1997 In the British general election, the Labour Party, under Tony Blair, secured a landslide victory, winning 418 seats.
1171 Diarmaid MacMurrough (c. 61), king of Leinster and key instigator of the Norman invasion of Ireland, died in Ferns ‘without a will, without penance, without unction, as his evil deeds deserved’, according to the Four Masters.
1171 Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster, who provoked the Norman invasion, died in Ferns, Co. Wexford.
1170 A Norman force of 40 knights, 60 other horsemen and 500 archers, led by Raymond le Gros Fitzgerald and his uncle, Maurice Fitzgerald, landed at Baginbun, Bannow Bay, Co. Wexford.
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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
1969 Robert Briscoe (75), Dáil deputy for 38 years and the first Jewish lord mayor of Dublin (1956), died.
1914 The Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Ireland sank on the St Lawrence River after colliding with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad; 1,012 passengers and crew died.
1972 The Official IRA ordered a cessation of hostilities following the killing, four days earlier, of Ranger William Best while visiting his family.
1660 Charles II entered London, marking the restoration of the monarchy. He had been proclaimed king of Ireland on 14 May.
1917 John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th president of the United States (1961–3), born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the second of nine children of businessman Joe Kennedy and philanthropist/socialite Rose Fitzgerald.