August 12
Published in On this Day listing- 1971 With over 4,000 refugees from Northern Ireland in refugee camps in the Republic, Taoiseach Jack Lynch called for the abolition of Stormont.
- 1970 Constables Samuel Donaldson (23) and Robert Millar (26) were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb hidden in a stolen car parked a mile from Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh. They were the first two members of the RUC to be killed by the IRA in the Troubles.
- 1969 The Apprentice Boys’ march in Derry triggered three days of rioting in what became known as ‘the Battle of the Bogside’. It ended two days later with the deployment of British troops.
- 1984 John Treacy won a silver medal for Ireland in the marathon at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
- 1970 Two members of the RUC were killed by a bomb in South Armagh—the first of 277 members of the force killed in attacks by Irish Republican groupings during the Troubles (1969–98).
- 1969 The annual Apprentice Boys march in Derry triggered three days of rioting in the city. RUC officers, B-Specials and loyalists stormed into the nationalist Bogside area, leading to the ‘Battle of the Bogside’. ‘Free Derry’ came into being. CS gas was used for the first time in Northern Ireland.
- 1922 Arthur Griffith (51), president of Dáil Éireann, died from a cerebral haemorrhage.
- 1867 The Public Records (Ireland) Act established the Public Records Office at the Four Courts and regulated the State Paper Office in Dublin Castle.
- 1922 Arthur Griffith (51), president of Dáil Éireann, died from a brain haemorrhage. He was the first Irish leader to be buried as a head of state.
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