1972 Seven people were killed and c. 150 injured when a 200lb IRA car bomb exploded in Donegal Street, near Belfast city centre.
1971 Major James Chichester-Clarke resigned as prime minister of Northern Ireland. He was succeeded by Brian Faulkner, who defeated Bill Craig by 26 votes to four.
1920 Thomas MacCurtain, lord mayor of Cork, was shot dead in his home by the RIC. The following month an inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder against the RIC and indicted Lloyd George and the British government. Tomás MacCurtain, Sinn Féin lord mayor of Cork and commander of the 1st Cork Brigade of the IRA, was shot dead at his home. A subsequent coroner’s jury found that the murder had been organised and carried out by the RIC.
1973 The British government published its White Paper, Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals, recommending the setting up of an 80-seat Assembly and power-sharing.
1964 Brendan Behan (41), playwright and author, notably of Borstal Boy (1958), died from alcoholism.
1974 Austin Clarke (77), one of the leading Irish poets of his generation after W.B. Yeats, died.
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Personal Histories
Personal Histories is an initiative by History Ireland,
which aims to capture the individual histories of Irish
people both in Ireland and around the world. It is hoped
to build an extensive database reflecting Irish lives,
giving them a chance to be heard, remembered and to
add their voice to the historical record.
Click Here to go to the Personal Histories page
1920 Recruitment began, mainly from among demobilised British Army officers, into a new force—the ‘Auxiliary Division’—to augment the RIC.
1939 Michael Longley, poet, notable for ‘Gorse Fires’ (1991), ‘The Weather in Japan’ (2000) and ‘The Stairwell’ (2014), born in Belfast of English parents.
2004 Bob Tisdall (96), Olympic gold medal-winner in the 400m hurdles (Los Angeles, 1932) in a world record time of 51.7 seconds—which was not recognised under the rules at the time because he had hit a hurdle—died.
1866 The SS Great Eastern completed the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable between Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, and Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.
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