1970 Máirtín Ó Cadhain (63), perhaps the greatest modern writer in the Irish language, whose novel Cré na Cille (1949) was chosen by UNESCO for translation into several European languages, died.
1989 The ‘Guildford Four’—Patrick Armstrong, Gerard Conlon, Paul Hill and Carole Richardson—were released from prison, having served fifteen years on the strength of forced confessions for IRA bombings in England.
1976 ‘It was amazing when the president [Cearbhall Ó Dalaigh] sent the Emergency Powers Bill to the Supreme Court … In my opinion he is a thundering disgrace’—Patrick Donegan, minister for defence, in a speech at Columb Barracks, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath.
1970 Máirtín Ó Cadhain, academic, language activist and writer, notably of Cré na Cille (1949), died.
1861 William Sherman Crawford, landlord and politician who founded the Ulster Tenant Right Association (1846), which became the Tenant League of Ireland in 1850, died.
1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV of France. Originally promulgated by Henri IV in 1598, the edict extended religious toleration to French Protestants, known as Huguenots. Its revocation prompted an exodus of Huguenots from France, and many were encouraged to settle in Ireland by the Protestant authorities here to bolster the numbers of the settler communities. Many were skilled workers and formed significant (and Francophone) urban communities in cities like Dublin.
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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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