To renew a subscription please login first

May 25

Published in On this Day listing

1921 In an operation involving almost 200 IRA Volunteers, the Custom House in Dublin, the centre of local government, was occupied and burnt. Five Volunteers were killed and over 80 arrested.
1315 The Bruce invasion of Ireland began when Edward, younger brother of Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, landed in Larne, Co. Antrim, with 6,000 battle-hardened troops.
1914 The Home Rule bill was carried in the House of Commons for the third and final time.
1921 The Custom House in Dublin, headquarters of the Local Government Board, was attacked and torched by the Dublin Brigade of the IRA. Crown forces, who surrounded the building before they could escape, killed five Volunteers and took a further 70 prisoner. It was the last major incident in the Anglo-Irish War.
1967 Glasgow Celtic won the European Cup, defeating the favourites, Inter Milan, 2–1. All of their players were born within 30 miles of Glasgow.

On this Day

1937 During the Spanish Civil War, the Basque town of Guernica, a bastion of Republican resistance, was pounded by the German Condor Legion with high-explosive bombs and at least 3,000 incendiary bombs. Over 1,600 people were killed in the subsequent firestorm.
1900 Queen Victoria concluded her final, three-week visit to Ireland, the purpose of which was to encourage Irishmen to join the British Army and fight in the Second Boer War. Nationalist opposition to her visit was led by Arthur Griffith and his newspaper, The United Irishman.
1974 Nineteen Old Masters paintings were stolen from the Blessington, Co. Wicklow, home of Sir Alfred and Lady Beit by a Provisional IRA gang which included Dr Rose Dugdale.