reynolds is forced to resign
1999 - Christian churches reject idea of elections on the sabbath day as a means of
trying to increase voter turnout
1999 - The owners of the first cars to be called for inspection under the new National Car
Test receive notification in the post
2001 - An £8.5 million annual pay deal for local politicians is to be finalised before
Christmas, giving them a salary for the first time.
November 18
1873 - A three-day conference begins in Dublin to establish the Home Rule League. It
will supersede Isaac Butt's Home Government Association
1880 - An historic meeting takes place at Queens Hotel, Belfast which will have far
reaching effects on the administration of football in Ireland. At what is, in effect, the
inaugural meeting of the Irish Football Association, the IFA elects its first President,
Major Spencer Chichester and agrees to stage an annual Challenge Cup Competition
1922 - Court martial of Erskine Childers begins
1926 George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the Nobel Prize money of £7,000 awarded
to him a year earlier. He said: "I can forgive Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend
in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize."
1960 - The first Aer Lingus Boeing jet Padraig arrives at Dublin Airport
2000 - Ensign Marie Gleeson of Cashel becomes the first female cadet to capture the
prestigious Fastnet Trophy. The award is given to the cadet who achieves first place in
his or her class
November 19
1783 - The Volunteers' parliamentary reform bill is rejected by the Irish House of
Commons, 157 to 77
1798 - Theobald Wolfe Tone dies from a stab wound to his neck which he inflicted upon
himself on November 12; his attempted suicide is the result of being refused a soldier's
execution by firing squad and being sentenced to death by hanging
1913 - Irish Citizen Army is formed
1924 - Death in Ara Coeli, Armagh, of Cardinal Michael Logue, Primate of All Ireland
1944 - Denis Brosnan, managing director of Kerry Group, is born in Tralee
1957 - Affectionately known as "Jacko", Jack O'Shea, Kerry Gaelic footballer, is born in
Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry
1998 - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dr Mary Robinson, is elected as
chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin. Dr Robinson is the first woman in the college's
history to be appointed to the position, making her the head of the University of Dublin of
which Trinity College is the sole constituent
1999 - The life of eighty-five year old Eamon Kelly is celebrated at a banquet in his
honour held at the Listowel Arms Hotel in Co. Kerry. Among the 250 guests are John B.
Keane, Barry McGovern, Niall Toibin and Frances Black
2001 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announces that low-cost airlines will have a dedicated
wing at Dublin Airport in 18 months; Aer Rianta is told to drop airport charges to attract
tourists into the country.
November 20
1917 - The 16th Irish Division of the British army assaults an area of the German lines
known as Tunnel Trench
1925 - Eoin MacNeill resigns from the Boundary Commission
1998 - An historic union between Labour and Democratic Left is agreed. Unveiled by the
two top negotiators, Labour's deputy leader Brendan Howlin and DL Deputy Eamon
Gilmore, the merger proposal will go before Labour's General Council and DL's
Executive for ratification
2001 - Cash-strapped Aer Lingus auctions its collection of paintings. Most money went
on "By Merrion Strand" by Jack B. Yeats, an oil on canvas, which is sold for £290,000
2002 - The last surviving member of the recruits which founded the Garda Síochána is
laid to rest. Galway-born Charlie Clarke, who spent most of his career in Dublin,
celebrated his 100th birthday last summer.
November 21
1767 - United Irishman Thomas Russell is born in Kilshanick, Co. Cork. Although born in
the Rebel County, he is now identified in the popular imagination of Co. Down and
elsewhere as "The man from God-knows-where", from the ballad which recalls his
charismatic but doomed efforts to raise the county in support of Robert Emmet’s
rebellion of 1803
1887 - Joseph Mary Plunkett, Irish patriot and poet, is born in Dublin
1918 - The Parliament (Qualifications of Women) Act entitles women to sit and vote in
the house of commons
1920 - On the morning of this date, 14 British intelligence officers are shot dead in
Dublin by Michael Collins' men. In the afternoon, at a GAA match in Croke Park, Dublin,
between Tipperary and Dublin, 12 civilians including one of the players die after Black &
Tans open fire; auxiliaries kill three prisoners, including two IRA men, in Dublin that night;
the date becomes infamously known as 'Bloody Sunday'
1929 - Birth in Cork of stage, television and film actor Niall Toibin
1952 - Birth in Dublin of middle distance runner and former World Champion Eamon
Coghlan
1999 - President Mary McAleese pays a warm tribute to former President Dr Erskine
Childers on the 25th anniversary of his death. Speaking at Derralossary Cemetery, Co.
Wicklow, Mrs McAleese describes Dr Childers as a pivotal figure in politics for more than
35 years.
November 22
1869 - Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, Fenian, contests and wins a Tipperary by-election in
abstentia, but is declared ineligible as a convicted felon
1963 - C. S. Lewis, Irish writer, dies
1963 - The first Roman Catholic president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, is
assassinated in Dallas, Texas
2000 - Blockades by taxi drivers brings the threat of serious confrontation with gardaí,
mainline train services are paralysed by strike, and secondary schools are again closed
November 23
1074 - Donatus (or Dunan), the first Bishop of Dublin, dies and is buried in Christ Church
Cathedral. Patrick, his successor, is sent to Canterbury for consecration. (Some records
say he died on May 6)
1819 - Birth in Waterford of Margaret Aylward, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Faith
1867 - Fenians Michael Larkin, William Philip Allen, and Michael O'Brien - the
"Manchester Martyrs" - are executed
1923 - Tomás Ó Fiaich, cardinal, historian and Catholic Primate of All Ireland, is born in
Cullyhanna, Co. Armagh
2000 - Traffic in Dublin comes to a standstill as hundreds of taxi drivers protest against
the decision to deregulate the industry
In the liturgical calendar, today is the feast day of St. Columbanus.
November 24
1865 - Two weeks after being arrested, James Stephens escapes from Richmond prison,
Dublin
1940 - Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Sir James Craig, dies peacefully at his home
on this date and is succeeded by the Minister of Finance John Andrews
1942 - Death of Peadar Kearney, writer of the Irish National Anthem, "A Soldier's Song"
1965 - The Government imposes an experimental 70mph speed limit on motorways
1972 - The RTÉ authority is replaced by the government after RTÉ broadcasts a radio
interview with IRA leader Seán Mac Stiofáin
1982 - General election in the Republic leads to a Fine Gael-Labour coalition
government
1998 - The national 24-hour stoppage by train drivers costs Dublin City centre traders
about £1•5m in lost sales, with Irish Rail losing substantial revenue from more than
60,000 stranded travellers
2002 - Ireland’s TDs and Senators, lose 3-2 to their Scottish counterparts in a friendly
football match. The ‘Clash of the Celts’ inter-parliamentary match was held to highlight
the Irish-Scottish bid to host the Euro 2008 football championships.
November 25
1713 - The second Irish parliament of Queen Anne sits from this date to 24 December.
The Whig Alan Brodrick is elected Speaker for the second time, in place of John Forster,
after a stormy contest with the government's Tory nominee, Sir Richard Levinge
1784 - Napper Tandy asks for parliamentary reform for Ireland
1913 - The Irish Volunteers, a militant nationalist splinter of the Irish Parliamentary Party
and nationalist version of the 18th-century Ulster Volunteers, is founded by Eoin MacNeill
at a mass meeting at the Rotunda, Dublin
1999 - Mystery surrounds the identity of two human skeletons discovered on the site of
the former Carnegie school in Killorglin, Co. Kerry. According to experts, the remains of a
child and an adult are at least 100 years old and could date to medieval times
2002 - JP McManus, the man who never liked school, receives a doctorate from the
University of Limerick. The reluctant schoolboy is now an internationally-renowned
financier, racehorse owner and part-proprietor of soccer giants Manchester United
2002 - Hundreds of Irish tourists are left stranded in France as a series of transport
strikes threaten to bring chaos to roads, rail, and air traffic.
November 26
1791 - First convicts from Ireland arrive in New South Wales, Australia
1998 - Prime Minister Tony Blair makes a historic address to the Houses of the
Oireacthas.
November 27
1906 - Death of Michael Cusack, one of the founders of the GAA.
1963 - The Buchanan Committee warns of future chaos as traffic in cities multiplies
November 28
1727 - William Connolly is unanimously re-elected Speaker of the Irish House of
Commons
1856 - Birth of Cardinal Patrick O'Donnell near Glenties, Co. Donegal
1863 - Foundation of the Fenian newspaper, "Irish People"; John O'Leary is the editor
1871 - The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, opens with a performance of She Stoops to Conquer
1899 -Irish units in the Boer army fight in the battle of Modder River
1905 The Irish political party Sinn Féin is founded in Dublin by Arthur Griffith
1920 - An entire patrol of 18 auxiliaries at Kilmichael, west Cork, is wiped out by a flying
column under the command of General Tom Barry in what would be one of the most
effective and bloody IRA ambushes of the war.
1967 - All horse racing in Britain has been cancelled indefinitely to help prevent the
spread of foot-and-mouth disease
1969 - Birth of Olympic medalist Sonia O'Sullivan in Cobh, Co. Cork
November 29
1330 - Edward III, on attaining his majority, executes Mortimer on this date and banishes
his own mother, Isabella. This revolutionizes the political situation in Ireland and England
1641 - The Ulster rebels defeat the government forces at Julianstown Bridge
1783 - Ulster Volunteers' parliamentary reform bill is rejected by the Irish Parliament at
College Green
2002 - Hurling in Cork is thrown into chaos after the county’s senior squad goes on strike.
November 30
1667 - Birth in Dublin of Jonathan Swift, poet, satirist and clergyman 1670 - Birth in
Inishowen, Co. Donegal of John Toland, deist and philosopher
1900 - Death of Oscar Wilde in Paris
1909 - Lloyd George's People's Budget is rejected by the House of Lords, the first
money bill to be rejected by Lords in 200 years. The Lords' loss of power to veto
subsequent bills comes as good news to the Irish Nationalist Party because a third Home
Rule Bill looked likely now that the Liberals are back in power and dependent on their
support.
1960 - Catherina McKiernan, athlete, is born in Cornafean, Co. Cavan
1967 - Death of poet Patrick Kavanagh
1995 - Bill Clinton visits Northern Ireland on this date - the first serving US president to
do so
2000 - With forecasters saying rainfalls in September, October and November are the
highest in living memory, severe storms again lash the country. Munster and South
Leinster get the worst of the weather as gales of up to 80 mph batter parts of Cork,
Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford.